Sen. Crowe to seek reelection; downplays gas tax retribution talk

State Sen. Rusty Crowe tells Robert Houk that he will run for reelection in 2018, saying he got an “outpouring of support” for another four-year term after Houk did an earlier column on speculation that he would retire.

“It got my energy up to see support coming from so many points,” he said.

Crowe, 70, will complete his 28^th year in the Senate next year. His reelection decision is mentioned in a column devoted largely to talk that Washington County road projects got left off Gov. Bill Haslam’s three-year funding plan, recently announced, because local House members – Reps. Matthew Hill and Micah Van Huss – opposed the governor’s gas tax bill.

Crowe, who voted for the IMPROVE  Act, has been trying to downplay that notion.

Even so, Crowe admitted the House leadership is more prone than that of the Senate to dole out punishment at budget time to members who don’t fall in line. That retribution usually comes in the form of no funding for pet projects.

Crowe said he respects the reasons his colleagues in the House have given for not voting to increase the fuel tax. He said he was in a similar situation 17 years ago when he refused to support Republican Gov. Don Sundquist’s push for a state income tax. Crowe believes that stand cost him his job at East Tennessee State University.

The senator also said that House members “seemed to be pulling in very different directions… It was like herding cats.”