February 25, 2005 

Transportation Takes up Asphalt Plant Issue

Senate Transportation Chairman Mark Norris (R-Collierville) is taking the bull by the horns on the issue of whether to allow local governments to operate their own asphalt plants in order to save money for county taxpayers. SB 1646/HB 1376 addresses the issue head-on.

Chairman Norris scheduled the topic for his committee this week and the Senate Transportation Committee members heard testimony from the Comptroller’s Office of Research regarding the January 2005 Report on “Hot Mix Asphalt for County Roads: Private Providers or Public Plants?”

Currently under a 1976 law, counties are not allowed to own and operate asphalt plants, except for four counties which already had plants in operation in 1976 and which were grandfathered in when the ban became law at that time.

Since that time, some counties end up with only one bid for an asphalt contract. If it is believed to be overpriced, those counties really have no other source to turn to lessen the burden on taxpayers.

Senator Steve Southerland (R-Hamblen County) stated that Greene County, located in his Senate District 1, has some 1,200 miles of road that need paving and the county has already passed a hotel-motel tax in order to generate revenue to pay back $10 million in bonds for the road work. The county believes it could do the work for much less if it could have its own plant. He indicated that an adjacent county, Washington County, pays about a third less for its asphalt than Greene County does.

The County Highway Officials Association supports the bill. The Road Builders Association opposes it. Norris said that his committee will continue the studying the issue. Norris wants to ensure that concerns about government competing with private businesses are balanced with concerns that taxpayers’ money be used efficiently.

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Tennessee PTA Chooses Norris as Outstanding Legislator of the Year

NASHVILLE--- State Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) has been recognized by the Tennessee Parent Teacher Association (PTA) as the 2005 Outstanding Legislator of the Year. The award was presented at the PTA Awards Banquet during the organization’s legislative conference held in Nashville last night.

“We fully support Senator Norris’ efforts in getting a special school district designation for Shelby County Schools,” said Shelby County Council PTA President Harla Johnson. “He continually supports family involvement in education.”

Norris, elected to his second term last year, represents Shelby, Tipton, Lauderdale and Dyer counties. The Shelby County Council nominated him for this award.

“Maintaining a focus on education issues is critical for the legislature,” Norris said. “And organizations like the Tennessee PTA that stress family involvement in our schools are essential to positive change.”

During his first term in the Tennessee Senate, Norris sponsored legislation promoting recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. He led the fight to recover Medicaid funding withheld from school districts across the state. Last year, Norris received national recognition for his efforts to crack down on the public display of obscenity in motor vehicles.

The Tennessee PTA’s mission is to support and speak on behalf of children and youth;
to assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise and protect their children; and to encourage parent and public involvement in the public schools.

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Norris Sponsors Federal Highway Fund Bill

NASHVILLE --- Senate Transportation Chairman Mark Norris (R-Collierville) is sponsoring Senate Bill SR13 which encourages the Congress to reauthorize highway funds. Currently, transportation dollars have been authorized by a series of temporary extensions.

Upon passage, Bills SR13 and its counterpart in the House will urge the United State Government and specifically the Tennessee Congressional Delegation to pass the new Federal Highway Transportation bill which will result in $284 million for Tennessee.

“While the past extensions have routed the funding to the State of Tennessee, it is important that the new transportation bill be passed expeditiously.” Sen. Norris said. “This bill emphasizes the importance of a stable funding source for our state highways.”

The House bill is currently in the committee stage while the Senate bill passed last Thursday.

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Senator Receives Humane Society Recognition

Senator Curtis Person (R-Memphis, Tennessee) received the Humane Legislator Award for 2003-2004 from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation’s largest animal protection organization with over 8 million members and constituents, including 118,000 in Tennessee. Senator Person is one of only 10 state legislators nationwide to be so recognized. There are 7,382 state legislators in the nation, according to The Book of the States - 2004.

“On behalf of the Senate Republican Majority Caucus, I would like to express congratulations to Senator Person for his outstanding legislative work which led to his receiving this award and recognition from the Humane Society of the United States. Well done, Senator Person!” stated Senate Republican Majority Caucus Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland).

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Record 2,337 Bills Await General Assembly

NASHVILLE --- Among the record 2,337 bills filed in the 104th General Assembly are measures that could outlaw fighting hogs while stirring a fight over fish.

Sen. Curtis Person, R-Memphis, said he filed his bill to include hogs in the state law that bans organized animal fights after learning of "hog-dog rodeos" being held in other states from the director of an animal shelter.

The "gruesome" practice entails pulling the tusks from a boar, then while it is still bleeding, putting it in a pen to "fight to the death" with a dog that will "go for the blood," Person said.

The potential fight between fish fans is perhaps not so serious. The official Tennessee "sport fish" is the largemouth bass. Sen. Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, wants instead to give the smallmouth bass that honor, noting that the world record smallmouth was caught in Tennessee.

But even his House sponsor, Rep. John Tidwell, D-New Johnsonville, last week voiced strong misgivings about making the change. Tidwell's district lies along Kentucky Lake, far better known for largemouth fishing than for smallmouth.

The 2,337 bills filed by Thursday's deadline for introductions is a record for the first year of a legislative session. In the two years of the 103rd General Assembly, the total was 3,623, with 1,981 of those filed before deadline in 2003, first year of the session.

Those numbers do not include joint resolutions, which must also pass both the House and Senate but do not have the same deadline requirements. There are 239 of those so far, including about 30 that propose amendments to the state constitution.

Most of the bills cover topics that have received much attention. There are more than 100 measures, for example, that deal in one way or the other with TennCare at a time when Gov. Phil Bredesen proposes to cut enrollment and benefits.

Examples include proposals to raise more money for the program by raising cigarette taxes or alcohol taxes and a bill to bar any company not providing health insurance from getting a state contract.

There are about 50 bills dealing with methamphetamine abuse problems and several aimed at curbing smoking - forbidding puffing in restaurants and "indoor workplaces," for example.

Recent cases of stalking victims being killed, according to sponsors, are a factor in the introduction of more than a dozen bills increasing penalties for the crime of stalking.

There are also multiple bills to combat child pornography, put new restrictions on "adult-oriented establishments," revisions to the laws dealing with concealed handgun carry permits and local taxes.

One the other hand, there are several bills that are new to Tennessee. A sample of some, based on a review of bill captions:

• A bill by Finney and Campfield would make it a crime to aim a "laser pointer" at a police officer or fireman.

• Rep. Butch Borchert, R-Camden, and Herron want to throw back a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency rule that allows fishermen to keep one catfish over 34 inches long. Their bill would allow keeping an unlimited number of big catfish.

• A bill by Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Parker's Crossroads, and Herron would prohibit insurance companies from refusing to issue a home insurance policy based on the type of dog a person owns.

• Sen. Ron Ramsey and Rep. Steve Godsey, both R-Blountville, would repeal a provision of current law that says motorcycle handlebars must be less than 15 inches higher than the operator's seat.

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TennCare Turmoil Remains Unresolved

Marriage Protection Amendment Receives Two Readings

NASHVILLE—This week on Capitol Hill, members of the General Assembly continued to process the bills they could in committee and move approved bills and resolutions onto the floor for final consideration. Members continue examining the governor’s recommended Budget, looking in all the cupboards, nooks, and crannies of the departmental and agency budgets that together make up the state’s big budget. TennCare remains the Number 1 concern on The Hill.

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TennCare turmoil remains unresolved

or Never Play Hardball on The Hill with a Softball Glove

The latest TennCare feud was not between TennCare advocates, but between the executive and legislative branches of government, one which administers programs and the other which votes on whether or not to fund those programs and, if so, how much funding they receive.

The Senate Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee Chairman was rebuffed by the administration over his request for information on details of the $8 billion-plus out-of-control TennCare Program, the vast executive-branch-created-and-administered program which consumes about a third of the total budget. Instead of answers, a bill of some $70,000 to $75,000 was offered for the TennCare Bureau to take weeks to churn out the requested information – information some feel would have been absolutely necessary on the front end in order for any prudent business manager to make the administration’s proposal for changes to reform TennCare.

It is virtually unheard of for anyone in the executive branch to try to charge the legislature which constitutionally approves spending. Sure, the legislature which approves all bureau budgets could find $70,000 to $75,000 in someone’s pocket to fund the cost. But why?

By mid-week, the governor quickly called a halt to the out-of-hand hardball silliness and indicated he would block any attempts by his administration to charge the legislature excessive costs for the requested information.

If it had been necessary, another less pleasant option exists in statute – launching a rarely invoked legislative inquiry or investigation under TCA 3-3-108 which grants committees subpoena power. TCA 3-3-108 reads: Either house of the general assembly, acting in committee of the whole, or both houses acting in joint session or committee of the whole, or any committee of either or both houses, has the power, respectively, to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of papers or other evidence; and to that end each of them, respectively, has the power to issue subpoenas, including subpoenas duces tecum, to enforce the attendance of witnesses and the production of any records, documents, papers or other items of evidence, deemed to be material to any matter under inquiry or investigation by any of them respectively.

This unpleasant option was once threatened, but not exercised, in 1994 by the then Senate Commerce Committee Chairman and resulted in an immediate agreement for the production of records by the scandal-ridden Public Service Commission before it was abolished in 1995.

The word subpoena also was raised in 2003 during the investigation of the Shumaker scandal at UT by the then Chairman of the Fiscal Review Committee – who is one and the same with the current Senate Commerce Chairman. Subsequent compliance with the Fiscal Review Committee’s requests negated the need for a subpoena in that instance also.

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Rx drugs paid for by TennCare diverted onto the streets

Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville) used a two-pronged approach in committees this week when he brought up the increasing problem with TennCare being fraudulently used as a supplier of prescription drugs for illegal use on the streets.

In Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, Senator Burchett inquired about why the TennCare Bureau couldn’t seem to get its arms around the problem of diversion of prescription drugs purchased by TennCare onto the streets where they are illegally being sold. Senator Burchett is especially concerned over Oxycontin and similar drugs which have become a serious plague in East Tennessee, and particularly so over the last two years.

No real answer was given other than no one seems to have the long overdue computer system up and running properly yet. That and blaming the problem on past federal court consent decrees signed voluntarily by the executive branch to settle TennCare civil rights suits with TennCare advocates.

Senator Burchett was not satisfied with that answer. He is not alone.

“I am not satisfied by that answer. I am not alone,” Senator Burchett said.

The committee heard that there may be up to $200 million in annual savings to the TennCare budget if an effective solution was implemented.

A cost-efficient solution offered

The Senate Commerce Committee received a presentation by George Massengill of Knoxville, who was scheduled to speak as an invited guest of Senator Burchett, on the use of relatively inexpensive Smart-card technology as one solution to the TennCare prescription drug diversion problem which results in higher costs to hard-working taxpayers.

Smart-card technology is offered as an inexpensive solution for prescription drug fraud and abuse, as well as providing enrollee identification and real-time benefit utilization levels.

According to Massengill, with this smart-card technology, it is possible to track whenever someone has visited an emergency room, a doctor, or a pharmacy. The patient carries the device containing the information rather than depending on some network that may or may not be working. The card itself provides information to subsequent health care providers. The card can also carry personal health record information, such as allergic reactions to certain drugs, which can improve health care for the patient.

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Bill would bar Drug Dealers from TennCare for Life

Would Add a New Hammer to Law Enforcement Toolboxes

SB 269, sponsored by Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), would combat the proliferation of prescription drugs on the streets after they have been fraudulently obtained through the TennCare Program and then illegally diverted for sale to drug addicts.

The bill would require a court to order a permanent disqualification from TennCare benefit coverage for anyone convicted of a criminal offense involving the selling of prescription drugs obtained through the TennCare Program. The disqualification would stand even if the person later makes restitution for the TennCare fraud.

“The illegal sale and use of prescription drugs is one of the biggest problems law enforcement is having in Tennessee today. It just galls me that some drug dealers are brazen enough to steal precious taxpayer dollars by obtaining their drug supplies through TennCare,” stated Senator Beavers.

“I have been asked by law enforcement to bring this bill in order to give a bigger and more effective hammer to slam down on these criminal offenders. The public is fed up with fraud, waste and abuse of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars, particularly in the mismanaged TennCare Program. It’s been out of control for years and no one’s fixed it yet. It’s high time we did something about it.”

Information on SB 269 may be found online at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/  using bill search criteria of SB269 after clicking on the Legislation button or by going directly to http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/billLookup.asp . A copy of the bill may be found at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB0269.pdf .

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Marriage Protection Amendment Read Twice in Senate

The full Senate heard two public readings of Senate Joint Resolution 31 which would give voters the right to hold a referendum to choose whether or not to include language in their state Constitution to define marriage in Tennessee as a contract between one man and one woman.

The third and final reading in the Senate is planned for Monday, Feb. 28, 2005.

Many Tennesseans have called for this referendum to change their Constitution because they believe it is necessary to protect marriage from being redefined in court by activist judges. Over the last decade, lawsuits have been popping up in various parts of the country, prompting the need to take action now to get this measure on the ballot as soon as possible.

“This is a matter for the people to decide, not the courts,” stated Senator Jeff Miller, prime sponsor of SJR 31.

Activist judges could overturn Tennessee’s 1996 Defense of Marriage Act using the same procedure of ‘finding a right’ in the state Constitution as judges did in a controversial decision in 2000 when a 4-1 Supreme Court decision overturned abortion law in Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee vs. Don Sundquist.

All five of those same Supreme Court justices remain on the bench. Only one, Justice Barker, dissented from that abortion decision. It would only take three of the five justices to find the 1996 Defense of Marriage statute to be unconstitutional.

“Do we want to leave this decision with a handful of judges – four of whom overturned the abortion law in 2000? Or do we want to let the people decide this issue? I say we let the people decide rather than risk three judges throwing out our Defense of Marriage Act,” stated Senator Miller.

The 103rd General Assembly passed HJR 990 last year by a majority vote to allow the people to have a referendum on this vital issue. For a referendum to be held, the 104th General Assembly now needs to approve the matter by a two-thirds vote of each house during 2005 or 2006.

If SJR 31 or a parallel House Joint Resolution receives a two-thirds vote by each house of the General Assembly, the question would come before voters in the November 7, 2006, general election. To become a part of the people’s Constitution, it would have to receive a yes vote from a majority of those voting in the governor’s election held that same day.

In the House, bipartisan House Joint Resolution 24 with parallel language is being presented this session as the Natural Marriage Bill. It passed out of the House Budget Subcommittee and was referred on to the full House Finance, Ways and Means Committee this week.

A copy of SJR 31, the Marriage Protection Amendment Resolution, may be found online at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SJR0031.pdf .

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Joint Convention to Fill State Election Commission Vacancy

A Joint Convention of the Senate and House of Representatives is set for Monday, Feb. 28, 2005, at 5:45 p.m. under Senate Joint Resolution 88 by Senator Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland) for the purpose of filling a vacancy on the State Election Commission. Former Representative Mark Goins is the nominee for the vacant post.

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All things considered: So far, the Senate has 2,342 Senate bills filed as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 24), while the House has 2,360 bills. Resolutions: Senate Joint Resolutions now number up to 89; HJRs 154; SRs 14; and HRs 39. The Senate and House have used 12 legislative days. Article II, Section 23 of the state Constitution provides for 90 paid regular legislative session days for every two-year-long General Assembly. The Senate and House are scheduled to convene on Monday at 5 p.m.

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Senator McNally Receives Awards

Senator Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) received double honor this week in Nashville for his advocacy for and support of critical issues facing Tennesseans at all levels of life.

Senator McNally, a previous chair of the Senate Education Committee, has long supported education and funding for education in Tennessee, including at the Higher Education level. His support of K-12 education last year earned him the Tennessee School Boards Association 2004 Legislator of the Year Award.

Senator McNally has sponsored numerous bills over the years to toughen Tennessee’s laws against drunk and impaired driving. His support and sponsorship of DUI legislation, such as lowering the blood-alcohol level to .08, led to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) naming him as its Legislator of the Year for 2004.

“Senator McNally is extremely devoted to these particular causes and always advocates for improving life at all levels for the people of Tennessee. We are very fortunate to have him as a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. He serves his district and all of Tennessee admirably,” stated Senator Jeff Miller, Senate Republican Majority Caucus Chairman.

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