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Committee advances bill to create Tennessee Transportation Financing Authority as conduit issuer for TMA projects
Summary
The Senate Committee on Government Operations gave a positive recommendation to Senate Bill 6006, which would establish the Tennessee Transportation Financing Authority as a conduit issuer to enable tax-advantaged private activity financing under the Transportation Modernization Act.
Speaker Hale described Senate Bill 6006 to the Senate Committee on Government Operations as a measure to establish the Tennessee Transportation Financing Authority to act as a conduit issuer for projects under the Transportation Modernization Act (TMA).
Per the sponsor's presentation, the authority would be attached administratively to the Comptroller/Treasurer's office and composed of the governor and specified state officers for administrative purposes. The authority would enable private developers to access federal tax-advantaged tools for financing TMA projects without placing debt on the State's books; the sponsor emphasized that even if a developer defaulted, "there is no recourse to the state." The sponsor also said the authority carries a two-year sunrise provision.
Speaker Hale said the Transportation Modernization Act was passed in 2023 to enable transportation improvement without incurring state debt and that the conduit issuer role is necessary for developers to access federal private-activity bond mechanisms under IRS rules. He cited possible projects such as expansion between Murfreesboro and Nashville as examples of where the conduit authority could be used, and said Tennessee Department of Transportation planning and design updates would be provided in the Transportation Committee.
Senator Crow thanked Commissioner Ealy and TDOT staff for post-flood road work in northeast Tennessee and expressed support for the pay-as-you-go approach the bill continues. Chairman comments noted the entity's two-year sunrise provision.
The committee voted to give Senate Bill 6006 a positive recommendation; the secretary recorded the vote and the bill was forwarded to the Transportation Committee. The transcript records named senators responding "Aye," including Senator Sutherland and Chairman Jackson, but does not provide a full roll-call tally in the committee record contained in the transcript.
