“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” -Abraham Lincoln
We started back in Session full-time on February 8th at 5 pm and at 6 pm we heard the 2021 State of the State address by Governor Lee. The Governor did a fantastic job in his presentation and I was very excited to hear some of his proposals and budget ideas for the 21-22 fiscal year.
The Governor started off talking about the state’s response to the virus, the tornado that hit Nashville last March, and the downtown explosion on Christmas Day. He said that we all mourn the more than 10,000 Tennesseans we have lost in these deadly events this year. I would like to mention a few of the main pointers that I took from his speech that will affect our district.
- US News came out with their report saying Tennessee was #1 in fiscal responsibility in the nation
- The Governor plans to visit all 95 counties this year for our state’s 225th birthday
- $120 million for K-12 teacher raises
- Over $16 million for local jail reimbursements
- Add 20 additional TBI agents and spend $2.3 million for body cameras
- Allocating $200 million for broadband internet expansion
- Added $5.5 million to the Ag Enhancement program- making it $27.5 million in total (There have been over 16,000 projects with spending of $85 million over the last 15 years)
- Adding $200 million to local government recovery
- And putting another $50 million into our state’s rainy day fund- bringing it up to $1.5 billion with over $500 million in the TennCare rainy day fund
We started our committee assignments this week and I have 15 bills that I will be presenting in the coming weeks. My main standing committees that I serve on are: Health, Transportation, State, and Calendar and Rules. I also serve on the Health and State subcommittees. I really don’t know much about Health and I am excited to be able to hear proposals, debates, and presentations on health issues and policies in our state.
I was proud this week to sign on to and vote for HJR0065. This is a resolution urging Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to ensure the U.S. Supreme Court remains composed of nine members. We need to preserve the independence of the judicial branch and prevent new and future administrations from being able to change it to fit their political agenda. Currently, the number of Supreme Court Justices is set by Congress and this would make the number permanently set at 9. It has passed the House and is on its way to the Senate. Hopefully, the folks in D.C. will take notice and take action.
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to have lunch with our new Industrial Recruiter for Shelbyville, Shane Hooper. I asked the assistant commissioner of ECD, Sammie Arnold, to come to town and meet and visit with Shane. We were fortunate to have Josh Ray (Shelbyville’s new city manager) and Keith Weaver of Uncle Nearest Distillery also in attendance. The lunch meeting was very productive and interesting.
I’ve moved my office at the Cordell Hull Building this year and I’m now in Suite 610. I have more room to hold meetings with committee members, constituents, and lobbyists. When we have the building open back up to the general public, I hope you will have a chance to come to the Legislature and visit. In the meantime, please reach out to me at 615-741-6824 or [email protected] if I can be of assistance to you or your family.
