An exterior view of the Tennessee State Capitol building.NASHVILLE - Proponents of tax reform rallied this morning to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the Tennessee General Assembly from ever enacting a state income tax.
Members of Occupy Nashville, who have been camping out on Legislative Plaza in front of the Capitol for months, joined the rally.
Occupy Nashville members said later today they will offer a "people's bribe" to state lawmakers in protest of the influence of money in politics and the dominance of wealthy donors and interests when it comes to funding campaigns.
Both actions coincide with the beginning of the second year of the 107th General Assembly's annual session today at noon CST.
Groups including Tennesseans for Fair Taxation, the NAACP, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee said they oppose passage of Senate Joint Resolution 221, which would put an anti-income tax provision on the 2014 ballot.
Tennesseans for Fair Taxation advocates an overhaul of the state's sales tax-reliant revenue structure to include a state income tax and elimination of the sales tax on food. They say the sales tax falls most heavily on the poor and lower middle class.
Anne Barnett of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation and Jobs with Justice said "if we permanently ban the possibility of an income tax, we enshrine ourselves in a system where the same people who pay a larger percentage of their income to the state are the same ones who consistently deal with the consequences of inadequate funding."
She said if the resolution, sponsored by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, becomes part of the Tennessee Constitution, Tennesseans will be "forever binding ourselves to a system where the poor pay more, the rich pay less and we are constantly struggling to fund our public institutions."
Meanwhile, Occupy Nashville's Michael Custer said he expects Occupy protesters to offer unusual "bribes" to sway lawmakers.
"How about [my] offering my first-born child to leave my other children alone?" Custer said, acknowledging his son might not like that. "Who knows what they'll bring."
For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.