May 22, 2003

 Compromise Omnibus Bill Passes

With Republican Improvements

NASHVILLE--House Bill 2073/Senate Bill 1991 -- The Omnibus Bill, as it has been dubbed by some but nicknamed "The Ominous Bill" by others -- passed the Senate 22-11 Wednesday, mildly amended from the heavily modified House version of the original administration proposal. The bill had been put off for a week as alternative proposals were considered. Compromises by the administration with the House version ended up defusing some of the opposition to the original onerous administration proposal by providing significant relief for local governments by reducing state mandates and by cutting the amount of state-shared taxes being seized back from local governments by the state. "Had it not been for the Senate Republican Caucus holding together early on over the issue of fairness on state-shared taxes, I honestly don't believe we would have seen nearly as much relief for local governments as we eventually saw in the bill that finally passed," stated Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville). "No one got everything they wanted with the modified version of the Omnibus Bill," stated Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville). "We certainly didn't get everything we wanted in the final version of the bill and I personally couldn't support the bill because it is still harmful to local governments. But we did manage to get a whole lot more relief for our local governments than anyone ever thought possible just two short months ago," continued Senator Ramsey. "On March 27th, we proposed a 'Third Way Budget Compromise' by reducing state mandates on local governments. At that time, we set out to find a way to achieve a fair budget by relieving local governments from state mandates during periods of reduced state funding, if full funding for local governments could not be restored. At that time, we wanted to restore all of the state-shared taxes but did not believe that was an achievable goal. Once the administration signed off on a compromise with the halfway House plan which reduces state mandates on local governments and also restores about half of the state-shared taxes, Senators Clabough, Cooper and I immediately began seeing a softening of support for our alternative bipartisan plan which would have been far fairer for locals. I was glad to see the Senate version also holds local governments harmless for reductions in state-shared taxes. "Next we look forward to Governor Bredesen focusing on fixing TennCare which is consuming all the new growth money in the budget. "This year the proposed budget is 'being cut' from $20.43 billion to $21.5 billion with TennCare getting over a billion-dollar spending increase, with its proposed funding increasing from $6 billion in the current budget to over $7 billion in the governor's budget for next year. "If a business company were to cut its budget like that, people would line up in the streets begging for a paycut," concluded Senator Ramsey.

 Bills Tighten Down on Driver's Licenses

NASHVILLE--Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) moved two bills through the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday dealing with driver's licenses and security issues. Senate Bill 1781 would prohibit the acceptance of matricula consular cards, or Certificado de Matrícula Consular, for identification purposes. The bill would include the uniquely issued Matrícula Consular Tipo Credencial from Consular Offices located in the United States per <http://www.sre.gob.mx/tramites/consulares/certificado_matricula.htm>.

Senate Bill 1188 would require an applicant for a driver's license to provide either a valid Social Security Number or proper Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) documentation.

"These bills will increase our ability to filter out those improperly documented people who may wish to obtain a Tennessee driver's license for illegal purposes, whether it be for nefarious purposes, such as international terrorism, or merely to obtain benefits to which they have no legal right," stated Senator Ketron. "The fiscal note sums it up when it points out there might be a decline in revenue because there are an estimated 8,000 people who would not be able to qualify under this criteria which I consider to be relatively lax securitywise. Under the far looser standards currently in place and which we seek to replace, one would certainly hope that 19 or 20 people have not already slipped into Tennessee to obtain driver's licenses to use as picture identification to travel freely about the country, to transfer funds, to board an airplane, and for other activities that require identification, such as a state driver's license." Senator Rusty Crowe (R-Johnson City), a co-sponsor of SB 1188, stated, "While most immigrants to our great state work very hard to gain legal status as citizens in Tennessee, it is wrong for our state to provide legal documentation to those who enter our country in a criminal status. I am proud of Senator Ketron for using plain old common sense in providing for a safer situation in these very dangerous times." The official Mexican Government Foreign Relations Diplomatic Glossary located online at <http://www.sre.gob.mx/acerca/glosario/> defines the Matricula Consular at <http://www.sre.gob.mx/acerca/glosario/m.htm>: "El certificado de matrícula consular es un documento público que acredita que un mexicano se encuentra domiciliado en el extranjero, lo identifica y prueba que está debidamente matriculado dentro de la circunscripción consular. Además de servir como identificación es útil en las labores de protección. Este certificado se obtiene en las representaciones de México en el extranjero."

No official English translations were observed at this Web site. The text might be read: The Certificate of Matricula Consular is a public document which proves that a Mexican is domiciled abroad, identifies and proves that the person is duly registered within the consular circumscription area. Besides serving as identification, it is useful in the protection of work. This certificate is obtained at representations of Mexico abroad.

* * *

Gun Bill Is 'Chambered Round'

House Bill 1606/Senate Bill 1008 by Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) came into the Senate Chamber Monday evening and passed unanimously through the full Senate with a Senate amendment placed on the House version to authorize a gun permit holder whose permit lapses to reinstate and renew that license for a $25 fee within six months without retaking the gun safety course and background check. Wednesday the bill was back before the full House which refused to concur in the Senate amendment. It's aiming to come back to the Senate which can reconsider its action or refuse to recede from its action. Senators Curtis Person (R-Memphis) and David Fowler (R-Signal Mountain) co-sponsor the measure.

"I hope the Senate will reconsider and adopt the House version because we should not charge the $25 fee. I never intended Tennessee to charge a fee for exercising Second Amendment rights," said Senator Norris.

* * *

Bills, Bills, Bills

* * *

All things considered: As of 12:30 p.m. (CDT) Thursday, May 22, the Senate has 2,045 Senate bills filed, while the House has 2,128 bills filed. Senate Joint Resolutions now number 547; House Joint Resolutions 639; Senate Resolutions 96; and House Resolutions 196. The start of session Thursday morning saw the Senate begin its 44th day and the House its 39th day of the 90 regular session days allowed every two years under Article II, Section 23 of the Constitution for a regular session. As the end of session looms into sight, the Senate and House are planning to adjourn Thursday and reconvene on Tuesday, May 27. Members hope to wrap session up by the end of May.

* * *

Senate Floor Actions

* * *

SB 1092/HB 957 by Senator Fowler passed through unanimous consent of the Senate Monday to revise Election Law regarding the disclosure of interests by elected officials. The bill would require elected officials to specifically name in required disclosure statements all firms or organizations in which that official has investments, instead of merely a general industry or field, such as telecommunications.

* * *

SB 683/HB 756 passed with the unanimous consent of the Senate Monday to implement FailSafe voting which allows county election commissions to establish centrally located voting sites and to require persons trying to receive a party nomination by write-in ballots to complete a notice requesting the ballots to be counted and to make other revisions to various election laws. The House previously amended the companion bill in a different form.

* * *

SB 337/HB 540 received the unanimous approval of the Senate Monday to more closely monitor contracts by requiring a fiscal review of all requests for personal, professional and consultant services purchased by the agencies and departments of the executive branch of state government to produce service with only one service provider. According to the bill summary of the amended bill, this requirement would only apply to contracts for more than one year or renewable by extending the contract beyond 12 months that has a cumulative value, including all possible renewals, of $250,000 or more. The Fiscal Review Committee would have 15 days from receipt of the request to comment on the proposed contract. After such time, the contract would be executed. All other sole source contracts with service providers or subsidiaries or partners of service providers that, separately or collectively, have at any one time a cumulative value of $100,000 or more would be reviewed by the committee after execution of such contracts. Any exception granted to the rules governing the approval of state contracts would be filed with the committee. The Department of Finance and Administration Office of Contracts Review would file a quarterly, personal, professional and consultant service contract report with the committee, which would include a list of whether the procurement of each contract was competitive. Any authorization by the Commissioner of Finance and Administration permitting a limitation of liability would be in writing and filed with the committee. The provisions of this amendment would not apply to direct purchase authority contracts. Senator Fowler is a co-sponsor of the bill.

* * *

HB 1001/SB 1282, a privacy bill, passed unanimously through the Senate Monday to allow the removal of a Social Security Number from public records for veterans who, in safer days, were urged to record their discharge papers in the local courthouse for safekeeping. Today with rampant identity theft growing by leaps and bounds, these public records are the source of much personal data that can be used to assume someone else's identity in order to commit fraud, economic fraud in particular. Senators Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge), Norris, Fowler, and Crowe are co-sponsors of the bill.

* * *

SB 1344/HB 1293 by Senator Person passed the Senate unanimously Monday to revise the requirements for the issuance of arrest warrants and to provide for the issuance of a criminal summons, in lieu of arrest warrant, if the affiant is a law enforcement officer.

* * *

SB 1728/HB 1652 by Senator Ketron passed the Senate unanimously Monday to establish procedures for the issuance of an administrative inspection warrant authorizing building officials to inspect the named premises to determine whether a violation of any state law or local building, fire, or life safety code is occurring.

* * *

HB 202/SB 83, a conflict of interest bill, passed the Senate 27-1-1 Monday to prohibit a person from bidding on a public contract if a relative is a member of a board or commission responsible for awarding the contract and to prohibit a state employee from working for a government entity if a relative is a member of a board or commission that makes decisions affecting the operation of that entity. As amended, the bill clarifies the list of relatives and spells out that the prohibition covers the person bidding as well as a relative of that bidder. That part now reads: any person or any company with whom such person is an officer, a director, or an equity owner having an ownership interest of greater than 1 percent who bids on any public contract where such person or a relative of such person is a member of a board or commission having responsibility of letting or approving the contract.

* * *

SB 422/HB 1479 passed the Senate 24-7 Monday to allow the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission to adjust or establish fees for permits, licenses, or permit/license packages after the initial adjustment. Any subsequent adjustment amount would be the difference in the average consumer price index between the dates of one adjustment and any subsequent adjustment. Senator Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) co-sponsors the bill.

* * *

SB 433/HB 1917 passed the Senate 18-9 Monday to increase campaign contribution limits based on the Consumer Price Index.

* * *