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Friday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn and members of the Tennessee General Assembly as well as local leaders met on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. Topics of conversation included financial needs and other important issues specific to the county.

The visit was part of Blackburn’s annual tour of all 95 of Tennessee’s counties.

“The reason we do this is because you can hear firsthand from members of the community and leadership in the county elected officials as to what their needs are and where they need help. And as the mayor mentioned, we had talked about grants and had how to close the digital divide with that, and [we’ve] gotten behind it.” Blackburn said. “Claiborne County is now far ahead of where many other counties are. So this is how we’re able to better help and participate with the counties and making certain that Tennessee is still the best place to live, to work, to raise a family.”

“I always do [enjoy my visit], and being here at LMU. Doing our county meeting here and being able to see the campus, go through the museum, I learned a little bit more about the expansion. I visited the campus in Knoxville and visited with some LMU medical students that were over in Henry County but had not been here. So it was awesome to be able to be here and be on the campus.”

LMU’s rich history is based on President Abraham Lincoln’s vision to have a quality university for the people of the Tennessee-Kentucky region. But Blackburn’s tour did not stop at history.

“So far this year we’ve been in about 80 counties. So we’re covering a lot of the state. We visit every county every year,” Blackburn said.

Claiborne County, where LMU resides, has recently gained public traction specifically concerning its debt.

Claiborne County’s Mayor Joe Brooks also commented about Claiborne being viewed widely as a “retirement” community.

“I think what he was talking [about] was how broadly people come, a lot of people come to Tennessee because there is no state income tax. As they retired out of a career, maybe something that’s more entrepreneurial focused, they choose to come to Tennessee. We see so many people that look at Tennessee as a great opportunity and as a great place to do business because of no state income tax,” Blackburn said.

The state saw 81,646 more people move into Tennessee than out of it in 2022. Tennessee is only one of eight U.S. states with no income tax.