Latest news with #Behn
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Immigrant rights groups respond to TN congressman's call for federal investigation into Nashville mayor's office
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Immigrant rights advocates have criticized Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles' call for a federal investigation into Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office. Ogles has publicly questioned whether Nashville officials misused federal funds and whether the mayor was 'aiding and abetting' illegal immigration — without providing proof. 'The mayor stands up and is defending those types of individuals over our hard-working law enforcement: Homeland Security, ICE, THP, the sheriff's department, and the city,' Ogles said. 'He is choosing criminals over Tennesseans.' PREVIOUS | 'We're going to take a look': TN congressman doubles down on call for investigation into Nashville mayor Part of the controversy is The Belonging Fund, launched by a nonprofit after recent ICE roundups in South Nashville. Metro promoted the fund, which provides emergency support to immigrants, covering basics like food, housing, and transportation. Ogles has claimed that the fund illegally aids undocumented immigrants. Additionally, Ogles claims that O'Connell and State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) encouraged interference against ICE. Both O'Connell and Behn have denied the allegations. 'If Representative Andy Ogles wants to talk about investigations, I think he should start to look in the mirror,' Behn told News 2. 'This man is a walking ethics violation.' Metro officials say no taxpayer dollars were used for The Belonging Fund, and it does not cover legal services or immigration defense. 'If you come into this country illegally, your very first act is illegal,' Ogles said. However, advocates for immigrants have expressed skepticism on any case against Metro officials, including O'Connell. 'The Tennessee Highway Patrol had ongoing operations for at least a week, and nobody stopped anything from happening,' Executive Director for Advocates for Immigrants Rights, Casey Bryant, said. 'If they are providing blanket services that happen to cover undocumented individuals, then I don't really see that mens rea — that willful and intelligent component to the violation of that law,' Director for the Immigrant Justice Program CLC, Colton Bane, said. 'It just happens to have such a wide range that these people could get some assistance.' Bane said that Nashville could see federal retaliation. 'What I think is much more likely in this situation is the withholding of federal funds for the city of Nashville, which tends to be the go-to tactic when the federal government is seeking to punish a city or state,' Bane explained. Behn said she thinks Ogles' threats are a distraction from Tennesseans' real needs. 'Our groceries still cost a lot, healthcare is bankrupting families, and our wages haven't improved, and the republican party has no way of fixing this and, so instead, they are scapegoating a very small marginalized community,' Behn said. Ogles also emphasized his belief that noncitizens have no due process rights, which is untrue. 'Outside, they are chanting 'Protect due process,' do you think every person who was arrested in the local ICE raids has a right to due process?' a reporter asked Ogles. 'No, so if you are a noncitizen under the current law, you can be removed in an expeditious manner,' Ogles responded. Bryant stressed that if noncitizens were to lose their right to due process, it would impact citizens. ⏩ 'Due process is something that we value highly in the criminal context, and it is historically what has made this country a more just place, but if we take due process rights away from noncitizens, then it is just a matter of time before other people, even citizens are deprived of their due process rights,' Bryant explained. News 2 reached out to both O'Connell's office and ICE for comment. However, as of publication, we have received no response. Metro Legal did not have a comment. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump DHS issues stark warning to Dems harassing ICE agents: 'Not playing games'
The Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is warning Democrats and leftists doxxing ICE agents and impeding immigration enforcement operations that it is "not playing games." In response to an online video of a Democratic state representative in Tennessee allegedly stalking ICE agents, DHS said, "This Administration is not playing games with the lives and safety of our ICE officers." The DHS statement claimed that "people doxxing our officers and impeding ICE operations are siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals." The statement came in response to a video posted on social media by Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., allegedly showing Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn "stalking" ICE agents in the Nashville area. House Gop Targets Another Dem Official Accused Of Blocking Ice Amid Delaney Hall Fallout The video appears to show Behn and another woman in a car saying they were following and "bullying the ICE vehicles and state troopers." Read On The Fox News App "This is a win," Behn said, laughing. Ogles said that Behn and her companion were "openly admitting they were trying to stall law enforcement from stopping illegal aliens." Ogles said "this isn't just reckless, it's aiding and abetting." In response to the incident, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that "attacks and demonization of ICE have resulted in officers facing a 413% increase in assaults." McLaughlin said DHS "has the ability to trace phone numbers and track location information" and that "any individual who participates in the doxxing of our brave federal immigration agents will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Acting Ice Director Demands Tim Walz Apologize For Calling Agents 'Modern-day Gestapo' DHS and the U.S. Secret Service on May 1 served a search warrant on the home of a Los Angeles resident accused of posting fliers in various Southern California neighborhoods with the names, photos, phone numbers and locations of ICE officers working in the region. Earlier this year, anti-ICE activists began putting up posters featuring the personal information of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officers working in the Los Angeles and Southern California area. The posters include the faces of several ICE agents and say, "These armed agents work in Southern California. ICE and HSI racially terrorize and criminalize entire communities with their policies. They kidnap people from their homes and from the streets, separating families and fracturing communities. Many people have died while locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers." Click Here For More Immigration Coverage Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House, told Fox News Digital that "whether it's [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz slandering ICE officers as 'Nazis' or members of Congress physically assaulting them, the Democrat party is truly unhinged, and their dangerous behavior is putting lives at risk. Watch: Democrat Lawmaker Charged With Assaulting Federal Agents Laughs Off Fundraising Questions "They are defending illegal terrorists and attacking those who are keeping Americans safe," Jackson added, noting the administration "will hold anyone accountable who commits a crime against [federal law enforcement officials]." Behn did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for article source: Trump DHS issues stark warning to Dems harassing ICE agents: 'Not playing games'
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Pot for Potholes Act': Democrats push to fund roads through legalization of marijuana
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee Democrats have been pushing for a bill that would legalize marijuana and use the tax money it generates to pay for state and local road and bridge repairs. 'This is a common-sense plan to legalize and tax recreational marijuana to fund our roads and transit,' Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), one of the bill's sponsors, said. FEBRUARY: Tennessee lawmaker files 'Pot for Potholes Act' The 'Pot for Potholes Act,' also sponsored by Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), would create a 15% tax on recreational marijuana. Seventy-five percent of the revenue generated from the tax would go toward state road and bridge projects. The rest would go to local governments. The Tennessee Department of Transportation has an estimated $38 billion backlog in projects, according to a January TACIR report. Since the state doesn't take out debt to pay for roads and bridges, Behn told News 2 the bill would create a new revenue stream. 'I thought, 'What a wonderful way to marry the two ideas of a creative revenue stream and to give the Tennessee public something that they desperately want,'' Behn said. According to a December 2024 Vanderbilt poll, 63% of respondents supported legalizing recreational marijuana, including 53% of Republicans and 78% of Democrats. However, late last year, Republican Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said that likely won't happen. 'If it's for medical purposes and it looks like medical purposes, and it's used for medical diagnoses, not these very broad medical diagnoses — I think we can get there for medical, not recreational,' Sexton said. Campbell pointed out there's a lot of money to be made in legalizing recreational marijuana. For example, the Colorado Department of Revenue reports the state has generated more than $2 billion in revenue from marijuana sales since 2014. 'Tennessee is leaving money on the table while our roads fall apart, and we all know Tennesseans are getting cannabis when they go to other states and bringing it back here,' Campbell said. The 'Pot for Potholes Act' is set to be debated for the first time in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wed., March 26. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Grocery tax cuts compete for support in Tennessee legislature
Paper plates decorated and labeled "no grocery tax" adorn the office door of Nashville Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn, sponsor of a bill to end Tennessee's grocery tax. The bill was effectively shelved for the year. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) A House finance subcommittee declined to pass — but didn't kill — a Democrat-sponsored grocery tax reduction bill Wednesday, possibly paving the way for a Republican-backed bill to cut or reduce the state's 4% sales tax on groceries. The panel added a funding mechanism to House Bill 2, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville, then shipped it to what is known as 'summer study,' ending hopes of passage this year but enabling hearings on the plan before 2026. 'The tone has shifted on this issue because we made it a campaign issue last year,' Behn said. Behn's goal is to build 'consensus and narrative' statewide, continue to push the measure during the gubernatorial campaign and revive it in 2027. Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Elaine Davis of Knoxville said Wednesday she's ready to start moving her measure through House committees over the next two weeks. The biggest difference between the two is that Behn's bill calls for replacing lost state revenue of $600 million by closing 'loopholes' in the state's corporate minimum tax, which levies a 3% tax on companies generating more than $100 million of revenue, and enforcing 'worldwide combined reporting,' an accounting method states can require multinational corporations to use when calculating taxes owed on profits. The Department of Revenue reported last year that 60% of companies are paying $100 or less on the excise tax and 21% of companies with more than $1 billion in federal taxable income are paying nothing on the excise tax. Behn and Democratic Sen. Charlane Oliver of Nashville solicited the report. Democrat Bryan Goldberg, who ran against Davis in the 2024 House contest, put out ads saying he would end the state's food tax. Davis came out with her proposal late last year and renewed the push recently with Republican Sen. Bo Watson of Hixson carrying the Senate version. House Majority Leader William Lamberth is co-sponsoring the bill. It contains no method for replacing lost state revenue, which could hit the $843 million mark. Watson told the Tennessee Lookout the legislature would need to come up with spending reductions to pay for the grocery tax cut. Davis admits her bill could lead to a major revenue reduction, an estimated $800 million, yet she describes it as a 'true tax cut' because it doesn't raise taxes elsewhere. The measure would affect only the state's share of sales taxes, not local revenue. Davis added, 'It's really not decreasing revenue because … those families, those dollars they're going to use in the grocery store to buy other products as well or they're going to use them to take their family out to dinner.' Short of eliminating the state share, Davis said other options could involve breaks on basic items such as bread, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, then phasing in small cuts incrementally. Behn is skeptical of the Republican proposal, saying the legislature doesn't have any way to pay for it because the state is 'broke' after lawmakers enacted a massive business tax break in 2024. 'If they're going to take $600 million from (Department of Children's Services) or TennCare, I would love for them to explain it on the House floor,' Behn said. Republicans have said they oppose her bill because it could force companies to cut jobs. Behn, though, said the state could pay for her proposal by enforcing the tax code 'as it's written.' Her proposal has been enacted in 20 other states, including Texas and Idaho, which Behn pointed out are not 'liberal bastions.' Further, Behn said President Donald Trump is encouraging cuts in food taxes and added she would be glad to support a 'Trump-Lamberth' grocery tax break. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill targets big real estate investors buying homes to rent in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two Democratic lawmakers are taking aim at deep-pocketed real estate investors they say are buying up properties in Tennessee, taking a bite out of the housing inventory and causing skyrocketing rental and home prices. The 'Homes Not Hedge Funds Act,' sponsored by Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) and Rep. Aftyn Behn (R-Nashville), would block real estate investors from buying homes to rent in counties with more than 150,000 people if they already own 100 or more rental homes in similarly-sized counties. 'It's not retroactive, but it's trying to look towards the future and stabilize the market and hold those accountable that have led to this housing crisis in Nashville and Tennessee,' Behn said. Social media posts don't 'accurately reflect' lunch options at Tullahoma High School, system says The bill would also establish an up to $50,000 fine for real estate investing companies who break the rules and allow prospective homeowners to sue those companies. According to the CBRE's 2024 Investor Intentions Survey, commercial real estate investors ranked Nashville #4 in the nation for U.S. metro investment targets. In addition, a 2024 study by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency found 7% of Davidson County home sales from 2018 to 2022 were investor purchases; the number spiked to 20% in 2020. Behn told News 2 big investors are making it more difficult for individuals to become homeowners in the Volunteer State. 'I hear from constituents all the time that living is simply unaffordable. The dream of American home ownership is unattainable in Nashville and Tennessee,' Behn said. 'It really is a testament to the unbridled access that these companies and corporations have over our housing market.' 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → Not only do large real estate investors have plenty of cash to spend, Rutherford County's property assessor, Rob Mitchell, said they also use technology that automatically makes offers on properties the second they hit the market. 'They have algorithms out there that institute computerized buy. If something comes onto the market through the MLS listing, and if it meets their specific criteria, they have a program out there that will make a bid on it—a cash offer—before the average person ever has the opportunity,' Mitchell said. Rutherford County has 5,000 to 8,000 investor-owned rental homes at any given time, according to Mitchell. Despite that, the county has managed to keep its population at around 60% homeowners and 40% renters, which Mitchell said is critical for communities to maintain. 'There is generally less crime and less social cost to a community that has higher single-family home ownership as opposed to the other way,' Mitchell said. 'The danger to the community actually comes into play when those numbers flip-flop. There is one county in Tennessee where that has happened, and that's Shelby County.' While Mitchell called the Homes, Not Hedge Funds Act 'well intended,' he'd rather see the state give counties the authority to create a real estate investor licensing requirements so local governments can ensure investors' rental homes are safe and that the number of investments doesn't spiral out of control. However, he added there is no one-size fits all approach. Multiple states have introduced similar legislation targeting institutional ownership this year. While the majority have been spearheaded by Democratic officials, some Republicans have launched similar efforts, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Behn and Oliver's bill is set to have its first debate in the Senate State and Local Government Committee Tuesday, March 18. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
