TN toll road proposal hits a speed bump
The pending proposal to allow toll roads in Tennessee has hit a minor snag: the state legislature wants final say-so over each toll road project. TDOT, on the other hand, insists that oversight and accountability aren't necessary:
Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, said he was concerned because the bill would not require TDOT officials to have the scope of those projects approved by legislators.
[...]
Ed Cole, TDOT assistant commissioner for environment and planning, told Jackson that the transportation department does not need the legislature's approval on other road construction projects.
A toll on roads is just about the most regressive form of taxation possible; it burdens those who can least afford it. Someone trying to maintain self-sufficiency, barely getting by on minimal wages, will then be required to pay even more taxes for the privilege of driving to work. The working poor already pay sales tax and gasoline tax, and these already suck up too much of their meager disposable income. We shouldn't make their lives any worse than it already is.
The solution, of course, would be to scrap the sales tax and replace it with a graduated income tax. Since that proposal nearly sparked a revolution the last time it was brought up, no politician in the state will ever consider the idea again. So, we're stuck: we either continue raising taxes on the poor and working class, or we cut even further into state services that rank among the lowest in the nation (except for road-building, of course).
Tennessee: first in roads, last in education.