Tag: State Senator Mark Norris

Former Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer Tells The Tennessee Star Report She Will Run in Special Election to Replace State Sen. Mark Norris, When It Is Officially Called

Julie Carr

On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the team talked with former Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer about the process to replace State Sen. Mark Norris (R-Germantown), who was recently confirmed as a federal judge, in the Tennessee State Senate. Shafer said that the process to replace Norris will be triggered after he formally resigns his seat in the State Senate and notifies the courts, events that are likely to take place after the November 6 elections. If Norris resigns after November 6, a special primary election will be held as early as December, with a general election some time in January, just before the next session of the Tennessee General Assembly convenes. Here is the transcript: Shafer:  Good morning ya’ll it’s good to talk with you. Leahy: So tell us all the twists and turns because of course the, you kow, Mark Norris was nominated to be a judge back in July of last year, and only just a week ago I guess it was he was he confirmed by the Senate, has he resigned yet?  What…

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State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris Confirmed As Federal Judge in West Tennessee

Jason M. Reynolds
Tennessee Star

State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris (R-TN-32) has been named as a new federal judge in the Western District of Tennessee, leaving his position open in the state senate, The Tennessean said. The U.S. Senate voted Thursday evening to confirm Norris in a close vote. The tally was 51-44. “I recommended Senator Norris to the president, and I strongly supported Mark’s nomination,” U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said. “He is respected by his peers around the country, having been elected chairman of the Council of State Governments, and has been an advocate and a champion for federalism and for the separation of powers.” Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-TN-05) made a statement following the confirmation of Norris. McNally said, “Congratulations to my friend Mark Norris on his confirmation as U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Tennessee. Mark has been a smart and thoughtful legislator. He will be a smart and thoughtful judge. I have proudly served with Mark for many years. I have always admired the care and thoroughness he brings to public service. As our Senate Majority Leader, Mark has been an indispensable asset not just to the Senate but to state government as a whole. While we will…

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Trump Renominates 21 of his Federal Judge Picks, Including Tennessee State Senator Mark Norris

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President Trump announced Friday he intends to renominate 21 judicial picks whom he had nominated last year but hadn’t yet been confirmed by the Senate. The 21 nominees come from eight states “that are suffering from judicial emergencies,” according to the White House press release. The states are Alabama, Louisiana, Oregon, North Carolina, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

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Norris and Harwell No-Shows at Reagan Day Dinner Featuring Announced and Expected GOP Gubernatorial Candidates

Tennessee Star Staff

  State Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) and Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) joined State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) as no-shows at the Rutherford County GOP Reagan Day Dinner in Murfreesboro Thursday night. Rutherford County GOP Chair Donna Barrett read a letter to the capacity crowd of over 200 from Harwell informing them that she was on her way to Colorado because a family member, her sister, had been injured with a broken back. Norris had a conflict that required his presence in his home district. On Wednesday Beavers announced that she had a conflict that would prevent her from attending. Four announced or expected candidates for governor, however, did show up and were featured speakers. Randy Boyd and Bill Lee, both announced candidates, and Congresswoman Diane Black, and State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville), both potential candidates, made their respective cases. Harwell’s family emergency postponed what was rumored to be the Speaker’s announcement of her candidacy for the GOP nomination for governor. Given the serious nature of her sister’s injuries, it is not clear when Harwell will return to Tennessee and resume her potential campaign for the state’s highest elected executive position.    

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Special Fuel Tax CUT for FedEx Preceded Haslam Push for Fuel Tax INCREASE on Regular Tennesseans

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Tennessee Star

  The Haslam administration and their pro-tax allies in the Tennessee General Assembly have increasingly relied upon a “user fee” argument to disguise the actual impact of their proposed gasoline and diesel fuel tax increase plan. The bill, now under consideration in the current session of the Tennesssee General Assembly under its “new and improved” name, the IMPROVE Act “Tax Act Cut of 2017,” proposes to fund an additional annual infusion of $350 million for road and bridge construction through what is now a 6 cents per gallon gas tax increase and a 10 cents per gallon diesel tax increase. Former Reagan official and respected economist Art Laffer specifically dismissed the “user fee” claim in testimony before the House Transportation Subcommittee last month. “The talk about the gas tax being a user fee is not correct,” Laffer testified. “It’s a tax pure and simple.” Nevertheless, in 2015 the Haslam administration promoted and passed a huge “user fee” jet fuel tax break to Memphis-based FedEx, whose Chairman Fred Smith sits on the Board of the Governor’s family business Pilot/Flying J, shortly before embarking on the effort to impose a huge fuel tax increase on Tennessee drivers.  The special tax break on aviation…

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