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Location: Nashville, Tennessee, United States

8/19/2002

Why Hilleary is Right
Republican candidate for governor Van Hilleary is coming under fire from liberal newspaper editorialists for ruling out an income tax over the next 8 years if he is elected and then re-elected in 2006. But Hilleary is right for taking such a stance.

"Nothing should be off the table in the state's continuing budget discussions," says The Tennessean in this Sunday editorial.

But the state constitution is clear - the income tax has never been on the table.

The income tax is not authorized by the state constitution. That means it is unconstitutional - and it has been declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court, three times. In layman's terms, it is illegal for the legislature to create one. So Phil Bredesen promises to uphold the constitution only for 4 years.

Only the people of Tennessee, via a constitional convention or a referendum on a proposed constitutional amendment, may create an income tax. They don't seem inclined to do so.

If pressed on the issue, perhaps Hilleary should expand his 8-year promise this way:

If I'm your governor, no matter what happens I will not propose an income tax nor ask legislators to pass an income tax, nor urge legislators to vote for an income tax. If an income tax is passed, I will veto it. If the legislature overrides my veto, I'll work to elect legislators willing to repeal it. If I am unable to repeal it, I'll use my line-item veto to cancel funding for administring collection of the tax.

The supreme court of this great state has said repeatedly that an income tax is not allowed by the constitution of this great state. If the people of Tennessee decide one day to ask for an income tax, they'll have to do it via a constitutional convention or a referendum. Until that day, and as long as I am your governor, Tennessee will not have an income tax.

Bredesen is being lauded in the liberal press for remaining "flexible" and showing better "management" skills by leaving the income tax as an option during his second term, when the reality is he is ignoring the state constitution, which does not authorize the income tax. Hilleary's approach is constitutionally correct - and reflects the view of the vast majority of Tennesseans.