Gov. Haslam delays road funding plan as GOP lawmakers seek options

NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Haslam said Monday he is "very ready to present" his long-awaited transportation-funding recommendations but has delayed them for now at the request of some fellow Republicans in the General Assembly who want to explore their own funding ideas.

"In talking with them, [they] said we want to have time to think through their proposals," the governor said when asked when he expected to announce a new transportation program and a funding proposal. "So we said, sure, we'll spend this month having those discussions and letting you think through alternatives that you might be able to come up with."

Haslam said the unspecified lawmakers "said they'd come back to us some time. We told them the budget process and the timing and hopefully they'll come back with their ideas pretty quickly.

"I think everybody just feels obviously this is a big decision for this state and they wanted a chance to think through it and talk through it with people in their districts before they heard our proposal," the governor added. "At the appropriate time, obviously, we'll come with our proposal."

Read more: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2016/dec/20/haslam-holding-now-long-awaited-transportatif/403800/