Tennessee Senate Speaker, Lt. Gov. Nominee Says His Goal Is To Keep The State Fiscally Conservative

Image: Tennessee Governor-Elect Marsha Blackburn & Senator Jack Johnson – Tennessee Senate Speaker, Lt. Gov. Nominee. Image Credit: Senator Jack Johnson / Facebook.

***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.

Article by Kim Jarrett, The Center Square –

Tennessee state Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said his goal as incoming lieutenant governor is to keep the state fiscally conservative. 

The General Assembly approved a $58 billion budget last year for fiscal year 2027. Johnson, who served as Senate Majority Leader for the 2025-2026 session, said in his April budget presentation that the spending plan includes $30 billion in state general funds and dedicated state appropriations and $19 billion of federal funding. The remaining $9 billion in the budget is from fees, tuition and bonds.

Johnson was nominated as lieutenant governor by the Senate Republican Caucus on Tuesday, pending approval by the full Senate. Republicans hold a supermajority with 27 seats to Democrats’ six. 

Johnson said he knows that Republican Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn will join him in remaining fiscally conservative. 

But lawmakers will face the same issues they have faced in the past few years. 

A report from the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations shows the state’s transportation needs continue to grow. The report examined planning documents from the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the department’s presentation to the General Assembly, and its federally required asset management plan. 

“Based on this information, to both maintain the state’s existing roads and bridges and continue current levels of investment in capacity improvements, the state needs approximately $3.6 billion in fiscal year 2027-28,” the report said. 

The issue is the funding mechanisms, which are insufficient, Johnson said in an interview with The Center Square. 

“And so we’re going to have to look at how we fix that,” he said.

Increasing the fuel taxes, which fund transportation, is not the answer, Johnson said. 

“It’s not a long-term solution because you have more and more electric cars that aren’t even buying gas or don’t even utilize gas,” Johnson said. “Cars are becoming much more fuel efficient, even those that are still utilizing a gas combustion engine.” 

The state’s public-private partnership for its Choice Lanes project is expected to yield approximately $7.7 billion in payments to the state between the project’s financial close in the third quarter of 2027 and 2035, when construction is complete, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. After 2035, the state will receive $140 billion for 50 years, the department said. The money awarded to the state is part of the concession agreement reached with Drive TN. The project creates two new toll lanes on I-24 from Murfreesboro to Nashville.

“And I think we are going to try and find other logical revenue streams that already exist without raising taxes or creating new fees that we redeploy into our road fund,” Johnson said. 

House Speaker Cameron Sexton filed a bill that would exempt milk, bread and eggs from the 4% grocery tax. A companion bill has not been filed in the Senate, but Johnson said he is sure one will be filed. 

“We certainly want to do everything we can to address affordability. We know that many families are struggling with gas prices, housing, utility costs, things are just costing more,” Johnson said. “The good news is we do have a very strong economy in Tennessee and hopefully, wages are offsetting some of that, but undoubtedly the cost of living is going up more than most people’s wages and we recognize that.”

On the flip side, Johnson said lawmakers have to be careful.

“I could very well support this effort on the sales tax on these items, but our food tax is also our most stable form of revenue,” Johnson said. “And it’s one that everyone chips in on. And so you know, what makes Tennessee successful is we have a very broad, flat sales tax that everyone pays.”

The low taxes and a not-overly-burdensome regulatory environment are why Tennessee is one of the fastest-growing states in the country, Johnson said. The Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee predicts the state’s population will reach 8.1 million people by 2040, 839,000 more than the estimated 2024 population of 7.25 million. 

“In my district in Williamson County, just south of Nashville, it’s rarely a day goes by that I don’t meet some new person that just moved there from California,” Johnson said. “And I asked them what brought you to Tennessee? And they say, and Gov. Lee has used this phrase, ‘they feel like they found America again.’ And I love that.”

Johnson will succeed Randy McNally, who served as lieutenant governor from 2017 to 2026 and in the General Assembly for 48 years. Sen. Dawn White of Murfreesboro will serve as Senate Majority Leader, according to information from the caucus. Sen. Becky Massey of Knoxville will serve as chair of the Senate Republican caucus.