Update from the Hill
August
8, 2008
The
votes have been counted and now the slate of candidates
for the November general election is set, or at least
closer to being set.
As
you may remember, there are 42 House of Representatives
members and 4 Senate members who faced no opposition in
either the primary or general election. Those lucky few
are definitely coming back in January of 2009.
Last
night’s primaries settled 10 more seats in the House of
Representatives and 1 more seat in the Senate as these
lucky folks do not have any opposition in the general
election.
However, for many seats, this primary election is just
the beginning.
Some
of the highlights of the primary election results are:
Upper East Tennessee was a hotbed of contested races,
and none was more visceral than the re-match race
between incumbent Rep. Kent Williams and the man he beat
two years ago, Jerome Cochran. It was clear early in
the evening that Kent Williams was the victor by a
significant margin and he ultimately won with greater
than 65% of the vote.
Also
in upper east Tennessee, incumbent congressman David
Davis was bested by the mayor of Johnson City, Phil Roe
in a close race. It is highly unusual for an incumbent
congressman to be defeated in Tennessee, and this race
will be one for the history books.
In a
race that was deemed “too close to call” as recently as
yesterday, former Rep. Doug Overbey has been declared
the winner in his contest against incumbent Sen. Raymond
Finney to represent Blount and Sevier Counties in the
Senate. The margin is only 150 votes and the newspapers
reported this morning that Sen. Finney was “considering
his options.” A request for a recount would not be
surprising.
Replacing Rep. Overbey in the House of Representatives
will be Bob Ramsey, Blount county commission chairman,
who was the victor in a 4 way republican primary.
Also
in Knoxville, the republican hierarchy again tried to
defeat incumbent Rep. Stacy Campfield, and again they
were not successful. But it was a close race with
Campfield being declared the victor by a margin of just
under 500 votes.
The
Knoxville seat that was vacated by Parky Strader appears
to be going to Ryan Haynes. Haynes, who is 23 years
old, will become one of the youngest members of the
House of Representatives. Haynes outspent his
republican primary challenger, Thomas Baer, by a margin
of 5 to 1 and won with 55% of the vote.
The
Senate seat formerly held by Sen. Jerry Cooper, and kept
warm by the appointment of Sen. Steve Roller will have a
new face. Eric Stewart of Franklin County won a tight
race for the democratic slot in the general election
against Steve Roller and Jim Woodard. In this 7 county
district, voting was largely along county lines. With
the margin of victory at less than 1%, this is another
race that was so close that a recount would be
expected. The democratic nominee, expected to be
Stewart, will face republican Mike Niederhauser in the
general election.
In
Chattanooga, a very bitter race between incumbent Rep.
Jim Cobb and former Rep. Jim Vincent saw the incumbent
win by more than 1000 votes. Despite a great deal of
campaign rhetoric, Rep. Cobb easily carried the race to
retain his seat.
Senator Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) was the real
squeaker of the evening. At last count, she won by less
than 20 votes in the democratic primary race against Tim
Barnes of Clarksville. A recount is expected.
In
West Tennessee, Randy Camp, former state commissioner
and former lobbyist, will face former Rep. Delores
Gresham in the general election. Rep. Gresham won with
38% of the vote, with her nearest republican challenger,
Bob Shutt of Savannah, pulling in 37% of the vote. It
was quite a contentious Republican primary and there are
wounds that will need to heal as Gresham looks towards
the general election.
So,
the name cards have all been placed for the general
election dinner table and it will be a very interesting
time between now and November with these candidates.
For complete election results you
can go to
www.state.tn.us/sos/election/index.htm.
May
22, 2008
105th
General Assembly Shuts Down
After watching passage of the appropriations bill, the
lottery scholarship bill, and a bill referred to as the
“cascade” plan, exhausted legislators, lobbyists, and
state officials left the Capitol after adjournment “sine
die” at about 11:30 p.m. last night. It was the 91st
legislative day.
The
day began with early morning Senate Finance Committee
and House Calendar and Rules meetings and included
numerous House and Senate recesses for conference
committee deliberations and informal meetings to
reconcile differences prior to final votes, as well as
an intense, accelerated version of the thousands of
personal conversations that are the epitome of the give
and take of the legislative session.
Budget
The
$27 billion budget adopted is 1.2 percent smaller than
the current year’s budget. It contains no pay raises
for state employees, a $50 million proposed buyout plan
to trim over 2000 state jobs, substantial cuts to the
originally expected K-12 funding, and a $55 million cut
from the higher education budget. However, it does give
state employees a one time $400 bonus. An amendment to
stop construction of the underground meeting facility at
the Governor’s residence (commonly referred to as the
bunker) was defeated in the House.
Lottery
Differing versions of the lottery bill caused several
delays as legislators struggled to avoid last year’s
infamous adjournment without passage of the 2007 bill.
Ultimately, they agreed to lower the required GPA for
college student recipients to 2.75 through the junior
year, but a 3.0 average per semester is necessary to
retain the scholarship as a senior. Various special
groups are also eligible to receive scholarships,
including, for the first time, med school or nurse
practitioner students who agree to work in health
shortage areas post-graduation.
Reserves
The
“cascade” bill is a list of state reserve funds that
will be tapped over the coming year as needed, if state
revenues continue to sink due to the current dismal
state of the U.S. economy. The appropriations bill
includes seven levels with various currently “dedicated
reserves,” such as the handgun permit fee reserve in the
Department of Safety and many others, at the top and the
state’s “rainy day” fund at the bottom. In between are
“general fund statutory reserves,” “special revenue
fund” statutory reserves, “other reserves enumerated in
this act,” “other funds, reserve accounts, and programs”
enumerated in the “cascade” bill (including the
health-related boards), and TennCare reserves, in that
order.
A
last minute effort to protect the $7 million residing in
the reserve funds of the various health-related boards
was easily thwarted in the House and not even attempted
in the Senate. Administration officials have near
complete discretion to determine how and when to go to
the reserve funds to close out the current fiscal year
and as the state moves through the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Retirements
Yesterday was also the day where the retiring members of
the General Assembly were recognized and honored.
Speaker Naifeh let various members “preside” over the
House of Representatives yesterday including Rep. Rob
Briley (D-Nashville) and Rep. Doug Overbey
(R-Maryville). In the Senate, there were several
tributes to retiring former Lt. Gov. John Wilder, and
the Senate also paid tribute to retiring long term house
member, Frank Buck (D-Dowelltown). Former Lt. Gov.
Wilder was also given the gavel by Lt. Governor Ron
Ramsey and presided over the Senate one the last time.
As
we all stumbled into our homes in the early hours of
this morning, we all experienced that strange sense of
letdown and confusion that signifies that the
legislative session has ended. I don’t think a one of
us reported a good nights’ sleep and we awoke this
morning with the sense that there was something very
critical that we were supposed to be doing immediately,
but just couldn’t figure out what that was!
The
good news is that we won’t be calling you with the need
for immediate information or reactions, and we are all
pretty excited to be typing on regular keyboards today
instead of using our thumbs on the tiny keyboard on our
cell phones! Thanks for your patience and support
during this trying process known as adjournment.
As
bills get engrossed and assigned public chapter numbers
we will do one final report of all legislation of
interest this session. In the interim, please do not
hesitate to be in touch if there is something that we
can help with.
May
16, 2008
Budget and Lottery Bills Await Resolution Next Week
Well, they surprised us.
Despite our hopes that this would be the last week of
the legislative session, they are coming back on next
week with two major pieces of legislation still needing
final approval by both the House and the Senate.
Yesterday, they did manage to approve the Department of
Revenue’s “technical corrections” bill in both bodies,
but not until after they removed the FONCE (an acronym
for family owned non corporate entity) provision and the
accompanying $15 million worth of revenue it was
expected to raise. Current thoughts are to use $12
million from the real estate transfer tax and $3 million
from non-executive branch reversions to make up for that
$15 million loss, but that is not yet set in stone.
On
the budget front, every state fund, every dedicated
dollar, and every penny in the sofa cushions is being
sought to close the books on the current fiscal year and
to make up for the massive expected revenue shortfalls
next fiscal year. No current funding, no matter how
precious to a particular constituency, is safe in this
environment, and we are watching all amendments as
carefully as possible.
There is a tremendous amount of sentiment to do
something more for state employees. As you may remember,
the Governor has proposed a “buy out” of 2000 state
employees for an overall cost savings of $65 million
during the 2008-09 fiscal year. Presumably, those in
targeted positions who do not agree to the buyout will
be laid off. Further, the Governor has proposed
eliminating all pay increases for state employees,
although the legislature really wants to provide
something, if only a “bonus” rather than the recurring
expense of a raise.
On
Monday, both the House and Senate Finance Committees
will take up the appropriations bills and the other
bills that are “behind the budget” because they affect
the appropriations process. They will have to decide
how to make up the $15 million loss related to the
removal of the FONCE provision, as well as come to some
agreement on the treatment of state employees. The
budget and “behind the budget” bills are then expected
to be on the floor on Tuesday.
Legislators will also have to resolve the differences
between the lottery scholarship initiatives in
conference committee on Tuesday. The issue of how many
years the 2.75 grade point average will be acceptable
seems to be the biggest sticking point, but there are a
few other differences. As an interesting aside,
legislation in conference committee can be completely
rewritten.
A
second lottery related bill is now known as the “energy
efficiency” bill and is the effort to dedicate some
portion of lottery reserves to capital needs in the
state’s local education agencies. The bill gives school
systems grants to use to upgrade their energy efficiency
and, hopefully, to save money on heating, air
conditioning, and other energy expenses. Although there
appear to be minor differences in the two versions,
there is a possibility this will also require a
conference committee.
There will be a very tight schedule next week to get all
this accomplished. We are hoping, however, that by late
Tuesday night, we will hear those sweet words “sine
die,” and the 105th General Assembly will
come to a close.
Thanks for all your help and support during these final
few days!
May
9, 2008
Next week is
expected to be the last week of the 105th
General Assembly!
The Revised
Budget
The Governor is
giving a budget overview to a Joint Convention of the
General Assembly on Monday at 5:00 p.m., but some of the
cuts have already been leaked.
The cuts are
expected to include:
$64 million by
cutting 5% of the state work force (approximately 2000
state jobs). The Governor hopes to offer “buy outs” to
some state employees to make the impact of this cut less
severe;
$25 million
recommended for pre-kindergarten expansion has been cut;
$31 million in
proposed state employee pay raises has been chopped
along with an additional $23 million in higher ed pay
raises;
$86 million in the 2nd
year BEP 2.0 expected funding; and
$55 million in
additional cuts to higher education funding.
Lottery Funds
Disagreement
The House and
Senate, as well as the Democrats and Republicans, are
all fussing about how to spend excess lottery reserves
and how to expand the current lottery scholarship
program.
The root of the
disagreement is pretty much the same as it was a year
ago, namely whether to reduce the required GPA to 2.75
in order to allow more students to retain their
scholarships or whether to send some additional monies
to local school systems for capitol projects. There are
other sub-issues in play, certainly, but these are the
most expensive items under consideration.
May
5, 2008
Budget Woes
Much of this week
will involve “hurry up and wait” as the Governor has
asked for additional time to put together his revised
budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. However, it may be
helpful for legislators to wait on the Governor to make
significant cuts because they are up for re-election
this year, and Governor Bredesen is not.
Currently the House
has three legislative days remaining and the Senate has
four days. If they run out of days with further
business to accomplish, they will have to serve without
the reimbursement of their per-diem expenses.
The Funding Board
met last week and estimated that an additional $ 384
million will have to be cut from the current fiscal
year’s budget on top of the $180 million expected back
in February. A whopping $ 585 million must be slashed
from the upcoming fiscal year’s budget.
The Governor is set
to address a joint convention on Monday, May 12, at
5:00p.m., to present his recommendations. It is
anticipated (and hoped!) that the General Assembly will
adjourn later that week.
Ethics Commission
The relatively new
Ethics Commission has been getting quite a bit of press
lately, and most of it is not positive. Various
newspapers are reporting about sniping between staff and
commission members at the public meetings. In addition,
legislators are complaining that they get different
answers to the same questions when asking opinions of
staff members.
No significant
changes in structure or responsibilities are expected,
but a lot of airing of dirty laundry in public has been
occurring.
Constitutional
Amendment
As expected, since
Rep. Delores Gresham (R-Somerville) had previously filed
a required notice, there was an attempt to pull SJR 127
from a House sub-committee to the floor last Thursday.
What wasn’t expected was Rep. Bill Dunn’s
(R-Knoxville) motion to amend the abortion resolution
into a routine motion to suspend the rules for other
purposes in order to bring it up without the required
two-thirds vote. His effort was called out of order by
the Speaker, who was later proven right by a review of
the rules of order, but when Rep. Dunn challenged the
ruling of the Speaker, the vote to sustain the Speaker’s
ruling failed on a 46-47 vote.
After a brief recess
for a Democratic caucus meeting, things came back to
order, and the House got back to the business of the
day. It did delay the length of the session
significantly, and the most votes the proponents of
SJR127 received during the parliamentary debacle was 55.
Later, under
unfinished business, Rep. Gresham spoke passionately
about the broader issue of the resolution being killed
by a small subcommittee, but she did not call for a vote
on her motion to call the resolution to the floor. That
was undoubtedly because she was certain she was well
short of the required 66 votes to pull it from
subcommittee.
Revenue
Picture
The revenue
picture continues to be bleak for the 2008-09 fiscal
year. Governor Bredesen and Commissioner Goetz
announced last week that Tennessee’s budget is currently
over $275 million below projections, and a shortfall for
this year in excess of $300 million is expected.
The funding
board put off its April meeting until May 1st
so the April 15th franchise and excise tax
collections could be considered as members determined a
growth figure for the next fiscal year.
Governor
Bredesen has made it clear that despite the bleak
numbers, he can manage the revenue picture. He noted
that nothing is “off the table” as he looks for cuts in
the budget that he presented two months ago, including
state employee and higher education pay raises.
Medical
Malpractice Reform
The
culmination of many years of advocacy by the Tennessee
Medical Association and various other healthcare
provider agencies came to fruition recently when the
House of Representative passed SB 2001, the medical
malpractice reform act.
Although it
bears only passing resemblance to the originally
introduced bill, which included caps on damages, the
legislation is seen as an effort to reduce frivolous
lawsuits and reduce the skyrocketing increases in
malpractice insurance which have plagued providers.
A Disabled
Governor
After the
Governor fell ill last year due to an apparent tick
bite, a groundswell of concern arose about the lack of a
clear provision in the Tennessee Constitution for the
Governor’s replacement in the event of a temporary
disability.
The
legislature is addressing this in a couple of different
ways.
Sen. Rosalind
Kurita and Rep. Jason Mumpower are supporting SJR 139
which allows for the popular election of the Lt. Gov.
every four years on the same ticket as the Governor.
The Lt. Gov. would then succeed the governor in the
event of disability or death. This resolution, which
has passed the Senate, also provides for the popular
election of the Secretary of State, an office now filled
by the General Assembly. However, a House subcommittee
last week amended the Senate resolution so that it
affects only the election of Lt. Governor. Rep.
Mumpower plans to attempt to get the election of both
positions back into the resolution, but the House
Speaker has made well known his interest in seeing only
the process for election of the Lt. Gov. changed.
In addition,
Sen. Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) has filed SJR 821, which
provides for a process to allow gubernatorial powers to
be turned over to the Lt. Governor temporarily without
requiring resignation from the current office. Should
the Lt. Governor be unwilling or unable to serve, the
House Speaker would step in for the Governor on a
temporary basis.
Ethics
Commission Seeking Employer of Lobbyist Reports
Pursuant to
T.C.A. § 3-6-303(a), the Semi-Annual Lobbying
Expenditure Report (“Expenditure Report”) is due to be
filed with the Tennessee Ethics Commission by
May 15, 2008.
The Expenditure Report is used to
disclose all expenditures relating to lobbying in the
State of Tennessee covering the six-month period ending
March 31, 2008.
Beginning April 2, 2008,
the Expenditure Report must be filed
electronically through the ilobby portal which can be
reached through the Commission’s website:
www.state.tn.us/sos/tec. If
you file before April 2, you will not be filing for the
correct six-month period and will be required to
re-file.
You will need
your username and password to access your account. If
you do not have your username and password, you will
have the option to retrieve this information on the
login page of the ilobby application. If you need
further assistance to retrieve this information, please
call the TN.gov Help Desk at 615-313-0300. Any other
questions should be directed to the Ethics Commission at
615-253-8634 or email the Commission at
ethics.counsel@state.tn.us.
March 7, 2008
Budget numbers continue to disappoint
During a presentation before Senate Finance Committee
this week, Finance and Administration Commissioner Dave
Goetz confirmed that the budget the Governor introduced
in January is going to have to be cut. Although the
final numbers will not be determined until after April
tax revenues are known, Commissioner Goetz said that the
administration would recommend in the “administration
amendment” the necessary cuts to balance the budget.
This
is a far cry from last year when there were excess
revenues and some legislators got to take home pet
projects for their districts. It appears that this year
the battle will be over what gets cut.
House and Senate Budget Hearings Heading Towards
Conclusion
In
the next two weeks, the House and Senate will conclude
their budget hearings of the various state departments
and agencies.
This
always signals the beginning of serious budget
discussions.
Along those lines, the Senate Finance Committee has
announced that April 3rd is expected to be
the deadline for filing Senate budget amendments.
Medical Malpractice Reform
A
hot button topic last year, the medical malpractice
reform bill was back on notice before a House Judiciary
Sub-Committee this week.
As
you may remember, this legislation passed the Senate
last year, and made it to the House floor where a
certain amendment was close to being adopted. This
prompted the House sponsor to return the bill to
Committee where it has rested since that time.
The
Committee considered a new amendment which appears to be
the work product of the interested parties, and rolled
the bill for one week so all members could have the
opportunity to review the language.
Secretary of State
During the same week the Senate was considering a
constitutional amendment to elect the Secretary of State
in a statewide election, Rep. Randy Rinks (D-Savannah)
let it slip that he is considering running for Secretary
of State during the election time in January of 2009.
The
Secretary of State, along with the Comptroller and
Treasurer, are currently elected by the 132 members of
the Tennessee General Assembly. Since democrats have
held a majority of the 132 for some time, the democratic
caucuses have dominated this election. Rep. Rinks will
make an official announcement in coming weeks. It will
be of special interest to current Secretary of State,
Riley Darnell, who plans to seek re-election.
