Day: February 14, 2017

Freshman State Rep. Mark Lovell Resigns

Tennessee Star Staff

NewsChannel 5 is reporting that State Rep. Mark Lovell (R-Shelby County) has resigned, just weeks into his first session as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives:   Rep. Mark Lovell, a fair and carnival operator from suburban Shelby County submitted his resignation letter on Tuesday. Lovell says in the letter that the elected position ended up being more demanding than he expected and that he needs more time to devote to his business interests and family. Lovell defeated longtime incumbent Curry Todd in the Republican primary in August. Todd had been arrested in the days before the vote on charges of stealing Lovell’s yard signs. Todd, who was bailed out on the eve of the election by Lovell, is still awaiting trial. Republican Rep. Leigh Wilburn of Somerville was the last lawmaker to resign in 2015. Lovell was elected in November after easily defeating Todd in a contentious primary. His service in this session in The General Assembly, which began its current session the second week of January, may be the shortest in the history of the state. The reason for his departure is the subject of much speculation. Democrats have already called for an investigation. The Tennessee…

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State Rep. Mark Pody: ‘I Don’t Believe the 7 Cents Gas Tax is Going to Go Anywhere’

Tennessee Star Staff

State Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) told Ralph Bristol on 99.7 FM WWTN’s Nashville Morning News on Tuesday that Gov. Haslam’s proposal to increase the gas tax by 7 cents per gallon to fund road construction is dead-on-arrival in the State House of Representatives. “I don’t believe the 7 cents gas tax is going to go anywhere,” Pody told Bristol. “To be clear, you don’t think the governor’s full proposal, as is, will make it out of the House?” Bristol asked. “If it’s going to say gas tax on cars, I don’t think it’s going to go anywhere,” Pody responded. “Is that a survey or a hunch?” Bristol pressed the question further with Pody, who has his own alternative to the governor’s proposal. “If I have to run my proposal [through the Transportation Subcommittee], I have to know where the votes are,” Pody told Bristol. “I don’t think the votes are there for the governor’s proposal,” Pody said. “Right now I don’t think the governor’s plan would have the votes to get out of the House,” Pody said. Pody praised Gov. Haslam for bringing the issue of road tax funding up for consideration by the General Assembly. “I’m glad that the…

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Similar To Haslam, Democrats Want to Increase Gas Tax 5 Cents Per Gallon But Also Want Sales Tax Revenue for Mass Transit

Tennessee Star Staff

Two leading Democrats in the Tennessee General Assembly support the main element of Gov. Haslam’s plan to fund road construction by increasing the state tax on gasoline. For State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) and State Sen. Sara Kyle (D-Memphis), however, it’s a matter of degree.   While Gov. Haslam wants to increase the tax on gas by 7 cents per gallon, these Democrats want to increase it by 5 cents per gallon. As for the diesel tax, Democrats would increase it 9 cents per gallon, 3 fewer than the 12 cents per gallon increase Gov. Haslam has proposed. The Democrat gas tax proposal has a great deal in common with Gov. Haslam’s proposal, and very little in common with the Republican alternative to Haslam’s plan. That alternative, known as the Hawk Plan, would fund road construction by reallocation 0.25 percent of the sales tax, while not raising gas taxes. Like Gov. Haslam’s proposal, the Democrats want gas taxes to increase automatically every year. While Haslam simply proposes indexing the annual increase to the rate of inflation, Clemmons and Kyle want a more complex indexing formula, based on: (1) The state’s population growth rate, multiplied by seventy-five percent (75%); and…

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Commentary: Tennessee’s Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws Must Be Reformed Now

David Nance

The United States Constitution, specifically the 5th Amendment, states that we shall not be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. Tennessee’s current laws regarding civil asset forfeiture include allowing money to be confiscated from people based solely on suspicion, with no evidence of wrong doing at all. So if you’re pulled over in Tennessee, do your best to look innocent and broke; emphasis on broke. Tennessee legislators need a refresher on the U.S. Constitution, or they may just need to read the constitution for their first time. Should a suspicious policeman really meet the threshold of due process of law? Only in the Twilight Zone or some third world dictatorship. When a police officer’s job depends on how much he is able to confiscate, which is the case in some police organizations in Tennessee, officers tend to become the suspicious type. Innocent until proven guilty might occasionally still work for us, but not for our cash. Many times money is confiscated from people by police with the person having his property seized never being charged with a crime at all. People having only a few thousand dollars seized might well find it more expensive to…

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Trump Administration Files Brief Advocating Hearing on Executive Order Before Full Panel of 9th Circuit

Tennessee Star Staff

Editor’s Note: Attorney General Jeff Sessions now runs the Department of Justice, which filed this brief on Monday. In a filing to a Seattle federal court on Monday, the Department of Justice suggested it would not immediately turn to the U.S. Supreme Court to ask for the Trump administration’s travel moratorium to be reinstated after an appeals court dealt a blow to it last week. In the filing, Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad Readler…

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New Survey: Majority of Tennessee Small Business Owners Oppose Haslam’s Gas Tax Increase

Tennessee Star Staff

Fifty-five percent of “Tennessee members of the National Federation of Independent Business [NFIB], the nation’s leading small-business association,” oppose Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal to fund road construction, the NFIB said in a statement released on Monday. “NFIB’s policy positions are based on the direct input of our members,” Jim Brown, state director of NFIB, said in the statement: When asked if they support or oppose a proposed seven-cent increase in the gas tax and 12-cent increase in the diesel tax, 55 percent of NFIB members responding to the survey oppose, 40 percent support, and 5 percent are undecided. Respondents were more definitive about the proposal to “index” future gas tax increases to changes in the Consumer Price Index, Brown said. Seventy-five percent of respondents oppose, while 19 percent support and 5 percent are undecided. “Small business owners . . . are clearly opposed to indexing because they believe it would bypass future legislatures and increase revenues automatically without making the case for specific infrastructure needs,” Brown said. Brown said a few parts of the proposal registered modest or mixed support. Sixty-two percent support the proposed $100 annual fee on electric vehicles and increasing charges on vehicles using alternative…

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Local Group With Alleged Ties to George Soros Protests MTSU College Republican Event

Chris Alto

“Rutherford Indivisible” staged its first protest outside of a town hall meeting organized by the MTSU College Republicans on Thursday. The Capital Research Center, a conservative think tank that investigates nonprofits has alleged that at least three of Indivisible’s principals “have ties to organizations funded by George Soros.” U.S. Rep. Diane Black, and state legislators Sen. Jim Tracy, Rep. Bryan Terry and Rep. Mike Sparks were the invited panel.  Joining in the protest was the Green Party, Planned Parenthood and MTSU’s College Democrats. Members of the audience got a little heated at times with questions and comments about the planned repeal and/or replacement of Obamacare. “Indivisible” makes no pretense about its goal as posted on its website: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RESISTING THE TRUMP AGENDA Former congressional staffers reveal best practices for making Congress listen. The Guide, authored by self-described progressives intending to stop President Trump, provides what is claimed as insider information about everything from “How to Have a Successful Town Hall” to how to start organizing for action, to scripted messages on everything from “Oppose Steve Bannon’s Role on the National Security Council” and “Combat Donald Trump’s Arch-Conservative SCOTUS Pick.” Seventy-three Indivisible affiliated groups are listed within 100…

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