GOV. BILL HASLAM’S IMPROVE ACT PASSES GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Legislation Gives Tennessee Largest-Ever Tax Cut
NASHVILLE (April 24, 2017) – The Tennessee General Assembly voted today to pass Gov. Bill Haslam’s IMPROVE Act, giving the state its largest tax cut in history, including a 20 percent tax cut on food.
The House voted to adopt the Senate’s version of the bill, which prioritizes 962 projects across all of Tennessee’s 95 counties, addressing a $10.5 billion backlog in repairs and updates. The legislation also includes a local option for municipalities to hold their own referendums for tax increases to fund local transportation needs and provides property tax relief to veterans and the elderly.
“We thank Gov. Haslam for his leadership and the members of the General Assembly for coming together to pass such a historic piece of legislation,” said Susie Alcorn, executive director of the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance. “This is a great move forward for Tennesseans, and we all will see the benefits of better roads, safe bridges and tax cuts. By using user fees to fund the projects, the IMPROVE Act is the fiscally responsible way to fix our state’s transportation infrastructure needs, and we are glad our lawmakers agree.”
The IMPROVE Act creates a long-term, dedicated funding source to fix Tennessee’s outdated transportation infrastructure by making a modest increase to the user fees on its roads and bridges while providing a tax cut to the food, business and Hall income taxes.
The increase in the user fees also means Tennessee residents won’t shoulder the entire burden alone, as revenue will be captured from visiting tourists and the trucks moving goods through the state. This continues Tennessee’s history as a pay-as-you-go state, meaning the people who use the roads pay for their upkeep.
The bill now moves to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.