NFIB ENDORSES LYNN

Waste, Fraud and Abuse

A toll-free hotline is provided for citizens to report fraud, waste, and abuse of government funds and property.  

If you observe an agency director or employee engaging in any activity which you consider to be illegal, improper, or wasteful, please call the fraud, waste, and abuse hotline at 1.800.232.5454 or report online.

TEMA Encourages Thoughtful Donations to Louisiana Flood Survivors

 

Nashville, Tenn. – From the Great Tennessee Flood of 2010 to the many localized disasters since, Tennesseans are very familiar with the great amount of effort needed to help communities and citizens recover from disasters.

 

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) is providing the following guidance and resources on how Tennesseans can provide the most meaningful assistance to those recovering from the severe flooding in Louisiana.

 

“We are fortunate so many Tennesseans care for Louisiana’s flood survivors as if they are their next door neighbors, and want to help,” TEMA Director Patrick Sheehan said.  “Let’s make sure the help from Tennessee is channeled in ways to have the most positive impact in Louisiana without creating a burden on emergency managers and organizations coordinating the assistance.”

 

Cash donations are the most needed and effective way of helping in disaster recovery.  Cash donations help organizations avoid the labor and expense of sorting and transporting donated goods, and voluntary relief organizations use cash to meet individual needs more quickly. 

 

Relief Organizations Helping in Louisiana

 

·         Louisiana Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster:  lavoad.org/how-to-help/

·         Volunteer Louisiana:  www.volunteerlouisiana.gov/

·         Red Cross Louisiana Flood Information:  www.redcross.org/local/louisiana/flood-information

·         Louisiana Flood Relief Fund:  www.braf.org/louisiana-flood-relief

·         United Way of Southeast Louisiana:  www.unitedwaysela.org/flood

 

Before donating goods, confirm what exactly is needed by contacting a voluntary relief organization working to help survivors.  A community hit by a disaster does not have the staff or money to store or dispose of unneeded goods.

 

Do not self-deploy as a volunteer to a disaster.  Instead, volunteer with an organization coordinating volunteer resources with local, state, or federal entities at the disaster scene.

 

On Sunday, a team of Tennessee fire marshals deployed to Louisiana to assist local officials with incident management, building and fire code enforcement, and the inspection of commercial and residential structures.

 

Federal officials call the historic Louisiana flooding the worst in the nation since Hurricane Sandy.   The flooding caused 13 fatalities and damaged 60,000 homes.  According to FEMA, 106,000 Louisiana residents so far have registered for federal recovery assistance. 

 

About the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency: TEMA’s mission is to coordinate preparedness, response and recovery from man-made, natural and technological hazards in a professional and efficient manner in concert with our stakeholders.  Follow TEMA on Facebook, TNDisasterInfo, on Twitter,@T_E_M_A, and at www.tnema.org.

TN Students Make Improvements in ACT Scores

TN Students Make Improvements in ACT Score

Federal Court Blocks Obama Transgender Directive Nationwide

Statement by State Representative Susan Lynn on Court Victory in Obama Restroom Directive

 

 

A federal judge in Texas, on Sunday sided with Texas and 12 other states including Tennessee that argued that the administration’s restroom directive policy usurps local control and threatens students’ safety and privacy.

 

State Representative Susan Lynn, sponsor of Tennessee’s Restroom Privacy Act has issued the following statement;

 

“Tennessee was a party to this lawsuit and I am delighted that Tennessee was successful with our case.   I am also extremely pleased that this ruling proves that the strategy to delay passage of the restroom bill that we chose to take in April has clearly proven to be the right course of action for Tennessee. 

 

First, this ruling means that Tennessee schools can feel comfortable about ignoring the Obama Administration’s restroom directive - which as the Governor and Republicans said from the outset, does not have the force of law because it was not created according to law or administrative procedure.

 

Second, the Justice stated that his ruling does not apply to disputes that are already in court, which would include the cases in North Carolina and Virginia.  However, this also means that the ruling perfectly applies to Tennessee because we have not been sued in court.   This could have turned out very differently for Tennessee because we know that we would have been sued in court by the ACLU had we passed the bill in April. 

 

Third, as stated in the decision the ruling also does not apply to schools that already accommodate transgender students’ choice of restrooms.  Tennessee schools support biological identity for restroom use.  Any student who claims to be transgender is offered a private, safe and secure alternative.

 

I think Tennessee played our hand very well.  Now it is up to the voters to make the right choice in November because we know that a second Clinton Administration would aggressively pursue violating the privacy rights of biological boys and girls in our schools regardless of what the local school district decides is best for students.” 

 

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2016/08/22/federal-court-blocks-obama-transgender-rule-nationwide/

House Hearing with the TN Dept. of Education - note; information on Social and Personal Competencies is included...

The Tennessee Department of Education is before the House Education Committee for two days of meetings on TN Ready and Tennessee Social and Personal Competencies.

If you don't know what these competencies are you are not alone.  That is why the House called a hearing on the subject with the department.  I asked the department for information on this plan which I have posed below.  These are described as soft skills meant for the workforce however please watch and feel free to comment below.



The House hearing from yesterday is viewable below.  The first part of the video is an update on TN Ready.  Note that the Commissioner mentions the Joint Fiscal Review Committee.  I serve on the committee and we received this same presentation last month and approved the contract for the new TN Ready vendor, Questar.

Next is the audit review of the Achievement School District by the state Comptroller's office - Assistant Comptroller Jason Mumpower and associates.

Speed ahead or keep watching to hear from the department to hear about the TNDOE's plan for Tennessee Social and Personal Competencies to approximately 2:08:30.





Click here to watch today's meeting live (9am).



TN DOE Information on Tennessee Social and Personal Competencies

Tennessee Department of Education Launches Dyslexia Advisory Council

#1 Again!

Attention Parents of Children with Disabilities

Applications for the new Individualized Education Account (IEA) Program from the Tennessee Department of Education are available now.

The IEA Program provides a voucher for students with disabilities; giving parents more options to choose the educational opportunities that best meet their child’s individual learning needs.

Parents can now visit the online portal to submit an application for their child. Funding for this statewide program will be available in January 2017.

This year 100% of the state Senate and 97 members of the House voted for this program to help these precious children.

This program is open to children with one of the following disabilities identified in their IEP as their primary or secondary disability:

• Autism,
• Deaf-blindness,
• Hearing impairments,
• Intellectual disability,
• Orthopedic impairments,
• Traumatic brain injury, and/or 
• Visual impairments.

For more information please visit IEP website

FAQ's are here. 

TENNESSEE IS TOP STATE IN US FOR ADVANCED INDUSTRY JOB GROWTH, BROOKINGS STUDY FINDS