At issue are concerns that the state’s franchise tax violates a U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause provision, which bans states from passing laws that burden interstate commerce.
State lawmakers advanced legislation Tuesday that would put fewer fourth graders at risk of being held back this year under Tennessee’s 2021 reading law.
State Sen. Brent Taylor told The Daily Memphian Monday morning that he is working on a bill allowing Shelby County to reallocate hotel-motel tax funding to cover the public financing gap for the Downtown Memphis arena’s renovations.
The weighted caseload study could impact the amount of resources or number of judges Shelby County’s judicial district could have.
The bill comes amid heightened scrutiny of Shelby County’s criminal justice system by Republican lawmakers and the Board of Judicial Conduct.
Tyre Nichols’ parents have released a letter asking to sit down with Gov. Bill Lee before he signs a bill that would ban traffic stop ordinances like the one passed by the Memphis City Council. Tyre Nichols’ parents furious after meeting with state Sen. Brent TaylorRelated story:
The vote comes as Boyd, who was elected in August 2022, faces felony charges of coercion and harassment, in addition to professional discipline for an ethical lapse and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
A state House subcommittee has rejected a bill for this session that would have given Shelby County residents an opportunity to vote for a sales tax increase to fund a new jail.
“When local governments restrict police officers from carrying out their sworn duty to uphold our laws, we make every community in Tennessee more dangerous,” said State Rep. John Gillespie, who sponsored the law.
“In business, we often have to make these choices of nice vs. necessary. This is necessary,” trustee David McKinney said about long list of HVAC repairs.
A proposed bill could change how local hotel and motel tax is distributed; any reallocation of the existing hotel-motel tax would likely mean Memphis Tourism losing revenue.
Shelby County Circuit Court Division 7 Judge Mary Wagner, who was appointed to the court last month, was confirmed with a majority vote in the state House and a unanimous vote in the Senate.
No one at the state level has endorsed the concept of separating the court system in Memphis from the suburbs and unincorporated areas. It would be complicated, with issues both political and constitutional.
State Rep. G.A. Hardaway has introduced a bill proposing a feasibility study for a state-operated crime lab in Shelby County. But he and other state leaders have indicated the state will likely not fund the lab.
A new federal bill could require the Tennessee Valley Authority to consider more public input in its long-term planning process.
It happened amid Tyre Nichols' family and local Democratic lawmakers accusing the bill’s sponsor of deceit.
A bill that would have allowed more development on certain types of Tennessee wetlands stalled Wednesday, March 6.
The closure will begin Sunday, March 10. Motorists are asked to use Interstate 40 as a detour.
The haggling over Gov. Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act has begun, with three different — and expensive — versions of the bill.
Some local leaders, including Shelby County Commissioner Amber Mills and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, approve of funding the project through a sales-tax increase. But others say it would disproportionately impact impoverished citizens.
The committee could meet as soon as Thursday, March 7. The process for her removal is not the same as a formal impeachment, which would stop her from running for office again.
The bill seeks transparency from progressive criminal-justice reform groups like the Vera Institute of Justice, Justice Innovation Lab and Memphis-based Just City, which local Republican lawmakers blame in part for crime in Memphis.
“The evidence of incompetence and willful neglect by management in the Shelby County Clerk’s Office is overwhelming,” Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower wrote in a letter to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and the Shelby County Commission.
The bill doesn’t force districts to sell buildings when they don’t want to. But when they do want to sell, it would force them to sell for less then the property is worth.
Bills advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly this week included one aimed at reversing police reforms passed in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ 2023 death in Memphis.