People new to Tennessee may be under the impression that Republicans stand up for the rich and Democrats stand up for the poor. But as the legislature has shown us this year, that’s not the case.
Unless something unexpected occurs, the Rochelle-Head plan to remove the sales tax from food, clothing, and non-prescription drugs and to institute a graduated income tax will fail because there aren’t enough votes for it in the state Senate. Instead, the legislature will increase the sales tax by half a cent or more, exacerbating what is already one of the most regressive tax structures in the country and dramatically increasing the tax dollars that Tennessee exports to its eight neighboring states (all of which have an income tax).
For liberal idealists looking for someone to blame, don’t point the finger at the GOP. The income tax will not fail because of right-wing Republicans like Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood and David Fowler of Signal Mountain, who represent wealthy districts and would be expected to oppose it. In fact, a surprising number of Republican senators (four at last count) have risked their political futures by telling reporters they would vote for an income tax.
No, the income tax will fail because of Democrats. It will fail because members of the majority party—some of whom represent poor, working-class districts—staunchly oppose it, even though it would shift much of the state’s tax burden from the poor to the upper middle class and wealthy.
Why? Everyone has a different reason.
Lt. Gov. John Wilder, who represents eight counties in rural southwest Tennessee, says that he believes a state income tax is forbidden by the Tennessee Constitution. Besides, he signed a pledge during last year’s election saying he would not vote for an income tax. He did that at the behest of the then-chairman of the Republican Party. “I signed a pledge that I would not vote for an income tax because Mr. Chip Saltsman told me I wouldn’t get reelected if I didn’t,” says Wilder, the highest-ranking Democrat in state government.
Another key opponent to the income tax is Joe Haynes, chairman of the Democratic Caucus and the senator for East Nashville, Inglewood, and Old Hickory. Haynes has not only opposed Rochelle’s income tax, he has led the charge for a sales-tax increase. “I think Sen. Rochelle has produced an excellent plan with lots of merit, but I don’t think it has the support of people, including my constituents,” Haynes says. “I was sent down here to be responsible to the people and do the right thing.”
Other Senate Democrats who are against taking the sales tax off food and clothing and instituting an income tax include:
♦ Senate Democratic Leader Ward Crutchfield, who represents most of Chattanooga. With his endorsement of an increased sales tax, Crutchfield has drawn criticism from his mayor, Gov. Sundquist’s former finance commissioner, Bob Corker. Crutchfield has told reporters that he favors the sales tax over the income tax because that is what his constituents want.
♦ Senate Finance Committee chairman Douglas Henry. “I would consider [an income tax] as a drastic measure to save the state from dire straits, but I don’t believe we are there yet,” he says. It should be pointed out that Henry represents a district that includes Green Hills, Belle Meade, and Forest Hills—a constituency that would certainly pay more under an income tax.
♦ Sen. Jo Ann Graves, who represents Robertson and Sumner counties. “I gave my word I wouldn’t vote for an income tax, and people voted for me based on what I said,” she says. “It would be reprehensible to say that everything I said I would do was a lie.”
♦ Roy Herron, who represents six rural counties in northwest Tennessee. “I don’t hear a lot of support for it and don’t think that it is anywhere close to being a real option,” says Herron, a protégé of former Democratic Gov. (and income tax proponent) Ned McWherter.
♦ Rosalind Kurita, the Clarksville senator and treasurer of the Democratic Caucus.
♦ Doug Jackson, who represents eight counties including Dickson and Hickman.
♦ Even Thelma Harper, the Nashville senator who represents one of the poorest districts in the Legislature, doesn’t stand up for the plan that would certainly help her constituents. “I don’t know how I will vote,” she said last week. “I will have to wait and see what the plan does and what kinds of amendments it has. I’m not trying to sound shallow. I just don’t know.”
Rochelle and Head have been reluctant to criticize their fellow Democrats publicly, for fear that they might offend them and decrease the already slim chance that their bill will pass. Jim Kyle, the Democratic senator of Memphis who chairs the Legislature’s conference committee on the budget, goes a little further. “I think that a significant number of Democrats would favor an income tax, but they don’t want to come out in favor of it unless they believe it will pass,” he says. “I think the caucus leadership has to come out in favor of it before it will get more support.”
However, some Democratic lawmakers are openly frustrated with their party over the sales-tax issue. “It makes you wonder why we have political parties in the first place,” says Rep. Rob Briley, who represents inner city East Nashville.
Sen. Steve Cohen of Memphis says the party’s vagueness on the tax issue statewide reminds him what has happened nationwide. “The party on the national level tried to do the same thing, which is get as close as they can to the center and tweak it enough to cater to the party constituencies without standing for anything,” he says. “The result was that a lot of people believed that the party was controlled by money and business interests, which is why Ralph Nader got so much support.”
Cohen, who has consistently advocated for an income tax, says it has been a long time since the Tennessee Democratic Party stood up for a distinct set of values. “I am a Democrat, and I think that I am true to party issues,” he says. “But I don’t think the party takes a stand on the party issues.”
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