Conservative groups in Nashville are calling on Davidson County residents and any Tennesseans who are strongly against Metro Nashville raising property taxes to attend tonight’s “No New Property Tax” rally outside the Metro Courthouse.
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Three conservative groups are planning to rally against Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s expected announcement of an increase to Davidson County property taxes during his State of Metro address next week.
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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) released its 2025 Legislative Agenda, calling on state lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly to pass legislation focused on three topics during this legislative session.
AFP-TN’s The Volunteer Way 2025 Legislative Agenda urges state lawmakers to pass the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act as well as legislation concerning universal school choice and state-wide property taxes.
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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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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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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) celebrated the Tennessee Senate on Thursday for its passage of House Joint Resolution 81 by a 26-6 vote.
House Joint Resolution 81 would prohibit the Tennessee General Assembly from levying, authorizing, or otherwise permitting a state tax on property if enacted.
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The Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) recently released a report highlighting the amount of new investment in the healthcare industry which was denied due to the state’s Certificate of Needs (CON) law.
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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) published its 2024 Legislative Agenda on Tuesday, suggesting four major policy changes in the state as the General Assembly convened for this year’s legislative session.
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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 (AFP-TN) announced Monday it has tapped Pamela Furr to serve as the organization’s grassroots director for Middle Tennessee.
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Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) applauded the state Senate’s passing of a bill that requires the Tennessee Treasurer to make investment decisions based on financial factors – not based on environmental, social, or governance (ESG) factors.
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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) unveiled a new tool the public can use to track floor calendars, legislation, amendments, and video of all House legislative initiatives in real time.
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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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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Deputy State Director James Amundsen at Americans for Prosperity Tennessee to the newsmaker line to discuss his recent op ed and explain right to work and why it’s important to remain as law in the state.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Americans for Prosperity’s Tennessee state direct, Tori Venable on the newsmaker line to discuss the endorsement of Andy Ogles for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District and what they look for in a candidate.
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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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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Americans for Prosperity of Tennessee, Grant Henry in studio to weigh in on the testimony of Secretary of State Blinken Monday.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor Ogles and AMF’s Henry to the studio to weigh in on federal government funding to local state schools and the motivation for school choice.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, guest host Ben Cunningham welcomed Grant Henry in studio to discuss the excellence of the Tennessee legislature and the importance for citizens to become involved.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Grant Henry from American’s for Prosperity-Tennessee in studio to weigh in on infrastructure spending and the budget reconciliation process.
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Members of an organized campaign who oppose the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act are reportedly well-stocked with cash and have more that 400 times as much money as the people who favor it. The people on the opposing side — residents who have pushed for the referendum — have a sum of cash that, by comparison, is paltry.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor Ogles and AFP’s Henry in studio to weigh in on the Cuban protests, false narratives by mainstream media and questioned American’s value of freedom.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Ogles and AFP’s Grassroots Director Henry to the studio to discuss Big Tech, censorship, and public utility.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Americans for Prosperity’s Grant Henry in studio to ponder upon Fourth of July conversations with his Romanian father in law who escaped communism.
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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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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Grassroots Director for Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry in studio to discuss the recent ruling on 4 Good Government referendum.
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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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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed American’s for Prosperity’s Grassroots engagement director Grant Henry in studio to reflect upon his life path that led him to his current position.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed AMF’s Grant Henry in studio to expand on the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act and the start of grassroots door knocking.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed AFP’s Grassroots Director Grant Henry to the newsmakers line to talk about their campaign at Grassrootsnashville.com urging conservatives to volunteer and get out the vote on June 27th to stop the tax increase in Davidson County.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, guest host Ben Cunningham welcomed Grant Henry in studio to discuss human nature’s need for purpose and how Marxism has fueled that desire to the detriment of America.
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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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Davidson County Chancery Court Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Tuesday gave members of the Davidson County Election Commission what they wanted and ruled against arguments in favor of the Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act.
The Nashville Taxpayer Protection Act referendum, if approved, would roll back Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s 34 to 37 percent tax increase.
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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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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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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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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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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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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. 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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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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