By AP
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee General Assembly is one step closer to approving the state's annual spending plan after the House advanced its version without a provision to require the construction of an access road to a firearms factory.
The House Finance Committee Thursday advanced an alternate bill to the floor that doesn't include the road sought by Murfreesboro-based Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, but objected to by the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
TDOT's chief engineer Paul Degges says the project could run afoul of rules on Interstate rights of way and jeopardize Tennessee's federal road funding. Republican Representative Donna Rowland, who is engaged to business owner Ronnie Barrett, disputed TDOT's interpretation of the federal law.