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Location: Nashville, Tennessee, United States

4/25/2002

Random Notes
The Van Hilleary for Governor campaign has issued a statement condemning House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh's plan for an unconstitutional 4.5% flat income tax. It's short and to the point. ... Hilleary also has issued a press release with documentation proving rival GOP candidate Jim Henry at one time lobbied in favor of the income tax. The press release is not yet online, so here are the basics: Henry registered as a lobbyist for "tax reform" to assist then-Gov. Ned McWherter, who sought to pass an income tax to fund the Better Education Program. Henry today claims he never lobbied for the Income Tax, but press accounts in various newspapers at the time did report Henry indeed was hired by McWherter specifically to lobby members of the General Assembly to support the Income Tax. Today, Henry claims those press reports are "wrong" but there's no evidence he asked for a correction at the time and no corrections were printed. When the press release is on Hilleary's campaign website, I'll add a link to it.