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Daily Dose for December 28, 2007
Sales Tax on Food Goes Down Jan 1
Sales Tax on Food Goes Down Jan 1 -- Tennesseans will have a half-cent cut in the state's sales tax on food - reducing the rate from 6% to 5.5%. The so-called "local optional" sales tax will remain unchanged and the tax cut does not apply to prepared food like at restaurants. Phil Schoggen on the sales tax on food: "That’s the most regressive and harshest penalty the state imposes on persons with limited incomes." The Department of Revenue estimates the state will lose about $40 million in tax revenue per fiscal year as a result of the tax cut - while some lawmakers want to continue to scale back the sales tax on food, lower than expected revenue projections for next year could halt that effort. More here.
New Gun Legislation Effective Jan 1 -- A new law effective Jan 1 will make criminals who use guns in the commission of a crime serve mandatory jail time without parole. According to the legislation, on Jan. 1 anyone employing a firearm during the commission of a felony will face a charge punishable by “the service of 10 years in the penitentiary at 100 percent,” meaning the defendant shall be required to serve the entire sentence and the sentence shall not be reduced for any reason. Before the legislation, criminals only had to serve 30% of their sentence before the possibility of parole. The legislation does have a price tag however. It is estimated the cost of the new law, due to increased incarceration time for inmates, will be just short of $24 million. The total number of reported offenses involving guns in Tennessee is rising, according to statistics from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Theft of Nashville Voter Rolls -- Davidson County election officials say computers containing the names, addresses, phone numbers and last four digits of Social Security numbers of every Nashville voter have been stolen. The list however contains no private information - it's the same information about the 337,000 voters that candidates can buy from the county for their mailing lists. Election Administrator Ray Barrett: "Thank goodness they didn't get the whole Social." Barrett said the culprit or culprits also broke into nearby offices, including Metro Water Services. More here. [Update: As it turns out, the full Social Security numbers of all the voters in Davidson County were on the list, according to Volunteer Voters. The Election Commission intends to send a notice to every voter in Davidson County informing them of this potential problem within the next week.]
Local Districts Want Lottery Money -- Local school districts want to use some of the state's lottery money for construction of brick-and-morter projects. The Cleveland and Bradley County school boards and the City Council and County Commission endorsed the idea months ago. There are also other claims to the lottery money, however. State Sen. DeWayne Bunch says the debate will be between funding pre-kindergarten programs, something local schools also want, and additional money for the BEP education funding formula. Meanwhile, the architect of the state lottery, Congressman Steve Cohen says the scholarship standards should not be lowered, but he might support lowering the requirements to maintain the scholarship.
Rowe New Election Official in Chattanooga -- Community activist Joe Rowe has been named as a new member of the Hamilton County Election Commission. Rowe replaces Karen Lee, who resigned. Election Commissioners are appointed on the recommendation of the State Legislative delegation for a particular area.
