Immediate Past RCK President Jim Alexander introduced Becky Duncan Massey, State Senator for the Sixth District of Tennessee, which includes part of Knox County. Jim pointed out that he and Senator Massey have known each other since they were children, living in the same neighborhood.
Senator Massey noted that while there were several politicians in her family, including her father, an uncle and her brother, for many years she had no intention of going into politics. She was well respected for her long work as Executive Director of the Sertoma Center, which provides comprehensive services for adults with intellectual disabilities. In that role, she regularly went to Nashville to the General Assembly and various administrative agencies to advocate on behalf of mental health issues and Sertoma Center, in particular. She indicated that she enjoyed her interactions in Nashville. Then thirteen years ago when Jamie Woodson announced that she was stepping down as Senator from the Sixth District, at the urging of friends and colleagues, within two weeks she decided to run to succeed Senator Woodson.
With respect to her work in the Senate, she first mentioned legislation passed in 2021 establishing the Silver Alert program for missing persons with dementia, physical impairment or disability. Since implementation, the program has successfully helped find more than 300 persons.
In the Senate, Senator Massey is Chair of the Transportation and Safety Committee and is a member of the Health and Welfare Committee. On the Health and Welfare Committee, she is particularly interested in mental health, and is working on getting approval for a new mental health hospital for our area. There is a great need for mental health services in our area, particularly since the closing of the Eastern State Mental Health Facility at Lakeshore thirteen years ago.
On the Transportation and Safety Committee, she worked closely with Governor Lee’s administration in passing the Transportation Modernization Act of 2023. The Act authorized $3.3 billion in expenditures for transportation infrastructure. She noted that Tennessee does not borrow funds for roads. Roads are funded by the state gas tax, approximately 30% of which is paid by non-residents. She noted that Knoxville in particular needs road infrastructure work. She pointed out that Knoxville has five of the seven top traffic count locations in the state. She indicated that the most glaring need in the Knoxville area is I‑40/75 from 640 to the 40/75 split.
The Transportation Modernization Act will enable so-called choice lanes, new additional automobile traffic lanes that use tolls to manage demand. Several states have toll or choice lanes, and reports are that they manage traffic well. The Act would enable public-private partnerships for choice lanes. Private investors would fund, build and operate the lanes through a lease arrangement with the State of Tennessee. The first likely location for a public-private choice lanes arrangement would be I‑24 in Nashville, and the second likely the bridge in Memphis.
The Act addresses the problem of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles not paying gas taxes by establishing fees on those vehicles on a going forward basis. She pointed out, however, that a bigger problem with respect to gas tax revenues is substantially increasing mileage of vehicles today.
Senator Massey noted that she has always promised her constituents three things – she will work hard, she will be respectful of them, and she will listen to them.