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VITAL POLICY – Opinion – Consequences of Unchecked and Unlawful Immigration, Rally Scheduled at Tennessee Capitol

VITAL POLICY – Opinion – Consequences of Unchecked and Unlawful Immigration, Rally Scheduled at Tennessee Capitol

If I set out on a pilgrimage to leave the United States and move to another nation, I would learn to speak the language of that nation and abide by the laws of their government set forth for legal immigration. My goal would be to contribute and become a productive member of their society by […]

VITAL POLICY – Faison and Niceley Propose Legislation to Expand Access to Public School Sports for Homeschool Students

VITAL POLICY – Faison and Niceley Propose Legislation to Expand Access to Public School Sports for Homeschool Students

Homeschool families in Jefferson County who wish for their middle school children to participate in public school sports would get the green light if proposed legislation by Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) and Senator Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) finds favor with the legislature. “The benefits of organized sports go well beyond physical skills and are vitally […]

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County’s Debt Examined, An Analysis of Our Collective Credit Card Payments and Wheel Tax

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County’s Debt Examined, An Analysis of Our Collective Credit Card Payments and Wheel Tax

Our collective county credit card is broken up between what is called “County Debt” and “Nursing Home Debt” and “Landfill Debt.” There is a distinction between them because the nursing home and landfill pays their own debt payments from their own revenue. The county taxpayers’ foot the bill directly for all other county debt. This […]

Jefferson County Commission Takes Bold Stance Calling For Repeal Of Governor’s “Emergency Powers” Statute

Jefferson County Commission Takes Bold Stance Calling For Repeal Of Governor’s “Emergency Powers” Statute

By David Seal [Special to The Tennessee Conservative] – Previously published in The Tennessee Conservative Jefferson County Commission has stated its expectation that Tennessee government operate within constitutional boundaries with special emphasis on the executive branch. This expectation was recently expressed in Resolution 2023-47. In calendar year 2000 when the Tennessee legislature was controlled by […]

Jefferson County Commission Makes Resolution Supporting State Sovereignty Legislation, Other Counties Urged to Follow

Jefferson County Commission Makes Resolution Supporting State Sovereignty Legislation, Other Counties Urged to Follow

By David Seal [Special to The Tennessee Conservative] – As published previously in “The Tennessee Conservative“ The Jefferson County Commission has set a standard for other county legislative bodies to follow in their making of a resolution to support state sovereignty. Specifically, Resolution 2023-48 suggests that House Bill 726 / Senate Bill 1092, proposed by Representative Bud Hulsey and Senator […]

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County School System Providing No Answer on Parental Notice of Student “Gender Transition”

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County School System Providing No Answer on Parental Notice of Student “Gender Transition”

Parents have one more nightmare to add to their inventory of stressors concerning their children’s life at school. It comes in the form of a question concerning parental notice. If my child were to express the desire to transition from his or her God-given gender to an alternative gender, would I be notified by the […]

VITAL POLICY – Congressman Burchett Visits Jefferson County Business

VITAL POLICY – Congressman Burchett Visits Jefferson County Business

During the August recess, Second District Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) took some time to visit small businesses in East Tennessee and Jefferson County. A recent stop was in Strawberry Plains at More than Plants, a local full-service nursery and landscaping supply business operated by County Commissioner Rob Blevins and family. Burchett has a reputation for […]

VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Jefferson City Government Takes Swipe at Using Eminent Domain for Non-Essential Property Taking

VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Jefferson City Government Takes Swipe at Using Eminent Domain for Non-Essential Property Taking

What can a small city government do to place itself in the same category as a socialist city like San Francisco or Chicago? It can threaten to use eminent domain to forcefully take private property from its rightful owner for a non-essential purpose. In the case of Jefferson City, Tennessee, it recently made a failed […]

VITAL POLICY – Special Legislative Session May Result in More Federal Control Over Healthcare, Loss of Medical Privacy, More Liberal Ideology in Public Education

VITAL POLICY – Special Legislative Session May Result in More Federal Control Over Healthcare, Loss of Medical Privacy, More Liberal Ideology in Public Education

There is a solid set of reasons that most states are avoiding waivers from the federal government to allow federal matching funds for Medicaid to cover the cost of services for mental illness and substance abuse disorders at institutions of mental diseases. Those reasons include potential loss of privacy, data mining of personal information, expansion […]

VITAL POLICY – Lithium-Ion Battery Facility Raises Questions of Public Safety, Economics, and Zoning Issues for Jefferson County

VITAL POLICY – Lithium-Ion Battery Facility Raises Questions of Public Safety, Economics, and Zoning Issues for Jefferson County

Jefferson County, Tennessee citizens would be well served if their government obtained answers to a set of burning questions (pun intended) before approval is granted to a power storage facility proposed for the Piedmont community to house six million (6,000,000) highly flammable lithium-ion batteries. The batteries would store electricity that TVA could use to “charge” […]

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Republicans Hold Town Hall Meeting

VITAL POLICY – Jefferson County Republicans Hold Town Hall Meeting

Republicans and elected officials from across East Tennessee gathered at the recent Jefferson County Republican Town Hall Meeting to discuss critical issues of public policy. Gun control was a hot topic at the meeting. Andy Fox of the Tennessee Firearms Association presented facts concerning gun related data and misinformation that is being used by the […]

VITAL POLICY – Dandridge and Jefferson County Governments Line Up to Oppose Unconstitutional Red Flag Laws

VITAL POLICY – Dandridge and Jefferson County Governments Line Up to Oppose Unconstitutional Red Flag Laws

Dandridge, Tennessee Board of Mayor and Aldermen, meeting on May 9th, added to the growing list of municipal government bodies across Tennessee that have made formal resolutions opposing “red flag” laws. This follows similar resolutions made by the Jefferson County Republican Party Executive Committee on April 14, 2023, and the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners […]

VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Gun Control Focus of Special Legislative Session

VITAL POLICY – OPINION – Gun Control Focus of Special Legislative Session

Governor Bill Lee has called for a special session to, in his words, “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights”. In this session, he will be asking the general assembly to enact a “red flag” gun law. If you have the slightest doubt, read the 13-page draft legislation linked here: (Temporary Mental Health Order of […]

VITAL POLICY – The “Ibbetson Plan” for Jefferson Elementary School, Patriot Academy, and Jefferson County High School

VITAL POLICY – The “Ibbetson Plan” for Jefferson Elementary School, Patriot Academy, and Jefferson County High School

Doug Ibbetson is a businessman with extensive experience in banking, finance, and business management, one who thinks outside the box, and one who views problem solving with a unique approach. He was elected to the Jefferson County School Board in August 2022. After four years of struggling to secure funding for a new elementary school, […]

VITAL POLICY – Education Savings Accounts (School Vouchers) Expanded in Tennessee

VITAL POLICY – Education Savings Accounts (School Vouchers) Expanded in Tennessee

State Senator Todd Gardenhire (R-Chattanooga) expressed disappointment concerning the lack of progress made by certain Hamilton County Schools after more than twenty million dollars had been poured into the school system over a five-year period. The additional money was over and above the BEP and other regular funding that the Hamilton County School system normally […]

VITAL POLICY – Food Truck Operators Get Regulatory Relief with New Legislation

VITAL POLICY – Food Truck Operators Get Regulatory Relief with New Legislation

Earning a living as a food truck operator will soon be more rewarding and profitable in Tennessee due to a new law that will streamline fire inspections. Under current law, operators of “mobile food units”, as they are called by legislators, are required to undergo fire inspections in each jurisdiction in which they operate. That […]

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