Click here for Adobe Acrobat version.

Tennessee Talk Radio Personalities were Critical in Preventing a Tennessee Income Tax 

WASHINGTON -Americans for Tax Reform is proud to award Tennessee radio's Steve Gill of WWTN-FM, and Phil Valentine of WLAC-AM, the Americans for Tax Reform "Hero of the Taxpayer" award.  Their combined efforts led to the defeat of an attempt by some members of the State Legislature and Governor Sundquist, to impose an income tax on the people of Tennessee.  Tennessee is one of the few states that have yet to institute a statewide income tax, relying on their 6 percent sales tax to provide government revenues.  

Within two hours of receiving information from Senator Marsha Blackburn about some of the Legislators intentions to impose an income tax, Gill and Valentine began to call on the people of Tennessee to travel to the state capital for a rally against the income tax.  Over 2000 people showed up at the capital in opposition to the income tax, and they were critical in preventing the legislation from passing.   This is only one of the many instances where the two radio personalities have contributed to helping the Tennessee people avoid government taxation.   However, neither Gill nor Valentine will take all the credit. "We're the voice," Gill said. "But the people are the volume." 

"I am proud to see that there are still a majority of Tennesean's that recognize the supreme importance of individual liberty. The people sent a clear message to both the state legislature and the Governor that they do not favor an income tax.  I am sorry to see that the Governor chose to ignore the voice of his constituents and veto the budget.  However, with the actions of individuals like Steve Gill and Dick Valentine, the people of Tennessee prevailed," said Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform.