The Tennessee General Assembly
Susan M. Lynn
House of Representatives
CAPITOL HILL REVIEW
A
weekly wrap-up of legislative news
Welcome!
Some readers are receiving the weekly wrap
for the first time tonight. I hope you enjoy learning what your state
government is doing, and share the Wrap with friends.
2018 Legislative
Survey
Please visit my blog to take the 2018
legislative survey on current issues before the General Assembly; susan-lynn.blogspot.com.
Issues include the states amending the US Constitution, medical cannabis oil,
the National Motto Bill and many others.
House Republicans
Continue Work on Key Budget Initiatives
This week in Nashville, House Republicans
continued work on several key budget initiatives, including moving forward with
bills on the education, juvenile justice, and opioid fronts.
Recently, Tennessee became the first state
in the nation to give all Tennesseans access to college free of tuition and
fees through the Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect programs. To assist
in ensuring those incoming students complete college and enter the workforce
with degrees or certificates in a timely manner, House Republicans are moving
forward this year with the Complete to Compete initiative. Once passed
by the legislature, this new plan will restructure financial aid requirements
for Promise and HOPE scholarships to keep students on track for on-time completion,
and requires community colleges to implement structured, ready-made schedules
for all incoming full-time students based on their academic program.
Additionally,
House members completed initial steps this week in passing the Juvenile
Justice Reform Act of 2018 — an initiative created based upon
recommendations made by members of House Speaker Beth Harwell’s Joint Ad-Hoc
Blue Ribbon Task Force on Juvenile Justice. Research suggests that taking
youths out of their homes and schools for minor offenses increases the risk of
recidivism, diverts resources from youth who pose a risk to the community, and
uses taxpayer dollars unnecessarily because community-based services are often
more effective and cost efficient. The Juvenile Justice Reform Act will
tackle these problems and help strengthen families and communities while
promoting public safety and ensuring a responsible and conservative use of
state resources.
In addition to the Complete to Compete
initiative and Juvenile Justice Reform Act, House members continue discussions
on the Tennessee Together program, a multi-faceted plan comprised of
legislation, $30 million in funds through Governor Haslam’s proposed budget,
and other executive actions to battle opioids through the three major
components of prevention, treatment, and law enforcement. Similar to the
Juvenile Justice Act, the Tennessee Together plan incorporates recommendations
made by Speaker Beth Harwell’s Ad Hoc Task Force on Opioid Abuse.
Other notable budget highlights
investments for the year include:
- More than $200 million in new state funding for K-12 education, including additional funds for teacher compensation;
- Nearly $100 million for higher education initiatives;
- $128 million for job growth investments, including programs that target rural communities;
- And investments to bring the state’s Rainy Day Fund to $850 million — the highest ever amount in state history.
Republicans
Advance Welfare Reform Initiatives
This year, House Republicans are leading
efforts to reform Tennessee’s welfare system, including reinstituting work
requirements for those receiving benefits from the state’s Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and TennCare.
By reinstituting work requirements for
SNAP, approximately 58,000 able-bodied adults who are not currently meeting the
work requirement but still receive assistance will now be able to capitalize on
an overabundance of jobs in order to secure meaningful employment. This will
help move them along a pathway from dependency to independence and
self-sufficiency.
The restoration of these stipulations will
not impact residents who currently depend on these key benefits in 16 Tennessee
counties still designated as distressed by the Tennessee Department of Economic
and Community Development. They will also not apply to Tennessee’s senior
citizens or disabled residents.
Similarly, House Bill 1551 directs
the commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration to
file a waiver instituting reasonable work requirements for TennCare enrollees.
The measure comes as the federal Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services issued new guidelines for states, allowing Tennessee to
implement work requirements on citizens who receive TennCare benefits.
As leaders of the state, House Republicans
want Tennessee residents to have meaningful employment so they can take care of
their families and make contributions that enable communities to continue their
economic development and prosperity. These new initiatives accomplish these
goals while also ensuring state resources are managed in the most efficient and
effective way possible.
Lawmakers
Introduce Legislation Ending Mandatory Emissions Testing
House lawmakers this week introduced
legislation that would end mandatory emissions testing for vehicles in
Tennessee.
Once passed, House Bill 1782 will
apply to residents of Hamilton, Davidson, Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson, and
Wilson Counties where vehicle emission testing is still required prior to
vehicle registration or renewal.
The 1990 Federal Clean Air Act required
the state to develop more restrictive regulations to control air pollution from
mobile sources in counties which were not meeting the Federal Standards for air
quality.
Currently, testing is done on vehicles
with a model year of 1975 and newer if they are powered by a gasoline or diesel
engine and weigh up to 10,500 lbs. Over 1.5 million vehicles went through
emissions testing in Tennessee last year in the six counties where it is
required.
The idea for House Bill 1782 resulted from
conversations with Tennesseans who have voiced concerns about the burdensome
costs of testing on families across the state. Once the Tennessee Department of
Environment & Conservation released a report last August revealing that all
95 Tennessee counties now meet federal air quality health standards, it became
clear that mandatory testing was no longer needed.
Supporters agree that vehicle emissions
testing is a perfect example of a well-intentioned government program with
harmful, unintended consequences for Tennessee's middle class, noting that the
passage of this legislation will help relieve this burdensome regulation for
Tennessee citizens.
House Bill 1782 will first be heard by the
House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee.
Legislators,
Department of Education Announce Critical Growth Funds
This week in Nashville, legislators
partnered with the Tennessee Department of Education to announce critical funds
that will go to support education initiatives across Tennessee.
The funding is a result of efforts by the
General Assembly last year to not only fully fund education in the state, but
also provide $18 million to cover school district growth as part of Governor
Haslam’s 2017 budget.
These significant investments will allow
many of the state’s school districts with growing populations to maintain
proper student to teacher ratios so that they can continue offering quality
education for the next generation of leaders.
Funding advocates agree that when the
legislature is able to supply teachers and students with the resources they
need in order to achieve their educational goals and dreams, everyone in the
state benefits.
Because of the popularity of the 2017
growth funds, an additional $18 million in funding has been proposed as part of
the 2018-2019 fiscal year budget.
A Big Anniversary
This Wednesday
marks 4 years since our grandson Benji was diagnosed with Type 1
diabetes. Benji was only 1 year old and became very sick rather
suddenly. The diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes shocked us. This life long,
insulin dependent condition left us all depending on our faith, medical science
and the kindness of other TID parents who are an amazing group of
people.
A
dear T1D mom told my daughter at the time, "today diabetes is HUGE in your
life but very soon it will be a small part." It took a long time but
she was right. We are very grateful for modern medicine because when I
was a kid, many with T1D didn't live much past 30 and blindness was a real
threat.
Today
Benji is in kindergarten in Wilson County Schools. His teacher and school
nurse are AMAZING and so loving to him. In December he got an insulin
pump attached to his little body – no more needles 4 times a day! On
Tuesday he will get a blood glucose monitor added to the pump so he will
essentially have an artificial pancreas. You might not notice but you can
see the bulge of the monitor on his right hip in this photo.
It
sounds odd to be grateful for this whole experience but I am. It has made
me much more aware and sensitive to the needs of others than I ever was
before. Benji has a bright future thanks to our Heavenly Father, the
prayers of so many, to science, to his teacher, his nurse at school, his mommy
and daddy and to so many others whose kindness and love we will never, ever
forget.
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