BillHobbs.com is a frequently updated blog of original reporting and commentary by Bill Hobbs, a longtime Nashville journalist and media relations adviser. I am currently serving as communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party, a job I began on Oct. 29, 2007.
Okay, it's more than a month old, but I failed to mention here that the Tennessee office of the National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed the proposed Taxpayers Bill of Rights amendment to the Tennessee constitution after polling its members.
From the NFIB news release:
Small-business owners from across Tennessee have signaled their support for a constitutional amendment to enact a Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TaBOR). In results from a statewide survey conducted by the small-business advocacy group NFIB, 89 percent of its membership said that such a measure should be a permanent fixture in Tennessee's constitution.
Specifically, a Taxpayer Bill of Rights would consist of three main components. These include a provision restricting growth in government spending to the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the rate of the state's population growth. Second, growth in revenue would also be limited to those same parameters after emergency funds have been fully funded. Any revenue realized above that limit would be refunded to the state's taxpayers. Finally, for a tax increase to take effect, it must first be approved by a majority of voters in a referendum process.
"A Taxpayer Bill of Rights is a fair and just thing to do," said NFIB/Tennessee State Director Rob Ikard. "It would allow for reasonable growth in state spending, while at the same time put safeguards in place to prevent another emergency tax increase on the state's employers."
In order to be enshrined in the state's constitution, TaBOR must be approved by voters in a referendum. For this to happen, a joint resolution must pass both houses in two consecutive General Assemblies, the second time by a two-thirds vote in both houses. Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin) and Rep. Glen Casada (R-Franklin) are offering legislation to place this proposal before voters. NFIB will work with these lawmakers in the coming weeks and months to successfully pass this legislation.
"We cannot afford to allow small businesses to once again be left holding the bag after a state government spending spree," said Ikard. "If TaBOR had been in place leading up to 2002, we could have avoided the situation where the state spent itself into a crisis. TaBOR would basically force state government to live by the same rules that small-business owners live by every day."
NFIB represents thousands of small businesses across Tennessee employing tens of thousands of Tennesseans.
Comments Policy: Your comment is subject to deletion if it is off-topic or includes foul language or personal attack. Readers, please email me if you find comments that include egregious violations of this policy. Comments may not post immediately - do not post twice!
