Here are some highlights from the month of February:
Judicial confirmation
Tennessee has its first ever Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court after Justice Roger Page was unanimously confirmed last Monday.
In accordance with my Founding Fathers Plus Plan that was adopted into the state constitution in 2014, Justice Page was appointed by the governor but required confirmation by the legislature before taking office.
On Feb. 16, I convened the Senate Judiciary Com-mittee for its first ever confirmation hearing. Justice Page testified for two hours that he planned to follow the original meaning of the constitution. He rejected the idea of a living constitution through which liberals read into the document their personal, extremist views.
The joint convention of the House and Senate to confirm Justice Page last Monday was ahistoric day for Tennessee. I was proud to second the nomination of such a fine West Tennessean to the court.
Hall tax
This could finally be the year that we see the end of the Hall tax on interest and dividends.
My Senate Bill 2 received a favorable recommendation last week from the Revenue Sub-committee of the Senate Finance Committee. As amended, it would repeal the state portion of the hall tax this year. That would reduce state revenue by only $260 million, and we have $746.4 million in recurring revenue surplus this year. Surely, we can return some of that surplus to the taxpayers.
My bill would also allow cities to decide whether to continue to levy their 2.5 percent Hall tax by a majority vote of the city council.
Senator Mark Green has also been a leader on the Hall tax repeal. His Senate Bill 47 is picking up steam. It would reduce the Hall tax by three quarters of a percent per year. This would end the state and local Hall tax in eight years.
Hopefully, one of these two solutions will pass this session, leaving the Hall tax in the taillights.
Tenn. Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) may be reached via email to sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov. See his Facebook page at facebook.com/briankelsey and follow him as @BrianKelsey on Twitter.
