Rep. John Ray Clemmons

08/29/2026

Friday night lights at Hillsboro vs Overton.

08/28/2026

Excited for another year of celebrating William Edmondson!

Calling all artists! WE Fest 2026: William Edmondson Arts & Culture Festival is your chance to showcase your work, connect with the community and be part of a celebration that draws thousands each year.

The 5th Annual William Edmondson Arts & Culture Fest brings together art, live music, performances, food, family fun and community — all while celebrating the legacy of one of Nashville’s most important artists.

📅 Saturday, October 24, 2026
⏰ 10 AM–4 PM
📍 1450 14th Avenue South, Nashville, TN
🎟️ FREE to the public

Artists and vendors interested in participating can scan the QR code or visit www.edmondsonhome.org for details and applications.

08/28/2026

Congratulations, Tennessee. Your Republican governor and super-majority are gifting you higher costs while gifting foreign corporations billions.

Since taking complete control of state government in 2011, the GOP has doubled the state budget but our roads are in worse shape, our schools are still underfunded, we still pay grocery taxes and healthcare costs rise. Now, they’re increasing yet another fee on almost all of our families.

Before Election Day, be sure to ask your state legislators and this governor where your money went.

Tennessee hunting and fishing license fees could increase by an average of 29% next year in an effort to bridge a multi-million-dollar deficit in the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s budget. The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission, TWRA’s governing body, approved new license fees along w...

08/28/2026

Great civic design ideas shared by Nashville Youth Design Team at tonight’s community meeting hosted by Councilwoman Joy Styles . Proud of the hard work and leadership of these Metro Nashville Public Schools students. Also saw some exciting renderings of plans for Mill Ridge Park and heard from Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.

08/27/2026

This past session was full of surprises, but among the most shocking was Republicans' opposition to my House Joint Resolution honoring the conservative U.S. Supreme Court for overturning President Trump's unlawful tariffs that cost Tennessee businesses, farmers and consumers tens of millions of dollars and stating that the law requires the government to refund those tariffs.

Excerpt from State Affairs:

A Democratic measure extolling the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision throwing out President Donald Trump’s tariff scheme was in a slightly different posture because it was a resolution and not a bill. But after being defeated on a 60-24 vote it nevertheless faced a motion for being rejected by the body because a constitutional majority had voted in the negative. In the end, cooler heads prevailed.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton was one of several Republicans who did not cast a vote when the measure was first before the chamber, a likely nod to major Tennessee corporations like FedEx of Memphis and Atmus Filtration Technologies of Nashville that have sued to recoup duties.

“It’s a no-brainer,” House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons said in a text message. “These guys are so scared of voting against anything Trump-related that they’ve lost sight of who they represent. They gave $2 billion refunds away using a phantom dormant commerce clause excuse but won’t even say they support the law that mandates that the U.S. government refund invalid tariffs? Bizarre.” He added: “Their blind fealty to Trump knows no bounds.”

Clemmons’ effort could pay off politically by spotlighting the issue. The caucus chairman and attorney peppered his resolution with multiple “Whereas” references to the nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimated the impact of the Trump tariffs nationally at $1,100 in cost increases per household in 2025. The Yale Budget Lab estimated the cost increases were as high as $1,700 per household.

In their annual Economic Report to the Governor of the State of Tennessee, the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research and UT’s Department of Agricultural Economic reported that U.S. consumers absorbed a “substantial fraction” of the import taxes, with imported goods rising 6 to 7 percentage points in price and domestically produced goods dependent on foreign inputs increasing by about 4.5 percentage points.

Continuing to cite the state report, Clemmons resolution says that as a result of retaliatory tariffs, exports from Tennessee to Canada fell $1.2 billion between 2024 and 2025. As a result of retaliatory tariffs by China, state exports fell by $724 million, or 32%.

Tennessee exports of bulk agricultural commodities, which include cotton, to***co and soybeans, were down $321 million or 33% in the last fiscal year.

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My House Joint Resolution is linked below.

08/27/2026

There is still time to join us for our TeamJRC Fall Fundraiser on Monday.

With a contested general election campaign this Fall, every dollar counts!

We sincerely appreciate our generous sponsors and those who’ve already RSVP’d.

Join us!

www.johnrayclemmons.com/contribute

08/27/2026

Incredible talents performing at tonight’s Fuerza Democrats concert.

https://www.fuerzatn.org/

08/26/2026

Public hearings on Bill Lee’s I-24 toll lanes are set for Sept. 8 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Nashville Public Library Pruitt Branch and Sept. 9 from 12:30 to 6 p.m. at Smyrna Event Center.

Tennessee Department of Transportation officials picked a road-building group to take on the state’s first toll project despite a series of bumps the consortium’s companies hit over the past decade-plus, ranging from bankruptcies to price-gouging accusations. DriveTN’s winning bid included a $...

08/25/2026

How blessed we all were to live in the time of Dolly. 🦋
🙏🏻 God bless her and her beautiful soul.