State tax revenues for the month of January exceeded budgeted estimates by $212.9 million, according to the monthly revenue announcement released Wednesday by Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson.
The state’s surplus in year-to-date tax collections is $1.17 billion through six months.
Read More
Tennessee revenues for December were $217.2 million more than budgeted and represented growth of nearly five percent over December 2021, according to Friday’s announcement by the state’s Commissioner of Finance and Administration Jim Bryson.
December is the fifth month, on an accrual basis, of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and the year-to-date revenues are $959.9 billion in excess of what was budgeted and $655 million over the same time last fiscal year.
Read More
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recently announced a $26 billion proposal to address transportation needs across the state. Lee’s infrastructure proposal, “Build With Us,” comes as the state’s growth is outpacing roadway capacity investments.
Read More
Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Butch Eley announced Friday that tax revenues to the state for the month of February exceeded the budgeted estimates by $190.9 million, which puts the fiscal year surplus at $1.3 billion.
February revenues of $1.13 billion represent an 11.06 percent growth rate or $112.7 million more than February of last year.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter announced Wednesday that Tennessee’s June revenues were $92.5 million more than the state budgeted for the month, resulting in a total budget surplus of $649.2 million with just one month remaining in the 2018-2019 fiscal year. The state’s revenue collections of…
Read More
COLUMBUS, Ohio – As Ohio lawmakers consider the call by newly-inaugurated Governor Mike DeWine for an increase in motor fuel taxes of 18 cents per gallon on both gas and diesel, both the state House and Senate have heard testimony on the matter. One of the witnesses providing testimony used…
Read More
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…
Read More
Democratic Party candidates in California are starting to distance themselves from a 12 cent a gallon gas tax increase imposed on drivers in their state and which is subject to a repeal effort this Fall. At least 4 Democrat candidates are turning against their own party on the issue of…
Read More
While much of the focus during the Republican primary season has been on the 18 House seats vacated by Republican legislators who are retiring or seeking other offices a handful of challenges to incumbents are attracting increasing attention. One of those races is in West Tennessee’s 75th District (covering Henry,…
Read More
The state gas tax increased another 1 cent per gallon today, thanks to the IMPROVE Act passed by Democrats and “moderate” Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam in May 2017. The controversial law raised state gas taxes by 6 cents per gallon…
Read More
LEBANON, Tennessee – A newly launched Political Action Committee (PAC) commissioned a billboard with a scandalous message attacking two conservative middle Tennessee lawmakers, former State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and current State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), for their votes against Governor Haslam’s gas tax increasing IMPROVE Act. The IMPROVE…
Read More
A Middle Tennessee mayors association that pushed for Nashville’s failed $9 billion transit plan has handed out an award to State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) as state legislator of the year. Voters in Nashville/Davidson County resoundingly rejected the transit plan by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin in…
Read More
Conservative businessman Aaron Shane, a Republican candidate for State Representative in the 57th District has called for current State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) to explain her support of the gas/diesel/registration tax increase (Improve Act) that raised fuel taxes and car registration fees by $350 million per year. “Prior to…
Read More
Gas Can Man made a pit stop in Murfreesboro early Friday morning at DJ Mart on Lascassas Pike to pump out $25 in free gas to 100 lucky – and very happy – drivers. SuperTalk 99.7 WTN morning host Brian Wilson announced the location of the Energize America giveaway at…
Read More
Planning is underway for a major overhaul of Interstate 440 in Davidson County, a project that is expected to take three years. The Tennessee Department of Transportation began requesting bids in January for what is called “Design-Build,” sort of a streamlined turn-key project. Contractors bid for the project, which involves…
Read More
During this session’s first meeting of the House Transportation Committee, chaired by Rep. Barry Doss (R-Leoma), the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) presented their budget for fiscal year 2019, revealing that the uncertainty surrounding the 47 percent of the department’s budget that comes from federal funding puts the 962 projects…
Read More
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s transit plan has been presented as having a cost of $5.4 billion during the 15 year construction plan through 2032. But that figure represents just the rail corridor improvements portion of the plan. But, in reality, he total cost is a whopping $8.95 Billion. The figures…
Read More
Last week, Tennessee’s former Governor Phil Bredesen announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) in the 2018 election. Even though Bredesen is a Democrat and Corker is a Republican, both disfavor President Trump, both have no aversion to raising…
Read More
PULASKI, Tennessee – At Clay Doggett’s campaign kick-off event against incumbent District 70 State Representative Barry Doss (R-Leoma) in Pulaski on Monday evening, Roving Patriots PAC Executive Director Kevin Baigert pledged financial support of the state maximum of $7,800 to the grassroots conservative challenger. Roving Patriots PAC was founded with…
Read More
PULASKI, Tennessee – Grassroots conservative candidate Clay Doggett announced his run Monday for Tennessee House District 70, a seat currently held by the chief promoter of the gas-tax increasing IMPROVE Act, Barry “Boss” Doss. Doggett said of his decision to run that, like so many others before him, he was…
Read More
Recent campaign fund raising events and reports reveal that support for Tim Burchett, candidate for the 2nd U.S. Congressional District being vacated by Congressman John “Jimmy” Duncan, is coming from sources involved in various levels of controversy. Burchett, term-limited as Knox County Mayor, announced on August 5, 2017, his intention…
Read More
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – After sitting in the front row throughout Metro Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Transit Launch Event Tuesday for the “Let’s Move Nashville Metro’s Transportation Solution,” State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma) ran away from The Tennessee Star, avoiding follow-up questions on his sponsorship of the IMPROVE Act, a major…
Read More
John Isbell, the four times elected and internationally recognized Property Assessor of Sumner County, announced Monday that he is running for County Executive against incumbent Anthony Holt in the 2018 election cycle to “bring transparency to the office and stop the crony capitalism that plagues the administration.” First elected as…
Read More
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…
Read More
GALLATIN, Tennessee – During the nMotion Plan Update meeting for Sumner County held last month, Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and Regional Transit Authority (RTA) CEO Steve Bland spoke to a short slide presentation that included, among others, one titled “Projected Traffic Congestion.” The slide includes two maps, shown here,…
Read More
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…
Read More
FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE (Wednesday, June 21) — In another stunning announcement, The Tennessee Star released updated web traffic reports in a tweet Wednesday that shows the online news, information, and opinion website surpassed 500,000 visits in the last thirty days. WOW! Thank you, Tennessee!!30days (5/20-6/20): 526,841 visits 290,288 visitorsAll time (2/06-6/20): 1,536,671…
Read More
MOUNT JULIET, Tennessee — At his first public speaking engagement since announcing, in an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star, his candidacy for the State Senate seat Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) will be leaving to run for the Republican nomination for governor in 2018, Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) called the…
Read More
MOUNT JULIET, Tennessee — Gubernatorial candidate Sen. Mae Beavers at an Americans For Prosperity Town Hall meeting Monday evening honoring her and Rep. Mark Pody for voting against the gas tax, said “I think the joke is on the people who put the plan together.” Sen. Beavers was referring to…
Read More
Gov. Bill Haslam threw a soft ball over the middle of the plate to State Senator Mae Beavers (R- Mt. Juliet) about her campaign pledge to repeal the gas tax, and the recently announced GOP Gubernatorial candidate knocked it out of the park. Appearing in Nashville at one of…
Read More
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…
Read More
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…
Read More
The foundation of the case by Governor Haslam and other proponents of the IMPROVE Act gas tax increase was that it is a “user fee,” paid by those who use the roads. In contrast, for the purpose of funding public transit system projects, the IMPROVE Act authorizes 16 local governments,…
Read More
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster posted a video “Gas Tax Veto” to his Facebook page, saying “Today I vetoed the General Assembly’s gas tax bill, and I would like to tell you why.” He continued, “Unfortunately, raising taxes was the only solution seriously considered by the legislature.” Quite a…
Read More
A bill introduced to remove a portion of the diversion of fuel tax “user fees” from the Highway Fund to the General Fund was amended so drastically that the bill was rewritten so that it rewrote the bill, and instead increased the amount distributed to the Wildlife Resources Fund. As…
Read More
While House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) relentlessly pursued his education funding bill, HB 841, through passage in the House, the Senate sponsor, Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) wasn’t as successful with SB 831, and requested of the Senate Finance Ways & Means Committee that the bill be rolled to 2018. The…
Read More
While last week’s two-day House floor showdown over Governor Haslam’s 2017-18 budget never did take up an amendment for a $55 million education appropriation, HB 841, known as the K-12 Block Grant Act, was approved in a new form in the House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee and Committee on…
Read More
House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) said Wednesday in both the Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee and full Committee that he didn’t have the votes for the $250 million K-12 Block Grant Act, which was reportedly part of the deal Governor Haslam made to get needed support from the Democrats…
Read More
“Follow the money” is a catchphrase made popular in the 1976 movie, “All The President’s Men,” based on the actual events of the Watergate Break-in and suggests a money trail or corruption scheme within the political arena. While campaign receipts are no guarantee of how an elected official will…
Read More
Governor Haslam’s 2017-18 budget that incorporated IMPROVE Act and other spending promises now exceeds the constitutional budget growth limit established by the 1978 amendment to Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution that states, “In no year shall the rate of growth of appropriations from state tax revenues exceed the estimated…
Read More
Tea Party activist Ben Cunningham is leading an effort for a 2018 referendum that would limit Metro Nashville’s debt level, setting up a possible clash with regional plans for a $6 billion transit project. His proposed amendment to the Metro Nashville charter, the Nashville Debt Limit Charter Amendment, would also…
Read More
Twenty-three of the 25 Democrats in the House voted for Gov. Haslam’s gas tax increasing IMPROVE Act last Wednesday, amid rumors of a $250 million deal made between Governor Haslam and House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh (D-Ripley) in a quid pro quo tradeoff: Democrats vote for the governor’s bill,…
Read More
In her second State of Metro address Wednesday morning, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry presented a laundry list of big-spending plans that liberals will love and make conservatives reach for their Tums. The Democratic mayor called for paid family leave for Metro employees and “income diversity within neighborhoods” that are “transit-oriented.”…
Read More
For the first time, State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma), who is the House sponsor of Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act “Tax Cut Act of 2017” and is serving as Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, admitted to having a contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) since he was elected in…
Read More
Nashville Mayor Megan Barry will deliver her second State of Metro address Wednesday morning at Bridgestone Arena. The event is open to the public and will be streamed live. The Democratic mayor will present details of her budget proposal and is expected to mention the tentative $6 billion regional mass…
Read More
House Majority Leader Glen Casada (R-Franklin), issued a press release Monday defending his vote to increase the gas tax through Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act, after initially announcing on February 8 his support for the alternative Hawk Plan. The press release was forwarded via email, addressed to “Friends,” stating “I wanted…
Read More
NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Kicking off his campaign for governor Monday, Bill Lee described himself as a Ronald Reagan-admiring fiscal and social conservative whose leadership experiences in business and agriculture compensate for his lack of political experience. Lee, who is chairman of Lee Company, a large family-owned construction, facilities and home services company,…
Read More
As the House sponsor of the IMPROVE Act Tax Cut Act of 2017 (HB 534), State Rep. Barry “Boss” Doss (R-Leoma) was well versed on all of the related subject matter and respectful throughout his long and challenging sales pitch for Governor Haslam’s IMPROVE Act to the various committees…
Read More