Day: March 13, 2017

Decision Expected Soon On Williamson Strong Appeal

Wendy Wilson

A decision on Williamson Strong’s appeal of fines for political activity will be issued by an administrative law judge between now and March 23, says John Allyn, an attorney for the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. Williamson Strong is a parent group started in 2014 that is said by conservative critics to be a sophisticated operation acting politically in favor of progressive-leaning school board candidates and policies. In May 2015, the registry agreed with some of the accusations about political activity and issued the group two $2,500 fines, the first for failing to file a form for appointing a treasurer. “This is required of any entity that makes expenditures in support of or in opposition to a candidate for public office,” Allyn told The Tennessee Star. “The registry found that Williamson Strong came within this definition. Williamson Strong obviously disagrees.” The second $2,500 fine was for failing to file campaign financial disclosure reports. Because that requirement is dependent on Williamson Strong being found to be a political action committee (PAC), any action on the financial disclosure reports is deferred until there is a final ruling on whether the group is a PAC, Allyn said. Former conservative school board member Susan…

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Carr Amendment Funds Highways Through ‘User Fees’ Without A Gas Tax Increase

Laura Baigert

The House Transportation Committee convenes on Tuesday to vote on Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act. The big question is whether Committee Chairman State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma) will allow a vote on an amendment proposed by State Rep. Dale Carr (R-Sevierville), a member of the committee, that would change the funding source of  from a gas and diesel tax increase, as proposed by the governor, to a re-allocation of 33.5 percent of taxes collected from the sale of new or used motor vehicles for highway funding. Proponents of Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increase proposal have argued that road construction must be funded by users through “user fees.” Carr’s amendment addresses those concerns, since taxes on the sale of new or used motor vehicles are clearly paid by users of the state’s highways. Rep. Carr tells The Tennessee Star that he hand delivered the amendment to Chairman Doss  on Tuesday of last week, and intends to present it for consideration when the House Transportation Committee begins deliberations on Tuesday. He notes that the amendment was “written in consultation with leadership.” “A lot of people don’t want the [gas] tax and they are having a hard time moving it through committee,” he tells The Star in an exclusive…

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Tennessee Sues Feds Over Costs Of Refugee Resettlement

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee filed a lawsuit Monday suing the federal government over costs of the federal refugee resettlement program, becoming the first state in the nation to take such action. The lawsuit was filed by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of the State of Tennessee, the Tennessee General Assembly and State Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon) and State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver (R-Lancaster). The suit challenges the constitutionality of the federal refugee resettlement program as it is currently operating in Tennessee, based on the 10th Amendment, which says that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states. The Thomas More Law Center is a national nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that defends and promotes America’s Judeo-Christian heritage and a strong national defense. The center filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. “President Trump through executive action has reversed the overreaches of the Obama administration in numerous ways. I trust President Trump in this regard. However, he needs our help,” said Sen. Stevens in a news release issued by the Thomas More Law Center. Tennessee officially withdrew from the refugee resettlement program in 2007, but the federal…

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Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway Previews President Trump’s Agenda for Upcoming Nashville Visit

Christina Botteri
Tennessee Star

White House Senior Advisor Kellyanne Conway spent a few minutes this morning on Fox and Friends discussing President Trump’s visit to Nashville. She outlined the president’s agenda for Wednesday’s rally, which included Obamacare repeal and replace; job creation; energy and infrastructure investments; budget; and tax reform. Experienced political observes may note Conway did not specifically mention Speaker Ryan’s current healthcare repeal-and-reform proposal – an indication that the widespread panning by conservatives has reached the White House. In addition to the long list of action items the president is tackling, Mrs. Conway noted that President Trump’s unique ability to communicate and connect directly with people is perhaps the only way to nullify the mainstream media’s consistent strategy of what she dubbed, “the noise and the silence.” “Sometimes they don’t want to cover anything at all what he’s doing – that’s the silence. And then there’s the noise: things that are either misinterpreted or under-covered, or, frankly, just unfairly covered. “I think Donald Trump is at his best as the president when he takes his case directly to the people. He is the most brilliant communicator and most natural connector I’ve ever seen; and so the more he can do that and get…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Monday, March 13

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing March 13, Monday John 4:13-15 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

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‘America First Federation’ Formed as Broad Coalition of State-Based Groups Supporting President Trump’s Agenda; Inspired by Success of Nashville Rally

Tennessee Star Staff

NASHVILLE, Tennessee– “A broad coalition of patriot leaders and groups have announced the formation of the America First Federation (AFF),” the organization announced in a press statement released today. The group’s mission is to support President Trump’s agenda and push back against the mainstream media and organized left wing activists who are attempting to create the false impression there is widespread opposition to that agenda, founders tell The Tennessee Star. “The founders of the America First Federation include the following ten key states that will be the focus of activists’ efforts over the coming months. Those states are Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin,” the statement said. “It’s more important today, than ever, that conservative groups across the USA stand coordinated, together, and shoulder-to-shoulder as we fight off the attacks of the rabid left and their lapdogs in the media. America First, a new federation of conservative, patriotic groups, will allow us to go on the offensive and support our president,” Mark Shackelford, America First Texas said. “The America First Federation is based upon successful models deployed over the past election cycle,” Mark Skoda, founder of AFF and organizer of the March 4 pro-Trump Spirit…

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New Genetically Engineered American Chestnut Will Help Restore the Decimated, Iconic Tree

Tina LaFleur
Tennessee Star

American chestnut trees were once among the most majestic hardwood trees in the eastern deciduous forests, many reaching 80 to 120 feet in height and eight feet or more in diameter. The “then boundless chestnut woods” Thoreau wrote about in Walden once grew throughout the Appalachian mountains. They provided habitat and a mast crop for wildlife, a nutritious nut crop for humans and a source of valuable timber. The species has a sad story to tell. Of the estimated four billion American chestnut trees that once grew from Maine to Georgia, only a remnant survive today. The species was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, a devastating disease caused by the exotic fungal pathogen Cryphonectria parasitica. This fungus was accidentally introduced into the United States over a century ago as people began to import Asian species of chestnut. It reduced the American chestnut from the dominant canopy species in the eastern forests to little more than a rare shrub. After battling the blight for more than a century, researchers are using the modern tools of breeding, bio-control methods that rely on a virus that inhibits the growth of the infecting fungus, and direct genetic modification to return the American chestnut…

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Gas Tax Apologists Unable to Explain Why the 15 Percent of User Fees Diverted From Highway Fund is Not Spent on Road Construction

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

At least 15 percent of the $1.2 billion in highway user fees collected by the state of Tennessee in FY 2015-2016–$189 million– was diverted away from road construction (see page A-65 of The Budget: State of Tennessee, Distribution of Actual Revenue by Fund, FY 2015-2016). Under Gov. Haslam’s proposed FY 2017-2018 budget, virtually the same amount of highway user fees–$187 million–will continue to be diverted away from road construction. (see page A-67 of The Budget: State of Tennessee, Distribution of Estimated Revenue by Fund, FY 2017-2018). FY 2015-2016 is the most recent year for which actual expenditures are available. Throughout the public debate over the past two months about Gov. Haslam’s proposed IMPROVE Act, which includes a gas tax increase of 7 cents per gallon, apologists for a gas tax increase–including House Transportation Committee Chairman Barry Doss (R-Leoma), House Senate Transportation Chairman Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), and 99.7 FM WWTN radio’s Ralph Bristol, host of Nashville’s Morning News–have yet to answer one key question about the state’s budget priorities: With a $1 billion surplus in the state budget, why do you support a gas tax increase when much of the purported road construction shortfall could be addressed by simply re-allocating the $187…

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Commentary: Betray the Age

JC Bowman

In a field as diverse as public education, we must all collaborate together to foster a more constructive dialogue among education stakeholders and policymakers. We share a common destiny. We have the power to create amazing change in this world and be champions for the vulnerable who cannot speak for themselves when they need us the most.

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