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Court allows state-appointed Nashville airport board to remain in charge as lawsuit precedes
A board appointed by state leaders will remain in charge of Nashville’s airport while a lawsuit over control continues. A three-judge panel ruled against Metro Nashville’s ask for a temporary injunction on a state law that went into effect on July 1, reconstituting the airport board. The panel ruled that Nashville should have filed its […]
Madison, Maury Counties deny Hillsdale schools, likely leading to state charter commission appeals
For the second time this year, Madison and Maury counties school boards said no to American Classical Education, dealing a minor blow to the Hillsdale College-affilated charter schools. American Classical applied to open charters in five Tennessee counties this year, following its denials in three last year. Only the Rutherford County School Board approved the […]
What happens when a cash-poor billionaire wants a new sports stadium? Lobbying.
Tennessee Titans CEO Burke Nihill stepped up to the podium on an early May 2022 morning to justify why his team needed, or more likely wanted, a new NFL stadium in downtown Nashville. For months, Nihill had made the rounds advocating the wonders of a new stadium, claiming it would benefit the taxpayers and community. […]
Cash for Clout: Who’s funding Tennessee’s politics?
This story was last updated on Oct. 26, 2023. Every year millions of dollars flow to Nashville, flooding the halls of Tennessee’s state capitol as a small number of deep-pocketed groups attempt to influence lawmakers. The money comes in many streams through different legal channels, all aiming to influence regulations, push for tax breaks and […]
Cash for Clout: Tennessee’s million-dollar club
Since 2009, 193 groups have spent more than $1 million in Tennessee politics. An analysis of the spending of Tennessee’s exclusive seven-figure club shows the money serves as a benchmark of the power of private groups to influence public policy. The expenditures are legally allowed under the state’s campaign laws. While no set amount of […]
Save Nashville PAC says they can wait to disclose their donors. FCC records raise questions.
One of the men behind the Save Nashville PAC—an independent group spending money to back Republican strategist Alice Rolli in the Nashville mayor’s race — says the group had no political activity in the first half of 2023, exempting it for now from disclosure laws. But, federal communications records show the group made advertisement orders […]
Tennessee Reps. Jones and Pearson each haul in nearly $1.1M, capitalizing on brief expulsion
Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson raised $1.8 million collectively in their week-long absence from the state House after Republicans expelled them over protests about gun violence. The removal of Jones, D-Nashville, and Pearson, D-Memphis, allowed the two freshman lawmakers to raise money during the legislative session, which is normally banned. Jones raised $1,079,688.86 over […]
Opioid settlements payments make their way to Tennessee counties
Tennessee’s counties received $31.4 million from the state’s opioid abatement council in the first round of payments set to occur yearly over the next two decades. The money comes as Tennessee ranked No. 2 in drug overdose deaths in 2021 based on population, with an estimated 3,813 people dying, according to Centers for Disease Control and […]
Hillsdale charter school resubmits applications in Madison and Maury
American Classical Education, a Hillsdale College-affiliated charter school network, resubmitted amended applications in two of four counties that denied it earlier this year. School boards in Madison and Maury counties have until July 28 to review American Classical Education’s latest revision to its charter school applications. The Maury County School board will vote on the new […]
State report recommends forming public transit office, among others to restart passenger rail
Tennessee’s Department of Transportation should determine the cost of building passenger rails lines connecting the state’s largest cities and create an office dedicated to public transit, the state agency of intergovernmental relations recommended Last year, a bipartisan group of state lawmakers passed legislation for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) to determine where […]
Nashville Airport board seats new members, despite protest from city and FAA
The Metro Nashville Airport Authority officially seated its newly appointed state board members at a meeting Thursday, despite protests from the Metro Nashville government and concerns over recognition by the federal government. “We now have two boards,” said Wally Dietz, the Metro Nashville Legal Director. Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed legislation to dissolve and […]
Nashville mayor’s race: TV spending points at the voters candidates are targeting
As Nashville’s mayor’s race enters its final month, seven of the 12 candidates, one political action committee and a downtown bar owner have spent money on television and social media advertisements as part of the campaign. Candidates are spending the most money at WVTF-NewsChannel 5, as local stations have grabbed the largest amount of advertising […]