Tomlin’s ‘Good Friday Nashville’ to again donate net proceeds to Tennessee Kids Belong.
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For the first seven years of Governor Haslam’s term, his budget for the State of Tennessee grew a record $30.2 to $37.3 billion, but the upcoming budget for 2018-19, Haslam’s final year in office, is basically flat at $37.5 billion. Budget appropriations are stated in three categories: State at $17.7 billion; federal at $13.9 billion and $5.9 billion from “other.” Over the past seven years, the state portion of the budget grew an average of four percent with a range of a $40 million reduction in 2014-15 to the highest increase of $1.5 billion in 2017-18, but this year that portion of the budget is reduced an eight-year record of $190 million. State Commissioner of Finance and Administration, Larry Martin, explained in his presentation on the 2018-19 budget to the Senate Finance Ways & Means Committee Tuesday the process for forecasting revenue for the state. The State Funding Board, in November of each year, receives forecasts from four economists, including the State Department of Revenue, from which recommendations are made on the likely growth trends. The funding board provides a projected growth range to the governor, which was 2.7 to 3.2 percent for this year. The governor then has prerogative…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Gov. Bill Haslam delivered his final “State of the State” address before a joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday evening. In a forty minute speech, Haslam recounted the highlights of his two terms as government, and called on state legislators to act on his recently announced plan to fight opioid addiction in the state. He received a standing ovation when he noted that his administration has cut $578 million in taxes. However, when he noted last year’s IMPROVE Act, which raised gasoline taxes by 6 cents per gallon and diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon to fund highway construction, he received only lukewarm applause. His biggest standing ovation from the gathered state legislators came when he noted that the people of Tennessee want to work, and they want their government to work as well. Several legislators told The Tennessee Star that there were no surprises in the governor’s speech, and that it was more general in nature than his previous State of the State speeches. Predictably, Tennessee Democrats panned Haslam’s speech. “Sadly, the Governor’s paltry 25 million opioid plan represents a business-as-usual approach to the opioid crisis – our communities are facing a dire emergency…
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee – At a meeting of the State Capitol Commission (SCC) held Friday, the first order of new business on the agenda was to address Governor Haslam’s request to relocate the Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue from the Capitol. The motion failed by a vote of 7 to 5, with all twelve members voting. Tennessee Code Annotated 4-8-301 established in 1986 that the SCC membership would consist of seven ex-officio members, two legislative members appointed by the speaker of each body, and three private citizens. The members and their respective votes are as follows: Larry Martin, SCC Chair / Commissioner, Finance & Administration – Yes Bob Oglesby, Commissioner, General Services – Yes Bob Martineau, Commissioner, Environment & Conservation – Yes Tre Hargett, Secretary of State – No David Lillard, State Treasurer – No Justin Wilson, Comptroller of the Treasury – No Reavis Mitchell, Chair, TN Historical Commission – Yes State Senator Jack Johnson – No State Representative Curtis Johnson – No Howard Gentry, Jr., Private Citizen – Yes Tammy White, Private Citizen – No King Rogers, Private Citizen – No The SCC meets on an as-needed basis, with just one other meeting in 2017 during the month of May, two…
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The gas tax increase of 4 cents per gallon, which will eventually increase to 6 cents per gallon, as well as a diesel tax increase that will eventually reach 10 cents per gallon, both go into effect today, July 1, throughout Tennessee. The culprit for this tax increase is Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act – Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy – later renamed the Tax Cut Act of 2017. As Tennesseans are forced to pay this higher tax, it’s time to review how it happened in a state with record revenues and a billion dollar surplus. It started no later than 2015, when Governor Bill Haslam and Department of Transportation (TDOT) Commissioner John Schroer went on a taxpayer-funded six-week 15-city tour, meeting with elected officials, business leaders and chamber of commerce executives as well as “infrastructure officials and community members” creating a “need” and building support for a gas tax increase. At the time, there was a $6.1 billion backlog of road and bridge projects. Davidson and Middle Tennessee counties that ring it, were provided Resolutions to be passed by their respective legislative bodies, most often a County Commission, that urged Governor Haslam and the Tennessee…
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For the first time in history, children have new and different ways of acquiring and accessing, deciphering and digesting information instantly. Children are now contributors, not just copiers, of existing knowledge.
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Governor Haslam will hold ceremonial signings of the controversial and gas-tax increasing IMPROVE Act Monday in each of Tennessee’s three grand divisions, as reported last week by The Tennessee Star. According to the invitation on Governor Bill Haslam’s letterhead, the IMPROVE Act signing ceremonies will be held as follows: 10:15 a.m. EDT, East Tennessee Hamilton County Welcome Center I-75 North, 0.7 miles north of GA state line 1:00 p.m. CDT, Middle Tennessee Acklen Park Drive – I-44 Overpass Nashville, TN 37204 3:00 p.m. CDT, West Tennessee US 51 S. from Union City A half mile past the Quality Inn The signings are spaced so closely together in time, Gov. Haslam is almost certainly flying from site to site at taxpayers’s expense to celebrate this tax increase. The IMPROVE Act, initially named for “Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy,” was renamed to the Tax Cut Act of 2017, by its House sponsor of HB 534 Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma), will raise the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon and the diesel tax by 10 cents per gallon phased in over three years. Effective July 1, the gas tax will increase from 20 cents to 24…
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As Governor Bill Haslam sets out next Monday on cross-state IMPROVE Act Bill Signing Ceremonies, he has not yet seen the damage himself from the severe weather that hit Memphis and surrounding Shelby County last Saturday night. And, he has no plans to travel there this week, according to a report from Fox 13 Memphis. Meanwhile, Governor Haslam has announced IMPROVE Act Bill Signing Ceremonies to be held Monday, June 5 in each of Tennessee’s three grand divisions. As of Thursday morning, the fifth day after the storm, Memphis Light Gas and Water Division (MLGW) power outage map indicates that over 32,000 customers are still impacted by power outages, down from a peak of 188,000. While power has been restored to the majority of customers, full restoration could take more than a week for the remaining customers as progress slows dealing with smaller outages. The storm has been described by MLGW as the “third worst storm in the area’s history.” An email dated May 31 from the Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA) Executive Director, David Connor, attached an invitation on Governor Haslam’s letterhead that included the details of the ceremonies: 10:15 a.m. in Hamilton County, 1 p.m. in Nashville/Davidson…
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RIP Tennessee Republican Party. The Tennessee Republican Party died on April 19, 2017. Ten years after the GOP became the majority party in Tennessee, led by a liberal governor, the party committed political suicide. By voting for the largest tax increase in the history of the state of Tennessee, the Republicans in the state legislature knifed their base in the back and repudiated everything they claim to stand for. Tennessee Republicans routinely make campaign speeches talking about how conservative they are and how they believe in limited government. Today, Tennessee’s conservative base knows this is a lie. Despite that, these same politicians will return home and tell the local people how conservative they are. Clearly these politicians think that the people who make up base are idiots. After all, they seriously think they can name the largest tax increase in the history of the state, the “Tax Cut Act of 2017” and expect the base to believe them. Unfortunately, the Tennessee Republicans supermajority in the legislature chose to listen to a lame duck, feckless crap weasel governor instead of the people who put them in office. Since the Tennessee Republicans did not listen to their base, it is time…
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Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017” (HB 534), which includes a 6 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 10 cents per gallon diesel tax increase phased in over three years, garnered 23 votes from Democrats and 37 establishment Republicans, which was more than sufficient to get it to pass in the Tennessee House of Representatives by a vote of 60 to 37 late Wednesday. It was a long day for State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss, the leading co-sponsor of the bill, who spent several hours presenting the case for the bill on the floor of the House prior to the final vote. Only two Democrats, State Rep G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis) and State Rep. John Mark Windle (D-Livingston), joined the conservative caucus of Republicans, who cast 35 votes against the IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017.” Rumors swirled throughout the capitol Wednesday that Governor Haslam had made a deal with the Democrats to secure their votes. Rep. Doss (R-Leoma) was seen conversing on the floor with several Democrats throughout the day, which was not, by itself, particularly unusual. More significantly, Democratic Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) was seen accompanying administrative staffer Warren Wells to the…
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Hours before the Tennessee House of Representatives was scheduled to begin floor debate on his controversial bill to increase gas taxes on Wednesday, Governor Haslam joked in an interview with Ralph Bristol, host of Nashville’s Morning News on 99.7 FM WWTN, that he used ‘standard’ wattage lamps in his recent private meetings to pressure or “hot box” 15 targeted on the fence legislators. “I read a report anyway that you recently set aside some time to meet with specific House members to discuss this issue and it was described in that report as ‘hot box, meetings,” Bristol told the governor. “Now what wattage of lamp do you use for these hot box meetings, because I might need to borrow that some day,” Bristol asked. “It’s the standard. It involves the chains,” Haslam responded, attempting to make light of his pressure tactics. “I think anybody who knows me knows I’m not the hard pressure type,” he added. But conservative legislators and activists have a different view of Haslam’s efforts to pass the gas tax increase. “Governor Haslam is holding private meetings with legislators he has barely spoken to over the last several years. So this is a new level of…
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Andrew Ogles, the Tennessee director of Americans for Prosperity, was in a glum mood Wednesday afternoon after Gov. Haslam’s gas tax plan seemed to get a boost forward. Earlier in the day, Ogles and his fellow tax opponents were more buoyant as they rallied around the costumed Gas Can Man and hoped for a more positive outcome. The House Transportation Subcommittee voted in favor of Haslam’s transportation plan, albeit with an amendment that includes elements of an alternative proposal favored by opponents of the proposed tax increase. But Ogles believes that amendment will disappear once the plan is considered by the full House Transportation Committee, which Ogles says could happen sometime next week. “My suspicion is they’ll strip that off,” Ogles said. “This was merely a Trojan horse to get it out of committee.” Haslam wants to raise the tax on gas by 7 cents a gallon and for diesel, 12 cents a gallon. The current gas tax of 21.4 cents per gallon hasn’t changed since 1989. The alternative plan, known as the Hawk plan because it was put forward by Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, proposes using existing sales tax revenue to pay for road improvements. The Hawk plan was…
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