Legislation that would allow Tennessee counties and cities to reduce or eliminate the state sales tax on groceries is advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly as more states look for opportunities to defray the effects of inflation on citizens.
The bill would allow all “counties and municipalities, by resolution or ordinance” set the “tax on the retail sale of food and food ingredients” at any “rate less than” the state’s sales tax rate.
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Tennessee State House Representative G.A. Hardaway (D-Knoxville) objected to signs urging lawmakers to stand against child rapists during a meeting of the House Criminal Justice Committee held just days prior to Haradaway’s defense of Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville), who refused to lead the legislative body in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition told The Tennessee Star that activists affiliated with the group were present at the Tennessee General Assembly last Monday, holding signs urging lawmakers, “Do not stand with child rapists,” following a subcommittee vote by Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) against HB 1663.
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After a contentious session in the Tennessee House on Thursday two Democrat state representatives were expelled from office by their congressional colleagues.
Thursday afternoon, State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) (pictured above) was officially removed from the Tennessee state legislature by a vote of 72-25.
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A bill introduced in the Tennessee House of Representatives would allow doctors to be held liable in civil court for completing transgender surgeries on minors.
“The legislature determines that medical procedures that alter a minor’s hormonal balance, remove a minor’s sex organs, or otherwise change a minor’s physical appearance are harmful to a minor when these medical procedures are performed for the purpose of enabling a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity,” says House Bill 1, introduced by Rep. William Lamberth (R-District 44).
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State Rep. William Lamberth has completely overhauled a public records bill that received significant public outcry to a version that creates increased government transparency. Rep. Lamberth (R-Portland), who is also the House Republican Majority Leader, initially drafted HB 0626 to protect government employees from abusive requesters. As The Tennessee Star reported, the original bill would limit public records access to as few as three requests per year, and that proposal was met with backlash on social media. While government watchdogs and media might have disagreed with the measure that may have appeared to be directed toward them, Leader Lamberth was requested to assist in dealing with a situation where certain records custodians in his district are being intimidated and harassed, an issue for which there is no current remedy. The five-page amendment that makes the bill seeks to balance public records requests that constitute harassment with improving the public’s access to basic government records. The most recent version of the proposed legislation would allow a public records custodian to pursue judicial relief from a public records requestor, with clear and convincing evidence that the records requests constitute harassment. The measure defines harassment as 12 or more public records requests to…
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Gov. Bill Lee is moving forward on his campaign pledge of school choice in the form of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) available in 2020, although only about one-half of one percent of the state’s students would qualify to participate in the program’s first year. The governor delivered his first State of the State address Monday, as reported by The Tennessee Star. Lee said: I know there’s concern that programs like this will take money away from public schools, but my ESA plan will invest at least $25 million new dollars in public schools in the first year to fill the gap when a student transfers to another school. The Tennessee Department of Education referred a request for more information to the governor’s office. Lee spokesperson Laine Arnold did not reply to requests for comment. The proposal would only be provided to five county school districts: Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Shelby and Madison (including the city of Jackson). Also included would be the state’s Achievement School District of failing schools, the Chattanooga Times Free Press said. Only 5,000 students in fall 2020 would be eligible, or only about one-half of one percent of the state’s 975,000 students. Qualifying students would be eligible for…
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State House Republicans on Thursday introduced a free-market plan that focuses on patients, nicknamed CARE, to transform healthcare in Tennessee, especially rural areas. The Tennessee House Republicans press release is available here. The legislative package is composed of 11 bills throughout the session, which the state GOP caucus said will “reshape healthcare in Tennessee through Consumerism, increasing Access, improving Rural health systems, and Empowering patients to ensure individuals and families to make all medical decisions, instead of insurance companies or the government.” The CARE Plan will generate price transparency and increased data on prices, Republicans said. A claims database will provide consumers with information to allow them to save money and improve the healthcare system’s performance. Other benefits include streamlining of billing, promotion of competition, better drug prices, use of telemedicine and more. The plan will help people even if they have pre-existing conditions, Republicans said. The move by Tennessee Republicans comes days after North Carolina’s state legislators introduced a bill to address healthcare costs, Forbes said. The publication said: Earlier this week Republican legislators who hold majorities in the North Carolina House and Senate introduced Senate Bill 86, the Small Business Healthcare Act, legislation introduced by Senators Dan Bishop…
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Nashville’s police oversight board may receive its own oversight – before it even launches. Ever since Nashville-Davidson County voters approved the $10 million-plus oversight board in a Nov. 6 referendum titled Amendment 1, prompting concerns from police officers, leading Tennessee Republican legislators have set their sights on the initiative. The board has broad powers to investigate officers and call for punishments by the District Attorney, grand jury, or U.S. Attorney, and can even compel witnesses, according to its Metro Nashville webpage. Nominations to the board are due today. Speaker-elect Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63), plans to study the oversight board when the Legislature convenes in January, NewsChannel 5 said. “This is an issue we will investigate further when session begins in January with all interested parties and stakeholders that have concerns about Amendment 1 and its impact on law enforcement,” Casada said. “The safety of our citizens is paramount and we must ensure our counties and municipalities do not violate the state’s constitutional duty to protect all Tennesseans.” State Rep. William Lamberth (R-TN-44), the incoming House majority leader, told Nashville Public Radio the board is redundant since there are other methods to oversee police. “To spend an enormous amount of money…
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Unlike the anti-sanctuary cities bill, Governor Haslam signed into law a bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Green and Rep. William Lamberth which prohibits municipalities from creating their own local identity card programs and the use of any local identity card to be accepted as proof of “citizenship, immigration status or residency.” This bill, the very last one passed by the General Assembly before adjourning “sine die” meaning until the new two year session beginning in January 2019, was passed by reconciling the House and Senate passed versions of the bill. The Senate passed the conference committee version by a 25-3 vote and the House passed it 69-9-1. Local identity card programs have become a popular program in sanctuary cities to help illegal aliens appear as if they are lawfully present. In other cities the cards have also helped illegal aliens avoid arrest and possible deportation during traffic stops. During Nashville’s last mayoral race, all of the candidates including Megan Barry endorsed creating a local identification card program that would include illegal aliens. The bill version Lamberth passed out of committee included a specific reference to prohibiting the use of the matricula consular card being accepted as an identification document because as Lamberth…
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Running right up to the last hours of the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, legislators passed two related immigration bills by wide margins that help the Governor fulfill campaign promises he made during his first run for office. In 2009, gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam told voters that if elected, his top priority was to “mak[e] Tennessee the No.1 state in the Southeast for high quality jobs” and that he would work to protect the “values we all hold dear.” Deterring illegal immigration in Tennessee was a featured part of Haslam’s plan to deliver on these campaign promises: The Green-Reedy anti-sanctuary city bill passed yesterday in the Senate 23 – 5 and in the House 64 – 23, provides clear guidelines for cooperation by state and local law enforcement with federal immigration authorities in identifying and removing criminal aliens which Haslam said he supported during his campaign. Months before he was elected as governor in 2010, Haslam endorsed the action of a newly Republican majority legislature which passed a bill requiring jailers to contact federal immigration authorities once it was determined that an illegal alien had been arrested. The Green-Lamberth bill, also passed yesterday by a wide vote margin, prohibits local jurisdictions from creating…
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One year after Tennessee filed suit in federal court challenging the commandeering of state revenue by the federal government to fund its refugee resettlement program, Judge Stanley Thomas Anderson, ignored plaintiffs’ request for a hearing and dismissed the case. The court’s decision did not reach the substantive Tenth Amendment issue ruling instead that the state lacked legal standing to sue. Anderson was appointed to the court by George W. Bush in 2008 and became Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee in 2017. GOP Gubernatorial Diane Black and State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, a named plaintiff in the suit have said unequivocally that Tennessee should appeal the court’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a non-profit public interest law firm filed the lawsuit on behalf of Tennessee and the legislature at no cost to the state or taxpayers. Mr. Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the TMLC has already indicated that the court’s decision “is filled with appealable issues” and that his firm is prepared to continue its representation pro bono and appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary:…
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Passing his bill with a vote of 72-23 and one abstention, Rep William Lamberth (R-Cottontown) offered a compelling argument that consular cards were not designed nor intended to be used in this country for identification purposes by people legally in this country and his bill would prevent Tennessee from following the example of other states that have chosen to accept consular cards as a valid form of identification: I humbly think our citizens should be safer and in a better position than any other state in the union. Lamberth, a former Sumner County prosecutor, explained that some states have chosen to accept consular cards as a valid form of identification even though the cards were not designed or intended for that purpose. During hearings on Lamberth’s bill in the House State Government Committee, a representative from the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), confirmed that consular cards issued by foreign consulate offices, are used by foreign governments to locate its nationals who are in the U.S. and in some instances, collect taxes from them. In their testimony opposing Lamberth’s bill, the co-Directors of TIRRC admitted that immigrants who primarily rely on consular cards are “people who do not have immigration…
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