The Ball Starts Rolling
We are two weeks into this legislative session and
committees are just starting to meet and hear new
bills. This process starts slowly and will not really
pick-up for a couple more weeks. This week we will
begin to see bills coming before subcommittees and
within the next couple of weeks bills will start being
heard before the full body on the House floor. I am
honored to have been appointed to the State & Local
Government Committee and the Health & Human
Services Committee. There are many important bills
that come before these committees and I will work to
have a strong voice for Robertson County on issues
that come before us.
Being a freshman legislator, there are times it seems
the organizational process will never be complete.
One of these issues is being assigned an office and
staff member. Our Nashville office is the heart of our
constituent services because it is here that we can
work hard on your behalf. If you need us to contact a
state department on your behalf, schedule capitol
tours, or help in any other way (big or small),
my office is here to serve you. You can reach my office
at 741-2860. My assistant is Sherry Smith, and she is
eager to help with your needs. You can e-mail her at
sherry.smith@capitol.tn.gov. If you get a chance to
stop by Legislative Plaza, or need to drop me a letter,
I'm located in 207 War Memorial Building, Nashville,
TN 37243. Please let me emphasis that my office
belongs to the people of Robertson County and we
are here to listen to your needs and help in anyway
possible!
Below you will find a few updates on what has
happened recently in the legislature. Please let me
know if you have any questions or if there is anyway I
can serve you.
Tennessee to receive $3.7 billion in federal money
Legislators were updated this week on the
estimates
from the bailout package passed by Congress and
signed by the President earlier this week, learning that
Tennessee stands to receive anywhere from $3.7 to
$4.3 billion over roughly two years. Most of the money
is already allocated by the federal government to
specific purposes, with only $171 million left
for "general purpose."
TennCare will receive the largest sum of money, with
$1.1 billion allocated specifically for the program.
Other health-related programs that will receive money
are foster care and adoption assistance services,
immunization programs, elderly nutrition programs,
and child care, which together total approximately $70
million.
Another area that stands to receive a substantial
amount of the money is education. Tennessee's K-12
education system will receive $224.5 million for
school improvement projects and grants. Another
$236 million will be targeted toward students with
disabilities, in the areas of special education and
early intervention. The final three subcategories-
education technology, education for the homeless,
and school lunch equipment-will receive roughly
$13.6 million, bringing the total amount for education
to $474.4 million.
Another $171 million will be aimed at a myriad of
different programs, including justice assistance,
crime victim assistance, workforce investment,
employment services, unemployment insurance, and
dislocated worker programs. The final numbers will
be revealed by the Administration during the
Governor's budget address to the General Assembly.
Joint House and Senate Environment and Conservation Committees hear testimony on TVA coal ash spill
A joint meeting of the Senate and House
Environment
and Conservation Committees heard testimony on
Wednesday from Tennessee Valley Authority officials
regarding the clean-up efforts of the December 22nd
coal ash spill in Kingston, Tennessee. The accident
released more than 5.4 million cubic yards of ash into
the river from an on-site holding pond at the Kingston
Fossil Plant.
Fly ash is a fine, glass-like powder recovered from
gases created by coal-fired electric power generation.
Power plants within the United States produce
millions of tons of fly ash annually, which is disposed
of in landfills or retaining ponds.
Tom Kilgore, CEO of TVA, told the Joint Committee
that the cause of the massive accident, which covers
more than 300 acres of surrounding land and water,
is still being investigated. Kilgore has been working
with Deputy Conservation and Environment
Commissioner Paul Sloan as TVA constructs a plan
to remediate and restore the site, as well as prevent
such accidents from occurring in other localities
where coal fly ash is stored.
Sloan said the Tennessee Department of
Environment and Conservation has been on site in
Roane County since the spill occurred. They have
been sampling public drinking water systems to
assess whether the raw water entering and the
finished water produced by the Kingston Water
Treatment Plant meets public health standards. Sloan
said the samples received to date indicate municipal
water supplies are safe, even though aquatic life at
the site of the spill has been destroyed.
Sloan and Kilgore pledged to continue ongoing water
quality monitoring and assessment within the major
waterways impacted by the ash slide, which includes
the Emory River, Clinch River and Tennessee River.
They have also consulted with the Tennessee
Department of Health to provide public health
guidance and recommended precautions for citizens
that come in contact with coal ash.
Moving to the cleanup and safe disposal of recovered
coal ash at the site of the spill, Kilgore said TVA is
working to get the ash sludge "out of the river as
quickly as we can." The fly coal ash contains a small
amount of arsenic, which means it must be treated as
a "hazardous substance" as it is moved. This means
the ash, which is 85 percent water, must be "de-
watered" before either being moved to another site or
buried. Engineers are working to prepare the
comprehensive plan to remove the sludge, which is
expected to cost $525 to $825 million.
The state is looking at the possibility of using the dry
coal ash in concrete and other products. Fly ash is an
inexpensive replacement for a type of cement used in
concrete. It is also used as an ingredient in brick,
block, paving, and structural fills.
The House Environment and Conservation
Committee will likely continue to monitor the progress
of the clean up and environmental impact of the spill,
as well as preventative measures, during the
remainder of this legislative session.
Tennessee General Assembly website receives makeover, features improved bill tracking
The Tennessee
General Assembly overhauled their
website design this year, and the new website
includes many new features in addition to its fresh
look. Visitors can now easily find out who their
representatives and senators are, see more detailed
maps of their districts, and track legislation-even
flagging certain bills in which they take an interest.
One of the most useful features on the newly
designed website is the new bill tracking mechanism
that allows users to make a list of legislation they
would like to follow through the committee and floor
session process. The site allows for the creation of up
to three lists of ten bills each that a user can "flag."
Users can then log in at any time and see the
progression of the legislation they chose to follow,
even allowing for modification of the lists at any point.
The updates will also include a listing of how each
member present in the subcommittee, committee,
and floor session voted on a particular bill.
In addition to simply getting a fresh new look, the
website also has a different web address:
capitol.tn.gov (formerly legislature.state.tn.us). The e-
mail addresses for legislators and staff have also
been updated to match the new address. House
members are very pleased to see the user-friendly
changes, having advocated for a more simply
formatted website for several years.
Governor addresses Joint Convention; Delays budget proposal until details of federal money released
The Governor addressed the Joint Convention of
the
State House and Senate on Monday night, February 9,
amid growing concern over the state's expected $1
billion budget shortfall. Due to the continued
uncertainty regarding the federal bailout package the
Governor was unable to elaborate on specific budget
proposals.
The Administration expects to have a budget proposal
to the legislature by the end of March.
Lawmakers were pleased to see the Governor
embrace their long-standing conservative approach of
the "family budget" principle as a cornerstone of his
plans. Legislators for several years have stressed the
need for this common-sense approach to the state
budget, particularly in years of shortfall. Just as
families across the state face lean times and sit down
around the table to fashion a family budget, so must
the legislature as they prepare to make responsible
budget decisions.
Finally, the Governor praised the state for bringing
both Volkswagen and Hemlock to Chattanooga and
Clarksville respectively, pointing out that Tennessee
was in a strong position with regards to job creation.
House members hope to see this tradition to continue
by ensuring that Tennessee is a low-tax and attractive
state to employers.
Finance Commissioner briefs House Finance, Ways and Means Committee on budget outlook
The Commissioner of Finance and
Administration,
Dave Goetz, addressed the House Finance, Ways and
Means Committee this week, stressing the dire
budget situation Tennessee is facing. Although the
state is in a waiting period for the federal bailout,
Goetz stressed that the Administration has plans
whether the federal government acts or not. He
stressed that the bailout money would be non-
recurring, and that would be critical in budgeting.
He reported that January revenues were down $114
million, adding that 11 of the past 13 months have had
negative year over year revenue collections. Sales tax
revenues, including those from Christmas, were down
$68 million. Last year was the first year ever that the
state had negative Christmas revenue, with this year
being the second. Because 62 percent of
Tennessee's overall revenues come from the sales
tax, this accounts for a large part of the budget hole.
The total tax collection is $522 million below the
budgeted estimate for the fiscal year, and Tennessee
could very well be on path to having over a one billion
dollar loss in year over year revenues.
The next largest source of revenue, franchise and
excise taxes, were down about 24 percent and are
proving to be more volatile than ever before. Goetz
pointed out that because sales tax revenues are
down, franchise and excise will only continue to
worsen as well.
