HERMITAGE, Tennessee – As announced earlier in the week, President Donald Trump visited Tennessee Friday to survey the damage caused by the deadly tornado that passed through the state overnight Monday into Tuesday.
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A proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution that would declare that liberties do not come from government, but from Almighty God failed in the State Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
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At a press conference Thursday surrounded by more than 40 members of the Tennessee General Assembly, Governor Bill Lee announced that he will be introducing legislation supporting the God-given and constitutionally-protected Second Amendment rights of Tennesseans with a Constitutional Carry bill.
Word of an announcement that would generically expand “constitutional rights” got out late Wednesday, although the Tennessee Firearms Association’s Executive Director John Harris said that they were made aware weeks ago of a major announcement on a 2A issue that TFA members would likely be pleased with.
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NASHVILLE– Legislators learned Wednesday about a Tennessee-grown phonics program from the Sumner County teachers who developed it.
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GALLATIN, Tennessee – After nearly four hours of the regular monthly meeting of the Sumner County Board of County Commissioners, a Second Amendment Sanctuary County Resolution was passed Monday evening by a vote of 18 to 4.
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NASHVILLE– The State Capitol Commission, while hearing testimony from both sides on the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust during a meeting on Thursday took no action on the matter.
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A rally in support of a Second Amendment Sanctuary County Resolution is planned for Monday, February 24 at 6 p.m. in front of the Sumner County Administration Building.
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NASHVILLE– House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) announced Tuesday he plans to eliminate state fees for handgun carry permits issued in Tennessee.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Ten members of the Tennessee House of Representatives last week participated in a “Spend a Day in My Wheels” Challenge.
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The state’s revenue collections for the month of January remained strong, resulting in a $129.4 surplus over the budgeted estimate of $1.55 billion, Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter reported Friday.
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GALLATIN, Tennessee – At the Monday meeting of the Sumner County Commission Legislative Committee, citizens were denied their request for a Second Amendment (SA) Sanctuary County resolution.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Eight groups partnered together Tuesday for a “No Tax on my Occupation” lobby day at the Tennessee state legislature.
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As part of “Super Tuesday,” Tennessee will begin early voting Wednesday, February 12 in the 2020 presidential preference primary. Super Tuesday refers to the single day that the highest number of U.S. states and territories hold a presidential primary or caucus during a presidential election year. In the 2020 presidential election year, Super Tuesday will be held on March 3. In Tennessee, early voting starts this Wednesday and runs through Tuesday, February 25. Tennessee joins 14 other jurisdictions holding a primary event on Super Tuesday, according to Ballotpedia, including Alabama, America Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Virginia. With California and Texas – the two most populous states – holding their primaries on Super Tuesday, more than one third of the U.S. population is expected to vote on March 3, Ballotpedia predicts. In a December 19, 2019, letter to county election commission offices, Secretary of State Tre Hargett certified the presidential candidates on the presidential preference primary ballot. The Republican primary ballot will include presidential candidates: Donald J. Trump Joe Walsh Bill Weld The Democratic primary ballot includes 15 presidential candidates: Michael Bennet Joseph R. Biden Michael R. Bloomberg Cory Booker…
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HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee – As the Sumner County Board of Commissioners are scheduled take up a Second Amendment Sanctuary County Resolution Monday, citizens gathered in support of their God-given constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The State House Naming, Designating and Private Acts Committee voted Tuesday to delay action until the last calendar of the committee on a resolution suggesting the removal and replacement of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at the state capitol building.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – At his second annual State of the State Address, Governor Bill Lee continued to prioritize education, criminal justice reform, care for the most vulnerable, and rural Tennessee in his $40.8 billion budget for the upcoming 2020-2021 fiscal year. The next fiscal year’s budget reflects a 3.7 percent increase over last year’s $39.3 billion budget and is the first time that the state’s budget has exceeded $40 billion. Providing the General Assembly information on the state of the government is an Article III requirement of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee for the state’s chief executive and was set for Monday, February 3 at 6 p.m. in the chambers of the State’s House of Representatives in the State Capitol. Prior to delivering the State of the State Address, Governor Lee gave a preview in a 5 a.m. release of excerpts from the Address to the governor’s office webpage. Monday evening, legislators, Governor Lee, guests, and other attendees were met – starting at 5:30 p.m. – by a regular protester standing in front of the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest located between the Senate and House chambers shouting, “Remove the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest,” and “Remove…
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The House Naming, Designating and Private Acts Committee is considering a resolution that suggests the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the state capitol and replacing it with an appropriate tribute to a deserving Tennessean.
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NASHVILLE – During the second legislative session of the 111th Tennessee General Assembly, state lawmakers will rewrite Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) regulations relative to billboards within the state which were ruled to be unconstitutional by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
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Representative Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) filed a resolution Wednesday that recognizes CNN and The Washington Post as fake news.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – During a House Republican Caucus meeting held Monday prior to a floor session, Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) was elected as the new Majority Whip.
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In the monthly announcement of state revenues, Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter reported that collections for December were $55.3 million more than the budgeted estimate.
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Following a visit to the U.S. border with Mexico last week, U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) said that the soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division – known as the Rakkasans – are very proud to be at the border and feel like they are finally getting to protect their homeland.
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RICHMOND, Virginia – Thousands of 2nd Amendment supporters gathered peacefully in Virginia Monday, demonstrating that the commitment to defend the God-given, constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms extends far beyond the Commonwealth’s borders.
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RICHMOND, Virginia – Supporters of the 2nd Amendment have received warnings about being set up at the annual rally at the Commonwealth of Virginia capitol, which has become ground-zero for the constitutionally protected right of Americans to keep and bear arms.
For nearly two decades, Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) has organized an annual trek to the General Assembly on Martin Luther King Day to peacefully assemble and lobby their legislators on the 2nd Amendment.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Tuesday, January 14 marked the first day of the second session of the 111th Tennessee General Assembly and included a House Republican caucus meeting, a new Speaker at the House dais, the swearing in of the newest member to the House of Representatives and the passage of a religious freedom bill by the Senate.
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As the 111th Tennessee General Assembly is set to enter its second session, newly elected Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton gave an exclusive interview to The Tennessee Star to discuss legislative priorities and current issues.
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In a news release Friday, the Commissioner of Finance and Administration Stuart McWhorter announced that the state’s revenues for October exceeded budgeted estimates, resulting in a $49.8 million surplus for the month.
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Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) officials reported last week that the timing for the completion of the 962 projects totaling $10.5 billion included in the fuel tax increasing IMPROVE Act will now take 20 plus years instead of the 10 years originally estimated.
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The General Daniel Smiths Rock Castle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is seeking help in setting a record for the number of wreaths placed at the National Cemetery in Nashville.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The House Civil Justice Subcommittee held a summer study of two bills related to civil asset forfeiture reform and reporting, the former having widespread and bi-partisan support although the legislation didn’t make it past its first stop in the Subcommittee.
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The House TennCare Subcommittee took on the controversial topic of the block grant proposal, hearing from key stakeholders in a two-hour summer study conducted last Thursday.
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At the regularly scheduled October meeting of the Sumner County Board of Commissioners held Monday the 21st, the $96.7 million Phase I plan for the courthouse project was approved by a vote of 20-4.
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U.S. Representative for the 7th District, Mark Green, has announced that he will host his first Military Service Academy Day.
The event, which is open to the public, will be held on Saturday, November 16 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Franklin High School on Hillsboro Road in Franklin.
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The report of Tennessee state revenues for September at $1.6 billion resulted in a budget surplus of $138.8 million. Revenue for the month of September 2019, as indicated in the report, is $138.7 million more than September 2018, reflecting a 9.75 percent year-over-year growth rate. On an accrual basis, September is the second month in the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Combined with August, the two months of revenues have resulted in a total $167.6 million budget surplus year-to-date. Revenues are 6.6 percent ahead of the plan for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and 9.00 percent ahead of this time in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter said of the most recent month’s revenue results, “September sales tax receipts continue to reflect strong consumer activity within the state and corporate tax revenues greatly outperformed expectations.” The sales and use tax, the state’s largest revenue generator accounting for more than 60 percent of the 2019-2020 budgeted revenues, exceeded the estimates for September by $31 million or nearly 4 percent. Year-to-date, sales tax revenues have exceeded the budgeted estimates by $40 million, or 2.5 percent for the two month period. Franchise and excise taxes combined, the state’s second-largest revenue source…
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The agenda for the two-day State House Education Summer Study released Wednesday includes five bills addressing higher education as well as topics related to K-12 education from the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE).
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Commissioner of the Department of Finance Administration, Stuart McWhorter, reported last week that Tennessee revenues for August were $28.8 million more than the budgeted estimates.
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At six different meetings between July and September, Sumner County Commissioners have refused to adopt a resolution making a good faith commitment that they would not condemn private property for the purposes of a greenway.
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Featuring Governor Bill Lee as the keynote speaker, Men of Valor, the men’s Christian prison ministry, held an all-day criminal justice reform conference Wednesday at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in downtown Nashville.
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Tennessee became the first state in the nation Tuesday to propose that $7.9 billion in federal funding for the state’s Medicaid program, known as TennCare, would be provided through a block grant.
The release of the 34-page proposal, TennCare II Demonstration Amendment 42, begins a 30-day public comment period, which will end on October 18, 2019.
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The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an opinion on September 11, 2019, affirming that Tennessee’s Billboard Regulation and Control Act of 1972 is unconstitutional based on its content-based regulation of free speech.
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Serving as the Senator for Nashville’s 20th District, the last Republican in the state legislature representing Nashville, Steve Dickerson, will face off against a Republican primary opponent in August, and if successful, a Democrat challenger in the November 2020 general election.
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Rusty Grills, a Dyer County conservative, has announced his campaign in the special election primary for State House District 77 scheduled for November 5.
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State Representative Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), the longest serving Republican in the Tennessee House of Representatives, announced on Thursday that he will not seek re-election in 2020.
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Candidate for U.S. Senate, Dr. Manny Sethi, met with grassroots conservatives in Knoxville, sharing his campaign message, interacting one-on-one and taking questions from attendees.
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State Representative Jay Reedy (R-Erin), the House sponsor of HB2315, the 2018 legislation that prohibits state and local governmental entities and officials from adopting sanctuary policies, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon on behalf of legislators that addresses Nashville’s continued flouting of both state and federal laws. “Nashville is subject to the laws of the State of Tennessee and the United States of America, and the laws of both are clear: Sanctuary policies that shield illegal aliens are themselves illegal,” the statement said. “The law states clearly that local government entities that do not comply are potentially ‘ineligible to enter into any grant contract with the department of economic and community development,’ the statement continued. On Tuesday morning, Nashville Mayor David Briley, who by all accounts trails At-large Metro Council member John Cooper in the September 12 mayoral runoff election, stepped up the city’s flouting of state and federal laws when he issued an executive order that, among other things, calls on the Nashville Davidson County delegation of the Tennessee General Assembly to fight to repeal HB2315. Briley’s executive order, in effect, declares Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County to be a sovereign state, with rights equal to or superior to those constitutionally authorized…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The first meeting of Tennessee House of Representatives members interested in issues related to rural districts was organized by Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) and attended by nearly three dozen legislators.
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Nashville Democratic State Representative Bo Mitchell filed HB 1550 on August 21 in a move that would delete the Tennessee Education Savings Account (ESA) Pilot Program.
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The Commissioner of the Tennessee’s Department of Finance Administration Stuart McWhorter announced August 15 that, while state tax revenues were below budget for the month of July, Tennessee will end fiscal year 2019 with a surplus of $636.1 million.
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Club for Growth Foundation, as part of a new initiative, launched 2019 state legislative scorecards in four states to provide an in-depth look at votes on economic issues, including Tennessee. Only one Tennessee legislator, Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington), earned the designation of Defender of Freedom by the Club for Growth, for scoring 90 percent or better. The non-profit charitable organization was formed with the purpose of educating the public about the value of free markets, pro-growth policies and creating economic prosperity. Club for Growth Foundation’s congressional scorecard, published annually, is highly regarded when it comes to key votes on economic issues relative to spending, taxes, regulation and trade. At the state level, in addition to Tennessee, Club for Growth Foundation has launched state legislative scorecards in Florida, New Mexico and Virginia for the 2019 legislative session. Florida’s scorecard also includes votes from the 2018 legislative session. On August 14, 2019, Club For Growth Foundation President, David McIntosh, announced the launch of the new state scorecards, “The Club for Growth Foundation’s Congressional Scorecard is already the gold-standard in publishing the voting records of Senators and Members of the U.S. House of Representatives on economic legislation, and the State Legislative Scorecards…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – House Democrats launched an unsuccessful attempt to expel Representative David Byrd (R-Waynesboro) from the House of Representatives during the Extraordinary Session on August 23 to elect a new Speaker. HR 7006, introduced by Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) on August 5 reads, “Expels David Byrd from his seat as a member of the House of Representatives of the One Hundred Eleventh General Assembly.” Byrd has been accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with underage female student athletes 30 years ago when he was a high school basketball coach. The allegations were made against Byrd prior to the 2018 elections, which Byrd won capturing 78 percent of the vote against his Democrat opponent. Since the allegations were made public, protesters have been regular attendees at the legislative offices and committee rooms in the Cordell Hull Building, and even more present outside the chambers during floor sessions. Protesters were present during and after the House Republican Caucus meeting held on August 22, the day prior to the Extraordinary Session. A group, Enough is Enough, has repeatedly called for Byrd to be removed from the House, even to Governor Bill Lee who has no such constitutional authority. Earlier this week, before…
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