Tom Humphrey

• Humphrey: How relevant are GOP gubernatorial victories? Published 11/08/2009 at midnight

  While Tennessee Republicans joined their counterparts elsewhere in the nation in hailing last week's GOP gubernatorial victories in New Jersey and Virginia, there just might be more relevance to Tennessee in that upstate New York Democratic congressional victory.

• Humphrey: Travel, per diem pay: Sounds of silence? Published 11/01/2009 at midnight

  A reader has passed along a couple of recent articles in New Mexico media about controversies concerning the payment of "per diem," or daily expense money, to legislators in that state.

• Humphrey: Will 2010 be 'year of the camera'? Published 10/25/2009 at midnight

  During a legislative session, the polite way to kill a bill is to send it to "summer study." What happens next is, in many cases, nothing. Session ends and the matter is forgotten.

• Humphrey: Tax collections still down Published 10/12/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - Gov. Phil Bredesen estimates Tennessee's tax collections will not return to 2008 levels until 2013, and for now they continue to shrink.

• Humphrey: State study helps GOP on health care Published 10/11/2009 at midnight

  Just a few short months ago, there was a round of rampant speculation about Gov. Phil Bredesen being named by President Barack Obama to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and thus become point man in a ...

• Humphrey: Both parties hoping election will be a sign Published 10/04/2009 at midnight

  This month's special election for an open state House seat is apparently seen by both sides as something of a preliminary skirmish - and/or a chance to hone skills and strategies - in next year's political war for control of ...

• Lawsuit filed in Voter Confidence Act fight Published 10/01/2009 at 4:16 p.m.

  NASHVILLE - Common Cause of Tennessee has filed a lawsuit seeking to compel state officials to implement the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act, which calls for installing voting machines with a paper ballot trail statewide for the 2010 elections.

• Humphrey: Women in politics: GOP holds edge Published 09/20/2009 at midnight

  Today's Tennessee political junkie discussion question, posed in a recent conversation: Why are virtually all of the most prominent women holding elective office in Tennessee Republicans?

• Humphrey: GOP candidates chasing states-rights legacy Published 09/13/2009 at midnight

  In one of the more profound pronouncements of the gubernatorial campaign so far, Ron Ramsey declared last week that Tennessee is "an island of sanity" in a nation that is headed in a frightening direction.

• Humphrey: Miss Anna Belle - 'a beautiful word' Published 09/06/2009 at midnight

  Partly because she had no children herself, Anna Belle Clement O'Brien used to say that she diverted her mothering instincts to trying to help other people's offspring.

• Anti-abortion letter divides GOP legislators Published 11/08/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - Republican legislators are split over whether to chastise the state's largest anti-abortion organization for supporting a Democrat.

• Tenn. legislator drafts bill that would bar lawmakers from operating PACs Published 11/06/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner proposed Wednesday that sitting state legislators be prohibited from operating political action committees, even though he now has a PAC himself.

• Bredesen calls biofuel criticism 'outrageous' Published 11/06/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - Gov. Phil Bredesen branded a legislative attack on the BioFuels Initiative he launched two years ago as "ridiculous" and "outrageous" Thursday and said it endangers an unannounced "very large investment in East Tennessee."

• Legislators disappointed in status of UT biofuel initiative; CEO says it has potential Published 11/05/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE — Some state legislators said Wednesday they may have been misled in approving $70 million for the University of Tennessee’s Biofuels Initiative and questioned whether taxpayers should continue to underwrite the costs.

• Legislators get $14 bump in per diem Published 11/03/2009 at 12:48 p.m.

  NASHVILLE - The daily "per diem" expense payments for state legislators have been increased by $14 to $185 under an automatic annual adjustment built into state law.

• Correction chief says putting all killers in maximum security would be costly Published 11/03/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - Convicted killer Letalvis Cobbins was transferred to maximum-security housing at a West Tennessee prison on Monday, but state Correction Commissioner George Little said giving other convicted murderers the same treatment would cost "millions of dollars."

• Cobbins transferred to maximum-security prison Published 11/02/2009 at 1:13 p.m.

  NASHVILLE - Convicted killer Letalvis Cobbins was transferred to a maximum-security prison in West Tennessee today, three days after a state senator protested his location in the medium-security Hardeman County prison, according to Correction Commissioner George Little.

• Legislators set up PACs to avoid donation limits Published 11/02/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - A growing number of state legislators are expanding their ability to collect and distribute campaign money by establishing personal political action committees, also known as "leadership PACs."

• Taxpayers foot travel bills Published 10/28/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - Former state Sen. Paul Stanley, who resigned his seat in August after revelations emerged of his sexual affair with a legislative intern, was one of 31 legislators who made out-of-state trips at taxpayer expense after the legislative session ...

• Election 2010: Act to reform ethics 'a big charade,' according to one state player Published 10/26/2009 at midnight

  NASHVILLE - While lobbyists are prohibited from making direct contributions to Tennessee political campaigns under an ethics law enacted three years ago, many continue to send cash to candidates through three legal paths left open by legislators.

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