- 2023, Government
Approves use of public-private partnerships for the construction of toll roads in Tennessee.
HB 321 / SB 273
Bill Description
Bill Sponsors
Rep. William Lamberth
Sen. Jack Johnson
Bill Co-Sponsors
House: Cochran, Howell, Marsh, Hazlewood, Hawk, Garrett, Johnson C, Holsclaw, Vital, Carr, Powers, Russell, Whitson, Hicks T, Burkhart, Davis, Sherrell, Raper, Sparks, Kumar, White, Hale, Alexander, Bricken, Helton-Haynes, Rudder, Martin G, Moon, Cepicky, Wright, Shaw, Slater, Butler, McCalmon, Littleton, Eldridge, Hurt
Senate: Massey, Yager, Jackson, Powers, Bailey, Crowe, Gardenhire, Haile, Lowe, Rose, Stevens, Watson, Briggs, Reeves, Walley
TLRC Statement on Bill
The sentiment portrayed in the presentation of this bill is that Tennessee is so prosperous and growing so rapidly that the state can no longer afford to keep up with its own infrastructure. Therefore, the solution is to create public-private partnerships to allow private corporations to build roads in exchange for a user fee from the public. This is said to keep taxes low and prevent the state from taking on debt.
The problem is there is no example of this scenario working to keep a state from taking on debt to build roads. In fact, some studies that these partnerships actually create debt.
User fees normally last at least 50 years, well beyond the time that the cost to build these roads is paid off, meaning that the public is generationally strapped to paying additional fees for using roadways. User fees also tend to go up dramatically through the years and are, of course, significantly higher during peak usage times.
Additionally, the tangible property that has now been apportioned to the use of these toll roads is no longer available for the construction of much needed taxpaid roadways to relieve congestion and these public-private partnerships create a contractual noncompete where taxpaid roads are no longer allowed to be built in areas where toll roads exist as to keep the status quo.
