STATE NEWS. (AP) — Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is hitting the road to hold bill signing ceremonies for his highway and bridge funding program called the Improve Act.
The governor officially signed the bill into law within days of the contentious measure’s passage in the legislature in April. But that’s not stopping Haslam from holding events near Chattanooga, Nashville and Union City on Monday to celebrate its enactment.
The law includes a 6-cent hike in tax on each gallon of gasoline and 10 cents on diesel, Tennessee’s first fuel tax hikes in nearly three decades. The law also made a raft of tax cuts that supporters argued will more than offset the fuel increases.
Haslam has said the new road funding was needed to begin tackling a $10 billion backlog in road projects.
