Tag: Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee

Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee Urges Nashville Mayor to Cut City Budget, Protect Residents from Property Tax Hikes Amid $3.1 Billion Transit Plan

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O'Connell

Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) released a statement Thursday in response to Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s proposed $3.1 billion transit referendum that will be presented to Davidson County voters on the November ballot.

AFP-TN State Director Tori Venable, noting how Nashville voters rejected then-Mayor Megan Barry’s $9 billion transit plan six years ago, acknowledged the dramatic cost difference in O’Connell’s plan while also pointing out the half-cent increase in the city’s sales tax that will be used to fund the plan.

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Phil Williams and NewsChannel 5 Refuse to Answer Questions About Legality of Recorded Phone Call Broadcast in Anti-School Choice Report

Matthew Giffin
NewsChannel5 news Director Sandy Boonstra and reporter Phil Williams

NewsChannel 5 and investigative journalist Phil Williams have so far refused to answer questions about the suspicious origin of a phone call recording Williams obtained and broadcast in a Monday report attacking a school choice advocacy group.

The recording captured a phone conversation between Executive Director Tori Venable of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee and State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill), who currently opposes Governor Bill Lee’s pending school choice legislation.

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AFP-TN State Director Scorches Opponents of Gov. Lee’s School Choice Proposal: Keeping Kids in Failing Schools is ‘Morally Reprehensible’

Kaitlin Housler
Michael Patrick Leahy and AFP-TN Tori Venable

Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) State Director Tori Venable sat down with the Editor-in-chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star Michael Patrick Leahy in the latest episode of the Tennessee Star Extra to discuss Governor Bill Lee’s legislative push for universal school choice.

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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee Proposes Four Public Policy Changes in Its 2023 Legislative Agenda

Kaitlin Housler

The conservative political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) published its 2023 Legislative Agenda, suggesting four major policy changes in the state.

During Tennees’s General Assembly legislative session this year, AFP-TN will advocate for legislation that moves to tackle and overall improve: economic opportunity, educational freedom, transparency, and criminal justice reform.

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Tennessee Approves $884M in Funding, Creates Board for $6B Ford Project

The Center Square

The Tennessee Legislature finished its special session on Ford’s $5.6 billion electric truck project Wednesday by approving $884 million in spending and creating a Megasite Authority of West Tennessee board to oversee operations.

“This is the largest single economic investment in rural Tennessee’s history,” Gov. Bill Lee said. “… It is, most importantly, a win for western Tennessee’s workforce.”

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Americans for Prosperity’s Grant Henry Weighs in on Tennessee Deparment of Labor’s Lax Identification Rules for Education Grant

Julie Carr

Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Grant Henry with American’s for Prosperity in studio to weigh in on the recent article at The Tennessee Star citing lack of legal status verification needed for immigrants seeking taxpayer-funded learning at the Department of Labor.

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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee Reacts to Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Ruling

Chris Butler

Reacting to the cancellation of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum, Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) State Director Tori Venable suggested one way members of the Tennessee General Assembly could react. “This ruling once again silences Nashville voters and taxpayers who continue to be saddled with harmful tax increases. Nashvillians are tired of Mayor Cooper and Metro’s spending addiction that put the city in jeopardy of a state takeover,” Venable said in an emailed press release.

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Americans for Prosperity’s Grassroots Engagement Director Grant Henry Explains the ‘Tennessee Truth in Taxation’ Bill

Julie Carr

Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Grant Henry the Grassroots Engagement Director for Americans for Prosperity to the newsmakers line to talk about the Truth in Taxation bill that would provide transparency to taxpayers and prevent reckless spending at the local government level.

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Initiative to Roll Back Nashville’s 34 Percent Property Tax Hike Receives Election Commission Verification, Heads Back to Clerk’s Office

Jason M. Reynolds

Nashvillians now likely will have input on the city’s 34 to 37 percent property tax hike, a conservative activist said in reaction to the verification of a ballot initiative.

The Davidson County Election Commission on Monday verified the referendum effort for the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act, WSMV said. That could limit the property tax increase to 2 percent. The effort now goes to the Metro Clerk’s Office and potentially to the Dec. 5 ballot.

Tori Venable, state director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee (AFP-TN), lauded the initiative’s progress in a statement. 

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Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act Takes a Big Step Toward Appearing on December Ballot

Chris Butler

Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee (AFP-TN) this week announced that members of the group and other concerned citizens would turn in roughly 20,000 signatures to the Metro Clerk’s office in support of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.

This, according to a press release that AFP-TN members published on their website. Members of the group helped gather the requisite number of signatures for the initiative for the December 5 ballot.

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During National School Choice Week, Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn Receives Award for School Choice Efforts

Laura Baigert

In celebration of National School Choice Week, Tennessee Federation for Children sponsored a Champions of Choice event at the state capitol to present Representative Bill Dunn with the 2019 Champion award. Standing beside Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada (R-Franklin), Shaka Mitchell, Tennessee’s State Director of American Federation for Children, said that as National School Choice Week is being celebrated this week, they wanted to come together to recognize one of the state’s leaders in education and strong advocate for students, Speaker Pro Tem Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville). American Federation for Children (AFC) is a Washington, D.C. headquartered non-profit organization that seeks to “empower families, especially lower-income families with the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children.” The event was held in the Legislative Library located at the state capitol with as many as 100 in attendance including legislators and members of Governor Bill Lee’s staff. AFC’s partner organizations in the effort including Beacon Center of Tennessee, Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee and Tennessee CAN (The Tennessee Campaign for Achievement Now) were also there. AFC’s Mitchell started off by speaking about the quality of education in Tennessee, “The reality is we still have a long way to go,” after…

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Push Begins in Tennessee to Make Records Public on Who Gets Tax Credits

Chris Butler

Three prominent organizations in Tennessee want state legislators to open the books and let the public know details about incentives the state gives away for economic development purposes, according to The Daily Memphian. Those three organizations are the Beacon Center of Tennessee, Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee, and the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, according to the paper. “A state document released in December 2017 shows Tennessee has $987.6 million in carry-over tax credits from previous incentive packages. Those include $790.5 million for investments in industrial machinery and $197.1 million for standard job tax credits. A new report is to come out before Jan. 1, 2019,” The Daily Memphian reported. The report, according to the paper, doesn’t show which companies received the tax credits. State officials hid five items on the document “to avoid violating taxpayer confidentiality.” “Those involve credits for job creation in high-poverty areas, an environmental project, a headquarters dealing with a net operating loss, for green energy investment and for the purchase of brownfield property,” according to The Daily Memphian. The paper quoted AFP state director Tori Venable as saying “a million-dollar money bomb” will detonate when the economy tanks. “AFP-Tennessee is worried those types of liabilities…

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‘Free Speech on College Campuses’ Seminar Hosted by Americans For Prosperity Next Week in Franklin

Laura Baigert

Americans For Prosperity –Tennessee, the grassroots organization that played a key role in bringing an end to the Hall Income Tax in Tennessee, is hosting a no-cost seminar on the topic of “Free Speech on College Campuses.” Sam Nienow, AFP Middle Tennessee Field Director, describes the event as “a fascinating seminar on the infringements upon free speech at both public and private universities.” AFP recognizes that “colleges and universities used to be a place where intellectual diversity was embraced. Now, this philosophy has changed as many higher education institutions fail to uphold the promises of free expression, assembly, and religion to students and faculty.” The Gallup/Knight Foundation conducted a survey in 2017, “Free Expression on Campus: What College Students Think About First Amendment Issues.” Compared to a 2016 survey, students believe all five first amendment rights – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom for people to assembly peacefully and freedom to petition the government – are perceived as significantly less secure in 2017. However, the majority of students consider the protection of citizens’ free speech rights and promoting an inclusive society that is welcoming to diverse groups to be extremely important. But, when given a…

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Commentary: Oppose Wednesday’s Vote to Raise Tennessee’s Gas Tax

Andrew Ogles

There’s no denying that Tennessee’s infrastructure is in need of repair. But Gov. Bill Haslam’s proposed gas tax increases to fund the projects—which the state House of Representatives will vote on this Wednesday – isn’t the right solution. Instead, lawmakers should use money already in the state budget, which is more than enough to meet our transportation needs. The key component of Gov. Haslam’s plan is to increase the state’s tax by 7 cents a gallon on gasoline and 12 cents a gallon on diesel – respective increases of 33 percent and 65 percent over what we currently pay today. Not only that, but it will also be indexed to inflation every other year. That means each time you go to the pump, you’ll pay more to the state and have less money to spend on your personal needs—and it will get worse every two years. On top of the gas tax increase, Gov. Haslam wants to nickel-and-dime us with an increase in vehicle registration fees, too. All combined, the governor’s proposal includes nearly $300 million in higher taxes every year. And that’s not all. The proposal would also give municipalities a bite at the tax apple, allowing them to hold referendums on raising local sales taxes to…

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Former Lt. Gov. Ramsey A Paid Consultant to Pro-Gas Tax Coalition

Tennessee Star Staff
Ramsey at Townhall

Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey told The Tennessee Star on Thursday he is a paid consultant to the Tennessee Coalition on Transportation, an advocacy group that supports Gov. Haslam’s 7 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 12 cents per gallon diesel tax increase. Ramsey’s revelation came during a break in the two hour broadcast of the WWTN Gas Tax Town Hall, moderated by Nashville Morning News host Ralph Bristol on the Dan Mandis Show. The event featured a studio audience, which was virtually unanimous in its opposition to the gas tax. Ramsey advocated strenuously on behalf of the gas tax increase. He was one of eight panelists at the event. Other members of the panel included Andy Ogles, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which opposes the gas tax, David Smith appearing on behalf of Gov. Bill Haslam, State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville), State Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), State Rep. Barry Doss (R-Lawrence County), Rep. Brian Terry (R-Murfreesboro), and Rep. David Alexander (R-Winchester). “I did leave the legislature back, I made my announcement in March, and left in November, of course, at the election,” Ramsey said in his opening remarks as a member of the…

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Americans For Prosperity Opposes Gas Tax, Proposes Alternative

Tennessee Star Staff

Andy Ogles, executive director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee (AFP), unveiled the group’s alternative plan to finance Tennessee’s highway infrastructure improvements on Thursday, vigorously rejecting Gov. Haslam’s proposed 7 cents per gallon gas tax increase. Speaking at the WWTN Gas Tax Town Hall, Ogles accepted the premise that Tennessee’s budget over the coming years should allocate $2 billion for highway improvement and new construction. But Ogles said relying upon the increase in the gas and diesel tax as the only “user fee” mechanism to fund those improvements was not a stable long-term solution, since improvements in gas mileage and the possible rise of alternative means of powering vehicles would likely continue to limit the revenues from those sources to the state. Ogles said that if you except the idea of user fees then one such user fee could be vehicle fees at the time of a vehicle purchase or registration. “I think there’s some math that is important to remember,” Ogles told the panel and studio audience. “And the biggest number or numbers that you should remember is that currently, Tennessee has $1.8 billion in surplus. Now, there’s a lot of moving parts to this and talking about math on the…

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