Stockard on the Stump: Frat house wants high ground over Senate country clubbers

It might not be a lovers’ quarrel, but the House and Senate aren’t exactly getting along these days. 

Onlookers say the rift stretches back to the August 2023 special session when the Senate refused to pass about 30 bills the House wanted as part of a public safety drive in the wake of the Covenant School shooting that took place a year ago this week. 

House and Senate leaders tend to downplay this sort of one-upmanship, saying they just love each other as they trudge toward the end of the session.

Regardless, they’re miles apart on two of the biggest bills going through the General Assembly.

The first, obviously, is the private-school voucher bill, which sat idly this week, and still pits the House and Senate against each other. The House version costs about $400 million, since it’s designed to capture the hearts of teachers far and wide, compared to the governor’s and Senate’s versions, which would take about $140 million the first year. 

Considering these bills will have a tough time passing in both chambers, they need a compromise that’s not in sight.

Yet even as they whittle away at the governor’s education initiative, the House threw a wrench into the governor’s $1.9 billion franchise tax break bill this week by inserting an amendment that would end the property tax portion of the law, dropping the cost to $800 million and requiring companies that take the rebate to be listed on the state’s website. Would the governor’s Lee Co. want to be listed as a tax dodger? He won’t talk about it.

Those companies also would be prohibited from suing the state under the measure the House Finance subcommittee passed Wednesday.

House Majority Leader William Lamberth seemed incredulous Wednesday when asked whether the amendment is a “poison pill.” For the uninitiated, those are changes made to bills specifically to kill them.

“Good God, no,” Lamberth said, then added he hopes the Senate will consider a “reasonable approach.” 

Granted, Lamberth is carrying the bill for the governor. But several House members expressed skepticism about the plan when informed at the session’s start that it was needed because of the attorney general’s and Revenue Department’s concerns that businesses could sue the state over the property portion of the franchise tax. They appear to be more amenable to the new concept, especially the portion disclosing rebate-seekers, which if not a “poison pill” is a negotiating tool to give the House high ground in its quarrel with the Senate. (The frat house is tired of the country clubbers trying to look high and mighty.)

Revenue Commissioner David Gerregano said Wednesday the department is still evaluating the House amendment, especially the transparency portion.

“It is a change to the confidentiality statutes,” Gerregano said, an “exception to the general rule.”

The House version also offers rebates for only two years, compared to the Senate’s four-year “lookback,” thus the lower price tag.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said in a statement he believes the Senate and House could reach an agreement on some parts of the bills, but he raised doubts about the financial aspect.

“The transparency piece in particular I would be included to work with them on as well as the requirement that those receiving refunds should sign something forfeiting their right to sue the state, provided the attorney general was comfortable with it,” McNally said. “Some of the other changes are a little more concerning but I am confident, once I get the full legal analysis of the House amendment, we can sit down and come to some agreement so we can resolve the constitutional issues with the tax and protect the state’s taxpayers from possible costly litigation.”

When the Senate passed its version last week, Republican Sen. Ken Yager told colleagues they could avert $180 million in legal fees. Gee, that sounds a little like a scare tactic, but we all know the great orator from Kingston wouldn’t try to snow anyone. He later said he just threw out that number, which is based on the typical legal fee.

The prevailing question, of course, is whether these two bills wind up in conference committees where lawmakers hammer out compromises behind closed doors – then vote in public – or just drop them altogether because the House and Senate refuse to concur or adopt conference committee reports.

Does the governor have enough political clout to push them to the finish line?

He’s no arm-twister, but we could know within three to four weeks.

Speaking of couches

We used to say you could look under your couch cushions and find enough loose change to buy a six-pack. That was back when Bud heavies were about $3 and Kroger Cost-Cutter Lite was about $3 for a case.

Well, the state must have a lot of couches. If it needs to find about $300 million, for instance,  Lee sends his minions hunting cushions far and wide to find the money to, in this situation, pay for a nice, fat business tax break.

The governor’s budget amendment, which was released this week, contained $350 million in investment interest to finish funding his franchise tax cut. 

Considering the state has $22 billion in unrestricted funds, we’re surprised they even have to look at all. That money is supposedly committed but isn’t being spent unless somebody wants something badly. It appears the governor wants this something awful, and so far, Senate Republicans have spent a lot of energy this year convincing themselves they need to cough up the money, even without a pending lawsuit.

The governor gave plenty of money to his pet projects such as Men of Valor. But in what is said to be a tight budget year, Lee put only $25 million in the supplemental budget for lawmakers to divvy, and he declined to add money for the House’s voucher bill. 

The governor also set aside $6.4 million for military border deployment, including $1.4 million in this year’s budget. Lee deployed National Guard troops to Texas to patrol the Mexican border recently, thus the $1.4 million, and based on the $5 million, he must be planning to keep them there for an extended period in 2025. 

The problem is that while Tennessee’s citizen-soldiers might be able to help patrol the Rio Grande and thousands of border miles, they don’t handle immigration or asylum cases. Those are taken up by the court system, and last time I checked, Lady Justice wore a blindfold, in addition to carrying scales and a sword, which isn’t typically used to behead those “huddled masses.”

Where’s the grocery tax cut?

The House Republican Caucus sent out a release last week saying Rep. Johnny Garrett passed an amendment killing a “major” tax increase on Tennessee businesses.

The Goodlettsville Republican called the proposal by Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville a “bait-and-switch” bill that would hurt businesses statewide with an $800 million tax increase. 

“Our small businesses are the backbone of our state economy, and the more money they keep, the better able they are to expand and hire more workers,” Garrett said in the statement.

Behn’s bill also included the Worldwide Combined Reporting Act, which would have required businesses to pay taxes on money they’re sheltering in offshore accounts. We’re not certain how this is an increase, though it could prevent cheating.

Conveniently, the release failed to mention that Behn’s bill would eliminate the state’s 4% sales tax on groceries. 

Behn, who needed mechanisms to offset the loss of state and local revenue, contends the Worldwide deal would force businesses to pay taxes they’re avoiding.

The other would kick in if companies aren’t paying the state’s franchise or excise tax. She argued Garrett tried to “rebrand” her bill, which led to its demise.

The Legislature enacted a three-month grocery tax break in 2023, which was roundly applauded. This year, though, key leaders said repeatedly the state was facing a rough budget year and couldn’t handle a grocery tax break.

Yet lawmakers are looking at massive spending increases, the Senate’s $1.9 billion franchise tax break and the House’s $400 million voucher bill, the cost of which will grow annually. 

This is what happens when state funds morph into Monopoly money. It reminds me of my favorite cousin, who when we were kids would sing and brag when he was winning but get mad and flip the board when the dice rolled my way.c

Public relations nightmare

When Daniel Diermeier took the post as Vanderbilt chancellor in 2020, he probably wasn’t thinking about arresting Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka for covering a student-run anti-Israel protest.

He should have looked into the future, because sure enough, that’s what Vanderbilt Police did this week when Motycka, who has written for the Lookout, went to campus to report on more protests.

This isn’t about the subject of the protests, because that’s what students do. This is about the First Amendment and freedom, which Vanderbilt apparently dropped from its curriculum despite being a bit of a player in Nashville’s 1960s civil rights movement.

A Nashville judge dropped the charges against Motycka not long after Vanderbilt Police arrested and cuffed him.

Vanderbilt issued a statement saying students had rushed Kirkland Hall early Tuesday, injuring an officer, and some were suspended. Three eventually were charged with misdemeanor assault and one with vandalism.

Motycka, on the other hand, gave the old collegiate try in trying to enter Kirkland Hall, the same thing most journalists have done over the years to get into a place where they really weren’t wanted. Vanderbilt said he tried to go through several doors.

Sure he did. That’s what reporters do, and Motycka is a diligent reporter. 

But even though he told police he would leave the campus, they cuffed and led him to court.

Ultimately, he was charged with criminal trespassing for trying to go through locked doors? 

My first reaction Tuesday was to say, “Eli won’t make deadline today.” But instead, I defaulted to “Free Eli Motycka,” which isn’t quite the same as “Free Willy” but he isn’t a killer whale either.

Anyway, instead of sending out a bunch of malarkey, Vanderbilt and Dean Wormer (I mean Mr. Diermeier) should be issuing a public apology to the Nashville Scene, Motycka and every other reporter in the country, in addition to funding 100 journalism scholarships (if anyone still wants this stinking career) and, after that, shutting the heck up.

A little Humble pie

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance wrapped up its probe of Tennessee Stands and former state Senate candidate Gary Humble this week, finding the two didn’t coordinate in his campaign and voting to end the inquiry.

“After 18 months, I’m glad that it is over. They say the process is the punishment. And it is hard not to feel as if this was some type of political retribution for challenging a 16-year incumbent majority leader,” Humble said in a statement.

Humble lost by three percentage points to Sen. Jack Johnson of Franklin in the 2022 Republican primary, scaring the dickens out of the Senate majority leader and forcing him to steer nearly every comment he’s made since then toward the 2026 election.

Registry member Tom Lawless, a Nashville attorney appointed to the job by the Senate Republican Caucus that Johnson leads, called for the audit of Humble and Tennessee Stands two years ago, claiming there was some “smoke” and, thus, something causing it to rise. In other words, he thought Humble and Tennessee Stands – which is Humble’s group – were coordinating illegally.

But the Registry board didn’t ask for Tennessee Stands’ records and couldn’t cross-reference to determine any connection. Therefore, they couldn’t find any connections if there were any.

Additionally, according to my sources, Lawless recused himself at one point in the case but then called for the Tuesday vote to end the Registry’s investigation.

“When it all was over / Find another place / Swiss time was running out / It seemed that we would lose the race.” *

∗ “Smoke on the Water,” Deep Purple