Tag: Governor Bill Haslam

Commentary: There Is Something Rotten in the State of Tennessee

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Staffers of former Governor Bill Haslam have sold their souls to BlackRock, a giant global corporation hell-bent on controlling every penny on earth and using their power to force us all to obey their woke ESG decrees. This is an outrage that must be addressed. 

As Attorney General Skrmetti’s lawsuit against BlackRock progresses, BlackRock is fighting back. But other than making cringy ads starring a man in a cowboy hat in an absurd attempt to convince the people of Tennessee to trust them, BlackRock is also playing the swamp game. 

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Tennessee Students Still Struggle After Common Core ‘Rebranded’

Beth Lear

  Students attending K-12 public schools in Tennessee are struggling to perform above average on national standardized tests. Partially adopted in 2010 and fully implemented by the 2013-14 school year, Common Core State Standards (CCSS) failed to produce the academic results expected. The Tennessee Department of Education and Governor Bill Haslam “rebranded” CCSS as Tennessee standards after the legislature passed a bill to repeal the Core in April 2015. “Common Core is as big a change in education as Obamacare is in health care, but unlike Obamacare it needed no votes in Congress to become national policy,” Joy Pullman, executive editor of The Federalist, wrote in her 2017 book, The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids. These controversial K-12 public education standards, “garnered practically no notice from the media before the Obama administration, in concert with largely unelected state bureaucrats and a shadow bureaucracy of private organizations, locked it in nationwide. That meant no public debate before the scheme was imposed upon a country supposedly run with the consent of the governed,” Pullman observed. Common Core State Standards were adopted in full or in part by the governments of 46 states beginning in 2009, the first…

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Ten Months Into the Fiscal Year, Tennessee’s Revenues Exceed Estimates by $556.7 Million

Laura Baigert

  A press release issued Friday by Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter announced that Tennessee’s May revenues were $46.3 million more than the state budgeted for the month. Also reported was that total tax collections by the state so far this year exceeded the estimates by more than a half billion dollars. On an accrual basis, May is the tenth month of the 2018-2019 fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. McWhorter said that the more-than-estimated May revenues demonstrated sound growth over the same period last year. “Both sales tax and corporate tax revenues were the largest contributors to the month’s growth and taken together continued to outperform expectations, as they have for most of the year. All other tax revenues, taken as a group, were also more than the May estimates” reported McWhorter. Despite cuts made in the IMPROVE Act, or 2017 Tax Cut Act, to the Franchise & Excise Tax and Hall Income Tax – which will be fully repealed beginning January 1, 2021 – as well as Sales & Use Tax on food, the highest revenue increases this year come from these taxes. Sales & Use – $257 million or 3.41%…

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Stokes Nielson’s Tweet On New Podcast Questioning Possible Senate Hopeful Bill Haslam’s Gas Tax Goes Viral

Laura Baigert

Stokes Nielson’s tweet about his podcast, “The Spirit of Humanity,” which raises questions about former Governor and possible U.S. Senate hopeful Bill Haslam relative to gas tax increases, goes viral with over a half million impressions within hours of its pre-release. As reported by The Tennessee Star, Stokes launched a new issue advocacy initiative called Stokes For Tennessee Freedom to provide a two-way dialogue on issues that could impact Tennessee citizens. Stokes’ first podcast of the new initiative, “The Spirit of Humanity,” was launched through Stokes & Friends on the Westwood One Podcast Network and featured international sensation Korean-born BTS, the “biggest new force in pop” according to Spotify, Dua Lipa, South Korean boy-band Day6, Chinese-Canadian actor, single and songwriter Kris Wu, and country superstar Tim McGraw. In a press release about the podcast, Stokes said that, per his normal practice, he tweeted out the podcast episode to his followers in a pre-release on Tuesday, February 26. Within hours, the tweet had gone viral with nearly 600,000 impressions, which “propelled the episode immediately into the Top 100 of Apple Music Podcasts,” reported Stokes. According to the award-winning songwriter and producer, Stokes, when he inadvertently encountered a fiery street protest in…

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Tennessee Star EXCLUSIVE: Country Music’s Stokes Nielson Launches a New Initiative ‘Stokes for Tennessee Freedom’

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Stokes Nielson granted The Tennessee Star an exclusive sit-down in the shadow of the State Capitol to talk about the new venture he is initiating called Stokes For Tennessee Freedom. Stokes will be recognized for his country music career as an award-winning songwriter with the band The Lost Trailers, originally named Stokes Nielson and The Lost Trailers. The twice-nominated band for the Academy of Country Music’s Top New Vocal Group is probably best known for their “Holler Back” single that reached #9 on the country music charts. Stokes, energized and passionate about his new mission, didn’t dwell on his country music career other than to say that he has a background in the business and that he is involved with that community or how it relates to his new initiative. The meeting with The Star, arranged confidentially by a third party without revealing the name of the interviewee, eliminated any potential distracting interview questions about Stokes’ country music life, and allowed the focus to be on his Stokes For Tennessee Freedom effort and what lead him to it. Almost immediately after the introductions, Stokes presented a photocopy of a hand-written letter, currently housed in the National Archives,…

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Gov. Haslam Grants Clemency to Cyntoia Brown, Sets Aug. 7 Release Date for Woman Convicted of Murder at Age 16

Jason M. Reynolds

Retiring Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday gave executive clemency to convicted murderer Cyntoia Brown by commuting her life sentence. Brown will be released on Aug. 7 to parole supervision for a period of 10 years, Haslam said in a statement. She served 15 years in prison. She was convicted as a teenager of killing a man while she said she was a sex trafficking victim at age 16, NBC News said. In 2006, Brown was convicted by a Davidson County jury of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery for the 2004 murder of 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen, the governor’s office said. The incident occurred when Allen took Brown to his home. She received a life sentence with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of 51 years in prison, which means she would not have been eligible for parole consideration until 2055, at the earliest, without the governor’s action. Brown said that she feared for her life and pulled a gun from her purse and shot Allen while in bed with him because she believed he was going for a gun, NBC News said. Brown, a runaway, lived with her 24-year-old boyfriend, a pimp known as…

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Changes to Testing Coming to Tennessee

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Bill Haslam

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Education Commissioner Candice McQueen today announced changes in the delivery of the TNReady assessment for the current school year and additional changes that will take effect beginning in the 2019-20 school year. The changes are a direct response to a report generated by the recent statewide listening tour that included roundtable conversations and online feedback from educators including teachers, testing coordinators and school administrators on how to make improvements to the assessment process. “These are real solutions, some of which are already underway or will be implemented later this year, that will be felt by educators, students and parents across the state,” Haslam said. “Throughout the listening tour, the message from teachers was clear that we do not need to start over but rather do all we can to improve the delivery of TNReady. We think these changes will do just that and create a better testing experience for both students and teachers.” The Department of Education has already made significant changes, including a successful verification of the testing platform involving roughly 50,000 students, ensuring quicker turnaround of results starting with the fall end-of-course assessments, and providing better educator training opportunities. This is a “positive…

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Lame Duck Governor Haslam Announces Six Stop Education Listening Tour

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Bill Haslam

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, who leaves office in January, 2019, has  announced a statewide listening tour intended to improve delivery of the state’s elementary and secondary assessments known as TNReady. Unless called into a Special Session the Tennessee Legislature (with at least two dozen new members) will not convene again until next year. Current House Education Chairmen Rep. Harry Brooks and Rep. John Fogerty did not seek reelection and Democrat Senator Reggie Tate (D-Memphis), the Senate Education Vice-Chair, was defeated in his reelection bid. “Tennessee’s unprecedented improvement in education is the result of high academic standards and an assessment that measures knowledge of those standards,” Haslam said in making the announcement. “Without aligned assessments, we don’t know where our students stand and where we need to improve. We finally have a test that is aligned to Tennessee’s strong academic standards, and I don’t want recent assessment delivery issues to cause us to lose sight of why we have these tests in the first place. Delivering the test without disruption is essential and we must get it right. I am confident this listening tour and process will inform the critical work ahead of us.” The lame duck Governor’s listening tour will…

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Tennessee Star Poll: As Gas Prices Rise So Does Opposition to Tennessee Fuel Tax Increase

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Aaron Shane anti-Susan Lynn gas tax

Gasoline prices across Tennessee continue to nudge towards $3 a gallon. As those prices rise Tennessee voter opposition to the fuel tax increase included in the IMPROVE Act is increasing as well. Despite the state having two billion dollars in surplus and recurring revenues, Governor Bill Haslam and Republican legislative leadership jammed through a $330 million a year fuel tax increase last year, which is phased in over three years.  The latest phased increase went into effect on July 1. A new Tennessee Star statewide poll of 1,040 likely Republican Primary voters conducted by Triton Polling from June 25-28, 2018 indicates that voters are not supportive of the fuel tax increase. The poll asked: “Last year, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill, signed into law by Gov. Haslam, to increase the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 10 cents per gallon, to fund road construction. Do you support this gas tax increase?” 35.4 percent of likely GOP primary voters support the tax increase while 51.3 percent oppose the increase. 13.3 percent were not sure of had no opinion. A year ago, the Tennessee Star Poll conducted at that time indicated that 48.1 percent of…

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Soros Funded Southern Poverty Law Center Challenging Governor Haslam on Anti-Sanctuary City Legislation

Chris Alto

The Soros funded Southern Poverty Law Center has issued a legal throw-down to Governor Haslam challenging his campaign promises to “do everything within my authority to be sure that Tennessee does not attract illegal activity.” Working with the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), another Soros funded amnesty-for-lawbreaker advocacy organization, the SPLC has promised to provide legal representation to  illegal aliens arrested in the Bean Station workplace raid who are in detention and facing possible deportation. TIRRC and its allies want to stop federal immigration authorities from detaining and/or deporting criminal illegal aliens and instead, have them released from ICE detention and returned to Tennessee communities. Shortly after the election of President Trump, TIRRC issued a public call to all Tennessee communities to refuse cooperation with ICE. In other words, TIRRC wants Tennessee to operate as a sanctuary state. Approximately half of the 100 workers taken into custody in the Bean Station raid are in detention and 10 of them face federal charges for evading prior orders of removal. The FY2016 DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review data for illegal aliens who were never detained, immigration court hearings held in absentia, meaning when the illegal alien fails to show up to court, increased…

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Off the Record: In-State Tuition Bill for Illegal Immigrants Must Be in Trouble – Haslam’s Former Chief of Staff to the Rescue?

Chris Alto

Remember the first time two Republican legislators filed a bill to give illegal immigrants taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition and when it didn’t pass, House member Richard Floyd started crying? Remember the second time two Republican legislators filed a bill to give illegal immigrants taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition? And Governor Haslam, in his typical can’t-give-a-straight-or-decisive-answer-until-we-know-which-way-the-winds-are-blowing, said “it has merit.” That bill failed also even though Speaker Harwell walked out so she wouldn’t have to cast a vote? And then remember the third time a bill was filed to give illegal immigrants taxpayer subsidized in-state tuition? And Governor Haslam took a picture on the capitol steps with advocates for illegal immigration to make sure all Tennesseans understood he actually supports at least a little bit of illegal immigration, Since Haslam can’t run again it’s okay for him to break the campaign promise he made to demagnetize Tennessee from illegal immigration. When he was desperate to be Governor he promised all kinds of things in writing and told voters that: In order to keep Tennessee a great state, we must also work to provide more and better job opportunities for Tennessee residents. An important part of that effort must be making sure that available jobs are…

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Analysis: What is the Haslam Legacy?

Tennessee Star Staff

As Governor Bill Haslam delivered his final State of the State address Monday night he appropriately looked back over the accomplishments that he and the Legislature have produced since he first took office seven years ago. The Governor is clearly pretty proud of his record, and there has in fact been some notable progress in a few areas during his tenure.  The questions that remain are: 1. how much of the credit actually belongs to him; and, 2. whether his signature accomplishments in education will actually produce measurable results that justify the investment of taxpayer dollars. Let’s look at three key issues: (1) Tax Cuts Several tax cuts were implemented over the past seven years – eliminating the inheritance tax, eliminating the Hall income tax, a narrowly targeted reduction in fuel taxes for FedEx (who’s Chairman sits on the Board of the Governor’s family business), elimination of what was essentially an income tax on professional athletes in certain sports (though the Professional Privilege Tax, a flat rate income tax on a couple of dozen professions remains in place) and cutting taxes that primarily benefit a few dozen of the biggest corporate cronies of the Governor (though that one included a…

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Governor Bill Haslam Named Republican Governors Association Chairman – Again

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For the second time in four years, our own Bill Haslam has been elected by his fellow Governors to serve as the Chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association (RGA). “Governor Bill Haslam is a proven conservative leader, and with his record of getting results for the people of Tennessee, I’m confident that his capable leadership and tireless work ethic will greatly benefit the RGA in 2018,” outgoing RGA Chairman Governor Scott Walker said in a statement released Thursday. “The achievements Governor Haslam has made in Tennessee are enormously impressive, and his experience providing common sense, pro-growth policies will be vital to ensuring our governors have the resources they need to compete and win in 36 gubernatorial elections scheduled to occur over the next year. It has been an honor to serve with him on the RGA’s Executive Committee for this past year and I look forward to the success he will achieve in 2018 as Chairman of the RGA,” Walker said. Nebraska’s Governor Pete Ricketts was named Vice-Chair. “Governor Pete Ricketts’ capable leadership will be a major asset to the RGA’s efforts in the upcoming year,” Governor Walker said. “He has been a tireless advocate for the people of Nebraska, working…

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Report: Pilot Flying J ‘To Pay Ex-Staffers Legal Bills’ in Fraud Case Set to Begin Next Week

Tennessee Star Staff

The Associated Press is reporting that the board of Pilot Flying J, which is owned by the Haslam family, “has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills,” in the upcoming fraud trial set to begin next week in Chattanooga: The truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has publicly distanced itself from former employees charged with defrauding customers. But court records show the board of Pilot Flying J has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills. Pilot Flying J has been under scrutiny in recent years because of a diesel fuel rebate scam. Fourteen former staffers have pleaded guilty, while another four — including the company’s former president — are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 31. Court records indicate a May 2013 “undertaking agreement” in which Pilot agreed to cover attorneys’ fees and other expenses. They agreed to repay the money if they are convicted or lose on appeal. The FBI began investigating the Pilot Flying J scandal back in 2012, around the time CEO Jimmy Haslam purchased the NFL’s Cleveland Browns for a little over $1 billion. Jimmy Haslam has not been charged in the scandal,…

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Gov. Haslam’s Gas Tax Increase Sponsor ‘Boss’ Doss Offers No Explanation Why His Company’s Equipment Is Being Used on Road Construction Project

Laura Baigert

ARDMORE, Tennessee – Doss Brothers Inc., the construction company owned by State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma), the House sponsor of Governor Bill Haslam’s gas-tax increasing IMPROVE Act, is currently performing work at a road construction site on SR 7 in Ardmore, Tennessee, as well as several Giles County locations which lie within the House District 70, which he currently represents. According to TDOT records (page 10 of 17) and Bid Express, the “Secure Internet Bidding” website that handles departments of transportation for 38 states including Tennessee, the bid was “generated” on March 6, 2017, and “let” (awarded) on March 31, 2017. The successful bidding contractor was Rogers Group, Inc., with a “Total Bid” of $2,290,682.00 and a “completion time on or before December 15, 2017,” for “The grading, drainage and paving on U.S. 31 (S.R. 7) from Union Hill Road to Morrow Road in Ardmore,” Giles County Doss Brothers, Inc. heavy equipment, clearly marked as such, has been unmistakably observed within the past week at a road construction site on SR 7 in Ardmore, Tennessee, as seen in the image on the right. The Tennessee Star asked Rep. Doss to comment as to whether Doss Brothers, Inc. equipment has been used on a road construction project…

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Congressional Candidate John Rose: ‘I Fully Support’ Governor Haslam’s Gas Tax Increase

Tennessee Star Staff

  At a February event in Smith County that featured Governor Haslam promoting his proposed gas tax increase, recently announced Sixth Congressional District candidate John Rose told the governor, “I just want to say I applaud you for making this proposal. I fully support it.” You can hear Rose make these comments to the governor beginning at the 54:16 mark (42:05 from the end) of this video tape of the event, provided courtesy of the Smith County Insider:   Here is a partial transcript of Rose’s comments from that day: Governor, I’m John Rose and I’m a businessman and farmer here in the community and have lived here for the last 42 years on the edge of Smith County line , De Kalb County, my farm is actually in De Kalb County. . . As I mentioned, I’m a businessman, and my business is in Nashville so I commute back and forth from Smith County to Nashville . . I want to just say that I applaud you for this proposal. I fully support it. I think that having users of our roads pay for our roads makes tremendous sense. You’ve laid out a very strong case for for why…

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Governor Haslam Featured Supporter at Event for Gas Tax Promoter, Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt

Laura Baigert
Tennessee Star

  Governor Bill Haslam was the featured guest at the July 20 “A Midsummer’s Night Gala” fund raising event “for the Re-election of Anthony Holt, County Executive,” a fervent supporter of the governor’s gas-tax increasing IMPROVE Act and host of a Sumner County town hall on the topic February 22. Holt was an early promoter of what would eventually become the controversial IMPROVE Act, when he brought to the county Legislative Committee “A Resolution of Support for Enhanced, Sustainable Funding for Transportation Needs for the State of Tennessee and for Local Communities” back in April 2016. Holt reported to the Legislative Committee that the resolution had been developed by the MPO – Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization – of which Holt is a member. According to its website, the MPO was established through federal legislation and “facilitates strategic planning for the region’s multi-modal transportation system.” At the time, the state had more than a half-billion dollar budget surplus, yet the transportation resolution urged the Tennessee General Assembly to provide funding other than the over-collected taxes that would account for inflation and allow cities and counties the option to tax for transportation needs, including transit options. The IMPROVE Act increased the…

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Commentary: Why Educators Leave the Profession

JC Bowman

Learning Policy Institute identified inadequate preparation, lack of support, challenging working conditions, dissatisfaction with compensation, better career opportunities, and personal reasons for why teachers change careers. From our own internal surveys “high-stakes standardized testing” is the number one issue educators’ mention to us is why they are dissatisfied with the profession.

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New Poll: Trump Approval Rating Sky High Among Likely GOP Primary Voters in Tennessee

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

FRANKLIN, Tennessee–A new poll released by The Tennessee Star on Tuesday conducted by Triton Polling and Research of 1,007 likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee shows that President Donald Trump’s job approval rating is sky high among Tennessee Republicans. When asked “How would you rate the job performance of President Donald Trump,” 86 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee said they approve of his job performance, while only 11 percent said they disapprove, a remarkable 75 percent margin of approval over disapproval. The vast majority of those likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee strongly approve of President Trump’s job performance: 63.9 percent Strongly Approve 22.6 percent Somewhat Approve 5.3 percent Somewhat Disapprove 6.3 percent Strongly Disapprove 1.9 percent Don’t Know/Are Unsure Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Haslam also has high job performance approval ratings among likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee, though slightly lower than President Trump’s and with less intensity of support. When asked “How would you rate the job performance of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam,” 74 percent of likely Republican primary voters in Tennessee said they approve of his job performance, while only 22 percent said they disapprove. 29.3 percent Strongly Approve 45.1 percent Somewhat Approve 15.1…

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Commentary: Helping Children Succeed

JC Bowman

In America, our students are grouped by chronological age and progress together through the K-12 system. While this might make sense socially, it ignores a student’s readiness. Students who start off struggling from the very beginning often can get a better start on their formal education if retained. Being promoted with their peer group only makes sense if they can make adequate academic progress.

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Steve Gill Commentary: Crony Capitalism Drives the Haslam Gas Tax Plan

Steve Gill
Tennessee Star

  The Haslam Administration is doling out over $113 million in tax CUTS to some of Tennessee’s largest corporations to justify over $350 million in tax INCREASES on working Tennesseans. According to the Times Free Press, just 24 large manufacturing companies will each receive tax breaks of over a million dollars a year under the Haslam plan. Those two dozen companies will reduce their tax burden by over $57 million and receive OVER HALF of the proposed $113 million in Franchise and Excise tax reduction. Tennessee law doesn’t allow the state to release the specific identities of the 24 companies that will benefit most from the Franchise and Excise tax cut. However, according to the Times Free Press certain companies that fit the profile of those who are most likely among the 24 sharing in the $57 million tax break include Nissan, Volkswagen, and General Motors. “This whole tax scheme appears to be built upon a foundation of special treatment for the Governor’s friends while sticking it to ordinary working Tennesseans,” according to State Rep. Judd Matheny. “Before the plan moves one step forward there needs to be full and complete disclosure of who exactly stands to benefit, and how…

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