Tennessee tax fight a warning to others: Tennesseans of all political stripes are taking sides on a proposal to implement a state income tax. Spenders have run up a huge $1 billion state budget shortfall

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 10, 2001 | by Tony Hays

According to both McDaniel and Rinks, House Speaker Naifeh has said point-blank in leadership meetings that something's got to happen to resolve these problems. He's open to any logical proposition that will fix the problem and not just put it off again. Rinks has suggested just tossing out the entire Tennessee tax code and starting over, a view that some find meritorious. But it's far too radical, say other legislators, and the votes probably aren't there to do it.

One thing is certain, whether the sunshine law has been skirted or not, when the Legislature comes back into session after the leadership arrives at some sort of a deal: The people will have little time to voice their opinions. Insiders say the gavel will bang three times -- once to open the session, once to mark passage of the budget bill and once to adjourn. Bets are that a final solution still will have eluded legislators.

Groups such as the Libertarian Party can denounce Sundquist-sponsored attempts to pass an income tax as unconstitutional until they are blue in the face, but the Tennessee Constitution doesn't spell out the issue definitively. With religious leaders and lottery lobbyists from other states fighting the lottery initiative, that leaves for the bigspending politicians a state income tax as the closest port in the storm, despite overwhelming opposition by the people of Tennessee.

Eight states across the nation are fighting state income taxes. In the absence of a political rebellion, say the state's savviest observers, Tennessee will be the next to fall.

TONY HAYS, A TV REPORTER AND NOVELIST, WROTE THIS ARTICLE ON ASSIGNMENT FOR Insight.