Senators talk $925M surplus 'myth'

State lawmakers keep talking about a so-called $1 billion surplus, but two key members of the local Legislative delegation say the number is more a myth than a reality.

As it stands, the state might have roughly $925 million in extra money this year, but much of it has already been allocated.

The topic is part of this Sunday’s edition of “Inside Tennessee” on WBIR 10News.

The guests are Knoxville Republican state senators Becky Duncan Massey and Richard Briggs.

The discussion comes as the General Assembly convened on Jan. 10.
 
Briggs said Gov. Bill Haslam’s finance team met with state lawmakers recently to talk about the surplus.

Briggs and Massey didn’t want to get into too much detail, but both agreed that there is roughly “$100 million to $150 million” that hasn’t been allocated.

“I call (it) a little bit the myth of the myth of the one billion dollars,” Briggs said. “At this point, there’s going to be about $200 million – I don’t want to go into some of the details – that’s going into education. We have some of the built-in increases that happen every year due to the TN Care increase and we forget that with this affordable care act, we had about 60,000 or 70,000 people that were in the woodwork who are eligible for TN Care that never signed up for it. They’re forced to do that now or they’ll take a penalty.”

He said money also will go to “completely fund our retirement fund” and paying “back the other half that we borrowed back earlier in the 2000s when we had some deficits from the road fund.”

“We did half of that last year – we’re going to do the other half this year. That’s no secret. That’s about a 120 or $130 million . . . and then we have the investments we need to make on building maintenance that’s been delayed over the years,” Briggs added. “One other thing when we talk about all of this money that’s important – we do have some cash in hand but much of those are projections and we really don’t know what’s going to happen to the economy. If it projects out then we will have more money but it’s all not discretionary that we can spend.”

Massey said the surplus came from a “combination of fiscal responsibility” and revenues from business growth.

“Part of the surplus is in recurring dollars which there is a number of pots that almost take it before we even get to look at it . . . and then about half of it is non-recurring, which can be used more for short-term projects,” she said. “But I can guarantee you there’s a lot of people who have some wonderful ideas and significant needs and we’ll have to look at what’s the best return on the investment.”

The 30-minute political and public affairs program, which was taped Thursday, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WBIR.

Panelists include WBIR reporter Mike Donila, attorney Don Bosch and governmental relations specialist Susan Williams.

WBIR Anchor John Becker serves as the show’s moderator.

'Inside Tennessee' to focus on presidential race aftermath

A super panel of local Democrats and Republicans on Sunday’s edition of “Inside Tennessee” on WBIR 10News will touch on election night 2016 and the aftermath of the presidential race.

The group includes Democrats Dennis Francis,Don Bosch and Billy Stair, and Republicans Susan Williams, Elaine Davis and Lance Baker.

The subject? Breaking down an election in which Republican candidate Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to become the nation’s 45^th president.

Panelists note that all but three counties in Tennessee went to Trump with some 2.3 million citizens statewide voting. Knox County had a record turnout with 184,000 residents casting ballots.

The 30-minute political and public affairs program, which was taped Wednesday, kicks off at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WBIR.

Anchor John Becker serves as the show’s moderator.

Kane, Hensley to discuss House seat

Kane, right and Hensley, left

The two candidates running for the 89^th District state House seat are the guests on this Sunday’s edition of “Inside Tennessee” on WBIR 10News.

Incumbent and Republican Roger Kane and Democrat challenger Heather Hensley touch on a number of topics during the 30-minute political and public affairs program that kicks off at 9:30 a.m.

The show, which was taped on Wednesday, features a panel comprised of Don Bosch, an attorney and Democrat, Susan Williams, a Republican and public relations specialist, and 10News reporter Mike Donila.

WBIR anchor John Becker serves as the show’s moderator.

Kane, an insurance agent who has held the seat since 2012, and Hensley, a registered nurse, discuss a range of matters the General Assembly expects to act on when the body meets again in January.

Issues include: health care and Insure Tennessee, the state’s failed version of the Affordable Healthcare Act; desperately needed road repairs; whether a gas tax increase is warranted; and just how much oversight the General Assembly should have over the University of Tennessee.

The 89th District is sandwiched between Oak Ridge at the north and I-40 at the south and includes roughly 65,000 residents.

Early voting has already started for the Nov. 8 general election.

Candidate: Property Assessor's Office under IRS criminal investigation

A two-time candidate for the Knox County property assessor’s position said the office is under federal investigation.

During a taping of Sunday political talk show "Inside Tennessee," candidate Andrew Graybeal told the panel that he’s met with current and former employees who informed him that they’ve met with an agent from the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigation division as recently as “two weeks ago.”

The office determines the value of all local and commercial property in Knox County.

“What I am hearing from the employees is . . . assessments, issues and campaign contributions will get you a lower assessment – that’s what has been said to me by employees, former and current,” said Graybeal, who also ran for the job in 2008.

Graybeal is one of three Republicans seeking the position in the March 1 primary. The winner will take over the office, since no Democrat qualified.

Phil Ballard, the current property assessor, is term-limited.

After the taping, WBIR 10News reached out to Ballard’s attorney, Don Bosch, regarding the accusations.

“We have been aware of the rumors and allegations for many years now and we look forward to the day that these rumors and allegations end,” Bosch said.

Jim Weaver, the current chief deputy in the office, also is seeking the position.

He said “those are rumors we’ve heard for six years,” but he said he had never met with investigators.

“I have no knowledge of this,” he said. “These are pretty serious accusations. I have not been talked to, I don’t know anyone who has been talked to."

John Whitehead, who served as property assessor from 2000-08 and also is seeking the job, said he has not talked to investigators nor was he aware of a possible federal probe.

The Property Assessor’s Office, which has 45 employees, is responsible for appraising residential and commercial property in Knox County.

Tune in to WBIR 10News at 9:30 a.m. Sunday for more on the election.

U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Baumgartner case; matter closed

Baumgartner

The nation’s highest court has declined to hear the federal case against disgraced former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner.

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that justices will not hear arguments as to whether federal prosecutors overstepped their boundaries after Baumgartner pleaded in state court.

Lawyers for the former judge had argued that the prosecutors went too far in trying to apply an arcane area of the law.

Instead, they said the matter should have remained as a state-prosecuted case.

Once convicted in federal court, Baumgartner lost his state pension.

Defense attorneys Don Bosch and Ann Short in March submitted their bid, called a petition for certiorari, to the court.

It typically takes four justices to agree to hear a case, and the court takes only a fraction of the petitions submitted to it.

In September 2014, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down an appeal by Baumgartner in what amounted to a split decision. In October, the lawyers' request for a full or "en banc" review by the appellate court was denied.

Baumgartner, who presided over such high profile cases as the Thomas D. Huskey serial killing case and the prosecution of four people in the Christian-Newsom homicides, stepped down in early 2011 as details began to emerge that he had carried on an affair with a woman in the drug court that he supervised, using her to secure prescription pills for a drug habit.

He admitted to official misconduct and received a diversionary sentence in state court. He was allowed to keep his state pension.

Then, federal authorities stepped in, securing indictments against him for what's called misprision of a felony, for which a jury convicted him in 2012. His state pension was now in jeopardy.

Misprision of a felony is an old area of the law, dating back more than 200 years in the United States. Simply put, it means someone was aware of a felony, concealed that and failed to report it to the proper authority.

It's generally been applied to circumstances when someone explicitly tried to hinder a federal investigation, Bosch and Short argued.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case, the matter is officially over.

KPD officer sues city over pension

Knoxville police officer Ed Kingsbury says the city pension board is failing to credit him fairly for his U.S. military service.

Since 1984, Knoxville's city charter has allowed veterans employed as police officers to purchase up to four years' worth of military service credit, to apply toward pension eligibility.

Kingsbury, a US Air Force veteran, joined KPD in 1993. Back then, Kingbsury's attorney Don Bosch wrote in an appeal filed Friday, the city didn't actively inform veterans they could purchase that military service credit.

"When Plaintiff Kingsbury joined the Knoxville Police Department in 1993, and through no fault of his own, he was not advised of the opportunity to purchase credit for his military service," Bosch wrote in the appeal.

In 2000, the city amended its charter to limit the time frame in which a veteran can apply for the benefit, (where there previously was no time limit). That amendment, which became effective in 2001, requires a veteran to apply for the benefit "in writing within six months of the employee's first employment anniversary date."

Kingsbury, however, didn't learn about the opportunity until 2014, Bosch said.

The veteran and police officer now wants to buy into the benefit at the price it would have cost him back in 1993: an estimated $18,082, since he would have done so at the time had he been informed of its availability, Bosch wrote.

Kingsbury initially approached the board in May of 2014, asking members to review the charter and his situation.

The city pension board, however, told Kingsbury he must pay, "$74,468, accounting for inflation on the 1993 price and interest the money would have earned," Bosch detailed in the document.

In January of this year, Kingsbury once again approached the board and "objected that he should not be required to pay the entire 2014 actuarial cost," Bosch wrote.

While eventually acknowledging the city's failure to notify Kingsbury of the benefit, the board rejected Kingsbury's request to purchase it at the 1993 price. That was at a hearing in April.

Rest of story RIGHT HERE.

Baumgartner Vs. United States is 'petition of the month' for May

In March, we broke the news that lawyers for disgraced former Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review his case, arguing federal prosecutors went too far in trying to apply an arcane area of the law.

Don Bosch and Ann Short submitted their bid, called a petition for certiorari, to the court. They're waiting to hear if the U.S. solicitor general, which oversees U.S. litigation before the court, responds. An April 3 deadline has been set for the response.

You can find the story RIGHT HERE.

It should be noted that the attorneys are not arguing whether the ex-judge is innocent (we all know the dude pleaded guilty), but rather whether the feds had any right to meddle in the case.

Well, the Supreme Court Press, which touts itself as the legal brief preparation and printing for the U.S. Supreme Court, has selected it for "Petition of the Month" for May.

You can read about it RIGHT HERE.