Tennessee Joins FTC, Other States to Combat Fraudulent Veterans Charities
The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, along with the Tennessee Attorney General’s office, is joining the Federal Trade Commission and law enforcement officials and charity regulators from every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico in announcing “Operation Donate with Honor,” a sweeping new donor education campaign to help donors spot […]
Governor Haslam, Commissioner Rolfe Award ThreeStar Grants to Sixty Tennessee Counties
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced today the 60 counties that will receive ThreeStar Grants. The grants will be used for a variety of local programs addressing economic development, education and workforce development, public safety, health and efficient government. “Providing more opportunities for Tennesseans is one […]
2018 TNReady Scores Show Mixed Results, Encouraging Areas of Progress
Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen announced the 2018 TNReady student assessment results today, sharing that while results vary statewide, there are encouraging trends – including strong growth in English language arts for elementary grades and improvement in high school math. Students in historically disadvantaged student groups also showed notable progress. Gaps between student groups […]
Tennessee Marks One Year of Historic Low Unemployment
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips today released the statewide unemployment rate for June 2018 and it marked an entire year the jobless figure in Tennessee has been 3.5 percent or lower. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June is 3.5 percent, which is unchanged from […]
TDCI Warns Parents of the ‘100 Deadliest Days’ for Teen Drivers
Summertime traditionally brings family vacations, relaxation, and plans for a new school year. But AAA’s Foundation for Traffic Safety reports a more perilous side to summer as over 1,050 people were killed in auto crashes involving a teen driver in 2016 during the 100 Deadliest Days, the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That’s an average […]
June 2018 Revenues Experience Moderate Growth
Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Larry Martin today announced that Tennessee tax revenue exceeded budgeted estimates for the month of June. Overall, June revenues totaled $1.4 billion, which is $31.4 million more than the state collected in June of 2017, and $31.3 million more than the budgeted estimate for the month. “June reported revenues […]
TDCI: New Consumer Protection Laws Protect, Empower Tennesseans
Tennesseans now have greater protection from military impersonators, improved assistance when recovering from identity theft and cannot be charged by credit reporting companies when enacting security freezes, among other new protections. Those improvements are courtesy of several consumer-oriented laws passed earlier this year by the Tennessee General Assembly. “I am grateful for the Legislature’s passage […]
Governor Haslam, Commissioner Rolfe Announce 70 Community Development Block Grants
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe recently approved nearly $28 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which assist communities with infrastructure improvements, health and safety initiatives and façade improvements in downtown commercial districts. “Congratulations to the 70 Community Development Block Grant recipients,” Haslam said. “It’s always great to […]
Weekly East Tennessee Construction Report for July 5-11, 2018
ANDERSON COUNTY, SR 62 between Union Valley Road and SR 162: Motorists should be alert for possible lane closures nightly on Sundays through Thursdays between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning through this resurfacing project. This project is estimated to be complete on or before July 31, 2018. Motorists should be […]
Pair of New Boating Regulations Became Effective July 1
Two new laws concerning recreational boating became effective July 1 that are hoped to help increase safety on Tennessee waters. As of July 1, a requirement similar to the “Move Over” law on land will go into effect. As written, the new law will require boaters to slow to no wake speed within 100 feet […]
SFMO Urges Parents to Practice Fire Safety During Summer Months
The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office (SFMO) is reminding parents and caregivers of the necessity of child fire safety education this summer in light of a recent analysis of state fire data that reveals an ongoing increase in child fire fatalities during the months of June and July. Data from the Tennessee Fire Incident Reporting […]
Construction Won’t Slow July 4th Travelers in Tennessee
Road construction won’t slow motorists across Tennessee over the July 4th holiday. The Tennessee Department of Transportation will suspend all construction-related lane closures on interstates and state routes beginning at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, June 29th through 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 5th to provide maximum roadway capacity for holiday travelers. “Over 831,000 motorists are expected to travel […]
TDCI Urges Consumers To Be Wary of Scammers Ahead of New Medicare Cards
With new Medicare cards slated to arrive in Tennessee sometime after June, the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) is warning Medicare beneficiaries to be wary of scammers who might use the cards’ pending arrival as an opportunity to fleece unsuspecting consumers. Federal laws enacted last year required the removal of Social Security numbers (SSNs) […]
Haslam Appoints David Rausch as Director of TBI
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced the appointment of David B. Rausch as director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Rausch, 55, has served as chief of police for the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) since 2011, overseeing an agency of more than 500 employees, including some 400 sworn police officers. Rausch joined the KPD […]
Tennessee Continues To Experience Historically Low Unemployment
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips announced today that Tennessee’s May 2018 statewide unemployment rate of 3.5 percent marked the eleventh consecutive month the figure has been 3.5 percent or lower. While the May unemployment rate represents a slight uptick of 0.1 of a percentage point compared […]
Education Department Announces TNReady Changes, Will Recompete Testing Contract
Education Commissioner Candice McQueen announced several new steps today to improve the state’s TNReady student assessment, including recompeting the state’s current testing vendor contract. These improvements are being made after ongoing conversations with teachers, parents, education leaders, and policy-makers over the past several weeks and are aimed at addressing a number of areas of concern. […]
