Gov. Bill Haslam says he has seen wide agreement on a statewide tour about transportation that Tennessee needs more money for road and transit projects.
Haslam said in a recent forum in Nashville that a frequent comment he receives from elected officials who want to kick start projects in their home areas is: "I'm not really excited about a gas tax, what else can we do?"
The problem, Haslam says, is that there's "no magic bullet" to fund a $6 billion backlog of transportation projects around the state.
Tennessee charges a 21.4-cent tax on each gallon of gasoline. The tax, which raises $657 million per year, was last increased in 1989.