Tennessee General Assembly Addresses Procedures and Bills Deemed Necessary to Pass a Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, Including Two That Raise Taxes

The Tennessee General Assembly adjusted schedules at the start of the week for Tuesday to address only those procedures and bills deemed necessary to fulfill the constitutional requirement of passing a balanced budget for fiscal year 2021, which runs July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.

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Commentary: With Teleworking in Place, GOP State Governors Should Modernize Their Governments and Deal With Public Sector Unions

State and local government agencies are shutting down or having workers telecommute in response to the Chinese coronavirus, and now it is the time for GOP governors and legislatures to modernize their governmental operations, not just survive. It should be a good time to assess which departments and employees are vital, and which are not. Once those assessments are made, appropriate cuts should be made.

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Kid Rock’s Steakhouse in Nashville Originally Defied Order, But Will Now Close

Staff at Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse announced Monday night that they will temporarily close, per a city order that all bars on Lower Broadway must shut down.

This, even though Kid Rock’s Steakhouse owner originally said he would defy that order.

As The Tennessee Star reported, on Sunday members of the Metropolitan Board of Health of Nashville and Davidson County declared a public health emergency that forced business owners to either close their doors or limit capacity. Bars on Lower Broadway and throughout Davidson County must close until further notice.

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Coronavirus: Senator Kerry Roberts Advises the Need for Official Announcements in a Timely Manner for All Tennesseans

On Tuesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed his weekly regular guest and all-star panelist Tennessee state Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield.)

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Walk Away Campaign Founder Brandon Straka Joins Leahy to Discuss His Mission and What Motivated His Change of Mind

Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined on the newsmakers line by Walk Away Campaign (#WalkAway) founder Brandon Straka.

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Minnesota Limits Testing Because of ‘National Shortage’ of COVID-19 Testing Materials

The Minnesota Department of Health said Tuesday that it is tightening its “testing criteria” for the coronavirus because of a “national shortage of COVID-19 laboratory testing materials.”

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Minnesota Lawmakers Call Walz’s Order Closing Private Businesses ‘An Overreach That Will Be Devastating’

Republican lawmakers said they appreciate Gov. Tim Walz’s leadership in responding to the coronavirus outbreak, but think his executive order closing most private businesses is “an overreach that will be devastating.”

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Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat DeWine Recuses Himself from Voting on His Father Gov. Mike DeWine’s Effort to Quash State Primary

When Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine went court shopping to quash the state’s primary Tuesday as a way to fight the coronavirus, one of three Supreme Court justices who abstained from voting in his favor was his eldest son, Justice Pat DeWine.

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Ohio State University Delays Spring Commencement Ceremony

Ohio State University (OSU) announced Tuesday it has postponed its spring commencement ceremony amid coronavirus concerns.

“Following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that no large events be scheduled over the next eight weeks, we have postponed our spring commencement,” Michael Drake, the president of the school said.

Drake said OSU’s preference is to reschedule the event later on in the spring, but a new date hasn’t been chosen.

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