June 24, 2020 Laura Baigert   As Tennessee’s 111th Tennessee General Assembly wound down to adjourn, the House passed a resolution recognizing the need to address legislation passed by one chamber but left unfinished by the other. When the General Assembly came back to their second session ...Read More...

We are constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget. We just can’t print money.” — STATE SEN. MIKE BELL   By TIM SINIARD The Tennessee General Assembly will resume its legislative session Monday after adjourning in March due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Prior to ...Read More...

  May 27, 2020 Laura Baigert   NASHVILLE, Tennessee – While the Tennessee House of Representatives returned to committee and subcommittee meetings this week, the situation was anything but normal. The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on March 19, after passing a limited number of bills ...Read More...

  Published 10:00 p.m. CT May 25, 2020 When Tennessee lawmakers return to Nashville this week for the first time in months, there will be vastly different approaches between the two chambers, with one closed to outsiders while focusing on essential work and the other letting in a limited number ...Read More...

Lawmakers in Tennessee have sent a bill to legalize online sports betting to the governor. The Senate heard S 16 on Tuesday morning, adopting and amending the House substitute (H 1) and voting 20-12 in favor of passage. The House passed the previous language by a 58-37 vote last week and promptly ...Read More...

On Tuesday morning, the state of Tennessee took a major step forward toward sports betting, with the Senate passage of a historic piece of legislation. The House passed its bill last week. The legislation cleared the Senate by a 19-12 vote. The House passed it 58-37. The legislation would make ...Read More...

Legislation to legalize online sports betting in Tennessee passed Wednesday in the House of Representatives, despite a spirited debate from members worried about the the effects of gambling addiction. House Bill 1, the first filed this session, would permit online sports gambling in the state, though ...Read More...

The Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday became the first to pass interactive-only sports betting legislation when the Senate approved HB 1 (a substitute for SB 16), 19-12, just six days after the House passed it, 58-37. The bill would allow sports betting over the internet and via mobile apps, meaning ...Read More...

Continuing in her relentless career of not knowing things, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in the course of making an grotesque implicit comparison of herself with the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., advised the noted scholar Stephen Colbert that important activism is bound to be unpopular. ...Read More...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) highly anticipated Green New Deal is here, and it's packed with some very lofty goals. The freshman congresswoman, along with Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass), unveiled a plan to revamp the U.S. economy and eliminate carbon emissions on Thursday, suggesting in an NPR ...Read More...

Last Sunday, a stunning murder on a subway platform occurred in Elmhurst, Queens. The shooting, captured on video, was committed by members of the MS-13 gang, against members of the 18th Street gang. Both gangs, though created decades ago in Los Angeles, have deep roots in Central America. Police announced ...Read More...

The Green New Deal that Democrats proposed Thursday looks to create a more environmentally sound country with economic benefits for everyone — even those who don't want to work. An overview circulated by proponents states the plan seeks a "massive transformation of our society" that could rid the ...Read More...

New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Monday unveiled new details on the so-called "Green New Deal" she plans to introduce in a matter of days, as she worked behind-the-scenes to rally congressional support for the proposal that could cost as much as $7 trillion. Ocasio-Cortez, who ...Read More...

The comprehensive health care plan unveiled by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio this week drew applause from the Democrat's supporters but also skepticism from those in the city who question the value and cost of the effort. De Blasio said NYC Care will provide primary and specialty care from pediatric ...Read More...

WASHINGTON – The warnings about climate change are dire: bigger floods, larger fires, larger storms. Most experts agree there's little to prevent these catastrophes without swift action on climate change. Enter Rep. Kathy Castor, the Florida Democrat that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has chosen ...Read More...

When the 111th General Assembly begins on Tuesday, much will be new. We will inaugurate Bill Lee as our governor. Glen Casada will be elected speaker of the House. Over 30 members of the General Assembly will be new. Change can be intimidating and even chaotic. But it can also be energizing and refreshing. ...Read More...

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 ...Read More...

Two researchers have been forced to issue a major correction to a recent study indicating oceans have been warming at a significantly higher rate than previously thought due to climate change. The paper, published October 31 in the scientific journal Nature, suggested ocean temperatures have risen ...Read More...

If you’re like me, you’re happy the White House released the latest version of the National Climate Assessment on Black Friday. Publishing the 1,700-page report the day after Thanksgiving saved me from unwanted dinner conversations about our planet’s impending climate doom. But if your aunt calls ...Read More...

Inconvenient Science: NASA data show that global temperatures dropped sharply over the past two years. Not that you'd know it, since that wasn't deemed news. Does that make NASA a global warming denier? Writing in Real Clear Markets, Aaron Brown looked at the official NASA global temperature data ...Read More...