Founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee JC Bowman joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss funding issues surrounding Governor Bill Lee’s universal school choice plan, known as the Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his recent article on the Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner’s omission on a letter concerning Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policies being pushed on American farmers.
On Tuesday, Pappert reported that Tennessee Agriculture Commissioner Dr. Charlie Hatcher did not sign a letter sent by 12 states to the heads of six elite banks warning that their “Net-Zero Banking Alliance” (NZBA) will force ESG policies that would have a “catastrophic impact” on farmers.
Founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee JC Bowman joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the leaked draft of Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments surrounding his efforts to make new school-specific security technology eligible for the school safety grants approved by the General Assembly last year.
Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed his recent meeting with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell as well as his idea to form a type of snow patrol during the winter months.
National political reporter Neil W. McCabe joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments in the leaked audio recording story where now-former Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) Chairman Jeff DeWit offered Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake money in return of staying out of politics for two years.
Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest work he’s done and plans to do since being elected to the Metro Nashville Council in September.
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss a new bill she and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) introduced as well as State Representative Gloria Johnson’s (D-Knoxville) recent vote against a bill that would allow prosecutors to pursue a death penalty sentence for convicted child rapists.
Blackburn, who was traveling through Sumner County while on the newsmaker line, first discussed the importance of her annual trips to all 95 Tennessee counties.
Chris Morris, a State Executive Committee Member of the Tennessee Republican Party (TNGOP), joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his concern regarding the TNGOP’s failure to follow the Republican bylaws of the state of Tennessee.
Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments and work from the Metro Nashville Council, which convened for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday.
Dr. Carol M. Swain joined Wednesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where she discussed her nonprofit organization’s upcoming conference and Harvard University’s silence in response to her attorney’s letter to the university demanding answers about what Swain claims is plagiarism of her work by outgoing President Claudine Gay.
In December 2023, writer and activist Christopher Rufo accused then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay of plagiarizing “multiple sections” of Swain’s Ph.D. thesis from 1997.
All-star panelist Clint Brewer joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed the reasoning behind Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s exclusion from a letter sent by Republican governors to President Joe Biden in regards to his administration’s “mandates” electric vehicle (EVs) mandates.
Tennessee State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) joined Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his bill that would designate the Aitken Bible as one of Tennessee’s official state books.
Tennessee State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet) joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the General Assembly’s legislative session this year, specifically concerning its approach to Governor Bill Lee’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act.
Steve Cortes, former Senior Spokesman and Strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and National Spokesman of the Ron DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy where he discussed the city of Chattanooga’s embracement of the 15-Minute City concept.
Steve Cortes, former Senior Spokesman and Strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and National Spokesman of the Ron DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his family’s move from Chicago, Illinois to Chattanooga.
Roger Simon, co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, joined the newsmaker line on Friday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss his coverage of former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s performance in Iowa, Argentine President Javier Milei’s speech at the World Economic Forum, as well as the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent vote to pass a continuing resolution.
Investigative journalist Julie Kelly joined the newsmaker line on Wednesday's episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the very latest on the thousand-plus cases of January 6 defendants being prosecuted by the Biden Department of...
State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) told listeners on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that legislative timelines could be impacted after lawmakers were sent home for the week due to severe winter weather. Pody added that the new bill filing deadline could be extended, but it currently stands on February 1.
The Wilson County-area state senator also offered an update on his newly introduced school safety measure and noted that its funding would be included in the current budget.
Pody also confirmed that the possible constitutional issue concerning out-of-state companies threatening legal action over the franchise excise tax is being studied and added that the fiscal fallout may cause some programs to be delayed by a year.
Majority Whip Johnny Garrett joined the newsmaker line on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share his insights on the new legislative session as it begins its second week at home as snow continues to blanket the region.
Garrett expressed optimism about Governor Bill Lee’s proposed education freedom scholarships, though he said he does anticipate some opposition to the proposal.
The conversation then turned to the potential constitutional issue regarding the franchise excise tax law that could leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $1.2 billion. Garrett noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is evaluating the claims to see if tax relief for the companies in question would address constitutional concerns.