Tag: Rick Tillis

Sources: State Rep. Rick Tillis to Step Down as Whip After No Confidence Vote

Chris Butler

  State Rep. Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg) has agreed to step down from his majority whip position, according to an email Majority Caucus Chairman and State Rep. Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) sent to his fellow legislators last week. That’s all top officials at the state capitol seem to say publicly. But there is more to the story, at least according to various sources. Those sources told The Tennessee Star two weeks ago that Tillis only stepped down after a vote of no confidence among his colleagues. Sources, who requested anonymity, said Tillis stepped down after members of one internal Republican caucus held a closed-door meeting and said they doubted Tillis’ abilities as majority whip. As reported, Tillis denied posting anonymous and derogatory tweets disparaging Tennessee state house members and their staff under the name @CHBmole. But Tillis’ colleague, State Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) said at the time that Tillis indeed took up that persona and said Tillis already confessed to him. Holt already used his personal Twitter to out Tillis. CHP is short for the Cordell Hull Building, where legislators have offices. Sources said Tillis admitted to his colleagues he was indeed involved with the CHBmole account — but he said he shared that account with…

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Republican State Rep. Rick Tillis Denies Authoring Derogatory Twitter Account, Despite Claim He’s Already Admitted It

Chris Butler

  LEWISBURG — State Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg, denies he posted anonymous and derogatory tweets disparaging Tennessee state house members and their staff under the name @CHBmole. But Tillis’ colleague, State Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden, said Tillis indeed took up that persona earlier this year and said Tillis already confessed to him. CHP is short for the Cordell Hull Building, where legislators’ have offices. The person, or possibly people, who operated the account deleted it this week. The Tennessee Star caught up with Tillis Friday at a Marshall County Chamber Breakfast and asked him point blank — Are you the @CHBmole? Tillis responded with this: “I am not.” Later in the day, Holt challenged that statement. “The confirmation that I have that Rick Tillis is a participant in the @CHPmole account is the fact that he admitted it to me in a telephone conversation. He disclosed this to me,” Holt said. “His quotes were that he was sent the log-in credentials to this Twitter site, @CHPmole. He said he went into the account in February 2019 and made one specific post about Representative Bruce Griffey. He admitted he had the credentials. That he logged on and that he made one…

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Tennessee Bill to Regulate 911 Calls Reportedly Held Up for Summer Study

Chris Butler

The sponsor of legislation that would make 911 calls and transmissions confidential reportedly wants more time to work on the bill, specifically this summer. This, according to the Tennessee General Assembly’s website and the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. That bill is HB 335. According to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, the sponsor of that bill is State Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg. “The bill, HB 335, would have created an exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act for all 911 calls, making them only available for use by law enforcement, the courts and other governmental agencies,” according to the TCOG. “The Tennessee Press Association and Tennessee Association of Broadcasters lobbied against the bill, pointing out that access to 911 calls have led to numerous news stories uncovering problems within the 911 system. They have also been used to document natural disasters, such as when the Knoxville News Sentinel used 911 calls to shed light on what happened during the devastating Gatlinburg wildfires a few years ago.” The TCOG went on to say “the transmissions of 911 calls also have helped ferret out government coverups.” According to the bill summary, the bill prohibits “using such calls, transmission, or recordings for any purpose…

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Gas Can Man Braves Rain to Reprimand Tax-Raising State Rep. Rick Tillis

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–There was a rare Gas Can Man sighting in downtown Nashville Tuesday afternoon. Gas Can Man stood out on the public sidewalks, sometimes in the rain, to scold State Rep. Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg) for voting to raise the state’s gas tax last year. Gas Can Man held a sign mocking the legislator as “Gas Tax Tillis.” Tillis, as previously reported, promised not to vote to raise the gas tax during the 2017 legislative session, yet he did it anyway. The time and the place for Gas Can Man’s public protest — outside Nashville’s downtown Sheraton Hotel — was no random choice. While Gas Can Man stood outside and braved the elements, Tillis enjoyed his time inside, at the ritzy hotel bar, surrounded by lobbyists, who were reportedly there to hold a fundraiser for him. Tillis had time to feast on appetizers and make small talk with lobbyists. He had zero time, according to one of those lobbyists, to talk to The Tennessee Star about the gas tax or his thoughts about Gas Can Man. The lobbyist told us this was a private event and that Tillis was off limits — even though other hotel patrons seemed able to come…

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