Problem Statements:

A bad state budget characterized by deficits, unsustainable debt, backdoor agreements with lobbyists, padding billionaires' pockets, or poor prioritization causes severe socio-economic issues, including underfunded education, deteriorating infrastructure, and reduced access to healthcare. Budget constraints often force cuts to Medicaid, healthcare, public transportation, social services, and negatively impact vulnerable populations. It also causes deferred maintenance on roads, bridges, and public utilities, which slows economic growth. The main problem is that it causes Tennesseans to die in the Russian Roulette of life.

(a) The State of Tennessee has not distributed and allocated governmental funding constitutionally and fairly. It is time for all Tennesseans to be the recipients of a fair and equitable budget. Budgets and allocations have been driven by lobbyists, rich local and out-of-town developers and investors, while Tennesseans have been driven further into financial ruin. As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will change this economic trajectory.

The phrase "budgets are moral documents," famously emphasized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., asserts that financial plans, whether for a nation or a state, directly reflect a society’s core values, priorities, and commitments rather than just economic figures. They show what is truly valued by revealing which programs are funded and which are neglected.

(b) The State of Tennessee’s budget is the most important statement of its priorities. Budgets provide information on how public resources are mobilized and allocated and are the key instruments through which government policies are made and changed. Historically, budgets have not been perceived as instruments to advance equity, a core value of society critical for ensuring that the social contract between citizens and the state is met. When equity has been specifically addressed in budgetary considerations, it has generally been regarding economic issues such as the differential impact of tax policies across income groups. In recent years, however, governments in the United States at all levels have begun to use budget actions to advance equity, especially for historically marginalized groups. As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will move in this direction to ensure Tennesseans are the beneficiaries of government actions.

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will expedite a progressive call to action for a moral agenda, which we must move beyond left and right, liberal and conservative, and strive to uphold a fairer and just higher ground regarding moral values! It is time to break the silence of modern-day atrocities regarding the injustice in the State of Tennessee.

When multi-billions of dollars are being given to the rich while the poor suffer on the streets of Tennessee living under bridges and cardboard boxes, eating out of trash cans, middle-class being forced out of their homes, Tennesseans dying in the streets due to a lack of shelter, crime, healthcare and nutrition, citizens working two or three jobs to make ends meet, rampant untreatable mental illness, and senseless killings on the streets of urban and rural communities. When you drive across the State of Tennessee and see the new development, but look at the citizens on the streets with tattered clothes, holes in their shoes, and matted hair, Tennessee’s budgets should be moral documents!

When you have a Governor, and the legislative body passes a law criminalizing homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces, which can result in a felony or six years in jail or a $3,000 fee, this is the epitome of inhumane actions against mankind! Policies and budgets are moral documents.

As your next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will break the silence of neglect! I will address poverty, inequality, systemic racism, rural hospital closures, farmland neglect, discriminatory governmental policies, housing and health care disparities, criminal inequities, the genocide of women's reproductive rights, voting rights atrocities, and environmental injustice.

As citizens in the State of Tennessee, we are drowning in this corrupt, unethical, toxic, and unequal democracy, which has caused this divisive state of affairs in our beloved Volunteer State.

Our “budgets are moral documents” must move away from anti-poor people, anti-poverty, anti-black, anti-immigrants, anti-farmer, anti-rural, anti-health care, anti-racism, anti-LGBQT+, anti-affordable homes, anti-veteran benefits, anti-public schools, anti-unions, and anti-climate control. Budgets are moral documents…

Budgets are moral documents; they certainly have a personal meaning to me. In 2018, as a crusader for the people regarding “budgets are moral documents”, I filed a $20 Billion Dollar lawsuit against the City of Memphis, Shelby County, the State of Tennessee and Governor Bill Lee for the disinvestments of black, brown and poor white underserved neighborhoods and counties, abusive tax incentives to rich developers while poor people homes were being sold through tax lien sales, inadequate budgets for affordable housing and health care, school inequities, misappropriation of federal funds, discriminatory voter suppression, gerrymandering, redlining, environmental toxic exposure, police brutality, social and economic disparities.

My political platform is based on equity and participatory democracy, which can give people who have been systematically excluded from political processes, including people from black, brown, and poor white communities, farmers, immigrants, women, unhoused individuals, displaced veterans, and formerly and currently incarcerated people, the power to decide how to solve the issues they are impacted by. This makes decisions more equitable and effective because they are tailored to real community needs. If these individuals are not at the table, then the budget is not about them. Budgets are moral documents…

As politicians who are supposed to serve the people, we can no longer sit on the sidelines with the lack of morality that has been governing our budgets, which has caused harm to the citizens in this State. As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I would focus on budgets that address the needs of all Tennesseans, urban and rural. Budgets are moral documents…

As the next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, accountability would start with me by working toward implementing “A TENN-FAIR Budget for all Tennesseans.” In the State of Tennessee, with billions of dollars going to billionaires, there should be no economic or technical excuse for “budgets are moral documents.” Poverty is not only a private tragedy but, in a sense, a public crime.

People’s lives are being violated, especially their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

When copious new developments are being built across the State of Tennessee, others are living in dilapidated homes with lead and rodents, senior citizens going without medication to maintain basic survival and eating cat food, children dying from gunshots in poverty-stricken areas, inadequate public transportation, and school disparities due to living in certain zip codes. It is, above all, a challenge to our morality. Therefore, “budgets are moral documents” to me on many fronts, which is one of the reasons I am running for the Governor of the State of Tennessee.

As the next potential Governor, I would address “budgets are moral documents,” which would give every Tennessean a seat at the table of economic prosperity. I have been a boots-on-the-ground community leader and an advocate of the people of the State of Tennessee for over 40 years. Therefore, I would take that spirit of humanitarianism and humility to this official seat of Governor that should be serving the people.

As an active moral participant in these social, cultural, and economic devastations, I have done my part by feeding 10,000 citizens each year, taking care of the underserved children, and clothing the homeless. This is the attribute of a participatory Governor where people are the priority and not economic development and money. Budgets are moral documents.

As the next potential Governor, I am ready to take that task on for the betterment of all Tennesseans and not just the rich and privileged. The underserved, marginalized, homeless, mentally ill, uninsured, drug addicted individuals, and displaced veterans must be factored into “Budgets are moral documents”.

THREE TIERS OF BUDGET REFORM & GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY

TENNESSEE SHARE PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING (TSPB)

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, working with mayors at the municipality level, I believe that it is time for all citizens to be at the table of prosperity and inclusion with a lens of equity, focusing on budgeting through “Community Building Inclusion.” It is time for a resurrection…

Tennessee Share Participatory Budgeting (TSPB) would empower citizens to decide together how to spend public money. As the next Governor working with mayors, I would create and support a progressive participatory budgeting process that deepens democracy, builds a stronger Tennessee, and makes public budgets more equitable and effective for all Tennesseans.

Real inclusive democracy will change the way we do business in Tennessee by learning from impacted people who have suffered from economic disparities, disinvestments, gentrification, displacement, and living in the shadows of hidden systemic racism with the push of a pin. At this point, we must dive into the underlying problems in this state and not just superficial quick fixes that benefit the wealthy and leave behind poor people who have been struggling for decades. It is time for a resurrection…

As the next Governor, I will employ a multi-cultural, people-centered, community-based economic system of change for the betterment of all citizens. All Tennesseans should be able to share in what happens around them. Our democracy is in crisis in this state because of the lack of shared power, which has led to high crime, poverty, economic disparities, violation of human rights, and a lack of trust and respect for our political leaders. It is time for a resurrection…

Tennessee Share Participatory Budgeting can transform the relationship between the Tennessee government and the communities that we should be serving. This inclusionary agenda would act as a roadmap in reimagining what true participatory democracy could look like in the State of Tennessee. It is time for a resurrection…

Wasteful spending is out of control on material wealth, governmental waste, biased contractual agreements, lobbyist strongholds, new development, and not the people. It is time for a resurrection…

The balance of equity must focus on returning the gearshifts of Tennessee government budgeting to the people, therefore empowering people to decide collectively how public money is spent. We have a democracy that works when community and government are on the same side of the table, making decisions that benefit all citizens, no matter what zip code you live in or what pedigree you may hail from. It is time for a resurrection…

As the State of Tennessee experiences a rise in violent crimes and the brutal killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, we have witnessed how both crises have exacerbated existing inequities. As the next Governor, we must evaluate our current political and democratic processes to reimagine what a post-pandemic Tennessee could look like. Tennesseans must be at the table of decision-making. As the next Governor, I am up for the challenge!

Through a collective radical reimagining of Tennessee systems, by placing real power in the hands of the people most impacted through processes like participatory budgeting, and using a holistic approach to addressing specific problems exclusive to the Volunteer State. We must truly use the “grit and grin” boots-on-the-ground method to overcome this handicap socially, culturally, and economically. I am ready to be a new kind of Governor, the “People’s Governor.” It is time for a resurrection…

Implementing government-community control over public budgets has never been more urgent, as it will have a more lasting impact for decades to come.

This will be a clear pathway for all communities in the State of Tennessee to have real power and democracy over budgets, policies, and decisions that impact their lives. Not merely at the superficial table, but in the back-door decision-making shenanigans, thus being foot soldiers of justice for all of our citizens. It is time for a resurrection…

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION STRATEGIC

Taxation without representation describes a populace that is required to pay taxes to a government authority without having any say in that government’s policies. It is time for a resurrection…

More than 60% of corporations in Tennessee pay zero corporate income taxes, and 27% of those corporations have a taxable income of more than $1 billion.

It is not uncommon for large U.S. corporations to pay no U.S. income taxes despite making billions of dollars in profits. In fact, 55 of America’s largest companies paid no income taxes over the three years from 2018-2020, all while generating hefty profits. Many even received tax rebates, adding up to hundreds of millions of dollars. How do profitable corporations get away with paying no taxes? The most common ways are accelerated depreciation, offshoring of profits, stock options, and tax credits.

The study by the Government Accountability Office said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

On the other hand, citizens living in poverty-stricken communities across the State of Tennessee are struggling to keep shelter over their heads, feed their families, access quality health care, and lose their property through tax lien sales.

ISSUES THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED:

Definition of Priorities: A budget demonstrates conscious choices regarding who and what the government serves, particularly in how it cares for vulnerable populations.

Values in Action: Instead of mere abstract ideals, budgets reflect whether a society prioritizes, for instance, education, healthcare, and housing, or conversely, incarceration and surveillance.

Ethical Evaluation: As highlighted by religious leaders, a "moral budget" should be evaluated based on whether it adequately provides for the poor, sick, and young, and if it distributes burdens and rewards fairly.

Examples of Conflict: Arguments often center on whether budgets prioritize "war-making over peace" or if they adequately fund community needs like education and public services.

Essentially, a budget reveals whether a government is practicing, or failing to uphold, the values it claims to hold.

As the next potential Governor that would represent all Tennesseans, I would be the great equalizer for justice and equity for all. With inclusionary tactics, Tennessee could be the “Equity State of Justice.” It is time for all Tennesseans to get the constitutional “pay day” that all citizens should be afforded as taxpayers. Taxation without representation will no longer be an option on my watch as the next Governor of the State of Tennessee. It is time for a resurrection…

As a potential newly elected Governor, it is my belief that as the next progressive, forward-thinking senior leader, we must take intentional steps to ensure equitable representation and integrated inclusion in our democracy. In the 21^st century in the State of Tennessee, a person can work long hours cleaning up warehouses, banks, hotels, payday loan services, grocery stores, manufacturing companies, and governmental buildings, but cannot access loans to purchase their first home, access good quality healthcare, access quality nutritional meals for their families, and be evicted from their homes during a pandemic. This is a sad situation in the State of Tennessee. As political leaders, we must bring common sense back to the table of social and economic prosperity for all beloved Tennesseans.

On my radar, Tennesseans struggling to survive will be my greatest priority from day one of my administration, and the greatest task I will try to address will be to give every citizen an equal footing for an equitable, healthy living free from unnecessary stress.

Tennesseans lurking in the wind, trying not to get their cars repossessed, forced to file medical bankruptcy, going to pawn shops, selling items out of their homes to survive one more day, are traumatic actions of everyday people in the State of Tennessee. Taking their child’s computer to the pawnshop to purchase food to eat. As a gubernatorial candidate living in poverty at an early point in my life, I also have experienced this traumatic survival of the shadows of economic disparity.

No Tennessean should be living in this mode of stress and survival in a State that is financially rich with a robust rainy day fund, and the streets are paved in gold for rich developers and out-of-town investors buying up properties across the State of Tennessee, while poor people are being evicted from their apartments and homes. For these shadows of economic lockouts, homeownership is no longer attainable, but being a renter is the sharecropper trend, which will never be the pathway to generational wealth for the poor.

As the next boots-on-the-ground Governor, I would bring a fair and informed perspective to our Volunteer State. The many institutions that comprise our federal system, from the legislature to banking and the judiciary, have historically not reflected the diverse tapestry of this state or country. Far too long, black, brown, and poor white people, whose brutally forced labor turned our state and country into a global superpower, have been overlooked or underrepresented by the symbols representing our democracy. We must and can do better in the State of Tennessee.

With my new governorship, the tapestry will look and reflect all Tennesseans: poor, middle-class, rich, homeless, disabled, displaced veterans, women, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, rural residents, and any other fiber of equality that must be at the table of justice for every citizen across the State of Tennessee.

I will be in the business of getting the State of Tennessee back to its original form…FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE!

In the State of Tennessee, if we are truly going to live out the justice and equality of our Tennessee Constitution and U. S. Constitution, we must be about the business of true diversity and inclusion for all Tennesseans. We can no longer cherry-pick who we will invest in, who we will force out of their communities, who we will continue to further push down in poverty and financial devastation, who we will violate to uplift rich developers and business owners, and who we will consider as a privileged Tennessean. We are all privileged and worthy of being the Tennessean that all of us can be proud of as beloved citizens that deserve safe communities, decent, affordable housing, decent, livable wages, free from toxic environmental exposure, and free from governmental abuse and oversight. It is time for all citizens to get the blank check of justice in the State of Tennessee that will give all Tennesseans a seat at the table of economic prosperity for generations to come. As the next incoming Governor, I will return the original state of “WE THE PEOPLE,” not “WE THE POLITICIAN.”

Tennesseans should not have to live from paycheck to paycheck! Live stressfully, running to payday loans to feed their families. When one Tennessean suffers, we all should be concerned enough to stand up for what is right and be our brothers and sisters’ keeper.

No human being should be eating out of a trash can, sleeping in the streets, surviving brutal beatings, families sleeping in cars due to the loss of a home, or small business owners living on the edge of bankruptcy due to unfair governmental funding or lack of accessibility to bank funding.

Atwater's Goals and Strategies:

Making a state budget more equitable aims to ensure that factors like race, gender, income, or geography no longer determine a person's life outcomes. Equitable budgeting shifts from simply treating everyone the same (equality) to distributing resources in a way that actively addresses systemic disparities, repairs historical harms, and meets the greatest needs.

Goal 1: Shift from Incremental to Outcome-Based Budgeting

• Fund Outcomes, Not Departments: Move away from merely increasing last year's spending, and instead build the budget from the ground up by focusing on the desired future results for residents (e.g., improved literacy rates).

• Results-Based Accountability (RBA): Work backward from the intended outcomes to determine the strategies needed to achieve them.

• Targeted Investments: Direct resources towards communities and populations that have been historically marginalized or underserved.

Goal 2. Implement Data-Driven Decision Making

• Disaggregate Data: Use data broken down by race, gender, geography, and income to pinpoint where inequities are most pronounced and inform resource allocation.

• Equity Tools (BETs): Employ "Budget Equity Tools" to analyze how proposed spending or cuts affect different demographic groups, helping to ensure that new initiatives reduce rather than worsen existing disparities.

• Performance Evaluation: Evaluate existing programs based on their effectiveness in advancing equity, rather than sustaining the status quo.

Goal 3. Meaningful Community Engagement

• Empower Marginalized Voices: Move beyond traditional elitist meetings to actively involve people from disadvantaged and rural communities in the budget process.

• Participatory Budgeting: Allows mayors to solicit residents to directly propose and vote on how a portion of the public budget is spent.

• Meet People Where They Are: Co-design engagement strategies with community organizations and hold meetings at accessible times and locations.

Goal 4. Revenue and Tax System Modernization

• Progressive Tax Policies: Shift tax burdens away from low- and middle-income families, asking the wealthiest individuals and corporations to pay a higher share.

• Close Loopholes: Eliminate ineffective special-interest tax breaks and incentives that do not produce equitable economic growth. Ban on Stock Trading while in political office.

• Expand Tax Base: Modernize tax systems by applying sales taxes to services (e.g., digital streaming) rather than just goods, providing more revenue for social investments such as affordable homes for working-class families, reconstruction of rural hospitals, and satellite food pantries in low-income communities.

Goal 5. Key Policy Priorities for Equity

• Education Equity: Fund early learning, reduce class sizes, and increase teacher quality, specifically in low-income, underserved, and rural schools. Invest in Public Education, and not school vouchers that take away public dollars and give the funding to the rich. Implement Free Child Care for All.

• Healthcare Access: Address racism as a public health crisis by funding initiatives that improve health outcomes in communities of color and rural counties that have been neglected for too long. Implementing Medicaid for All.

• Economic Opportunity: Implement or expand state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) and increase minimum wages to help families meet basic needs. My target livable wage would be $18.50 - $21.50 per hour.

• Public Safety & Justice: Shift funding towards prevention, mental health services, and community-based violence interruption, rather than solely on incarceration. We can no longer criminalize our way out of society's ills; instead, we must focus on family cohesiveness and morally sound actions that help families. Implementing Suicide Awareness & Prevention Strategies.

• Infrastructure Improvement: Invest in safe drinking water, air quality control, rural road infrastructure, broadband access, and public transportation in underserved and rural counties.

Equitable budgeting requires embedding these practices into the legal routines of government, making equity a core component of the administrative process, rather than an afterthought.