Week of February 5, 2007

GOP takes Charge

With the historic election of Sen. Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) to the position of Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate, the wave of change has already been felt.  The previous Republican Speaker, DeWitt Senter from Grainger County, served from 1867-1869.  Republicans have a majority on all committees, and a majority of the committee chairmanships.  Lt. Gov. Ramsey has moved into the leadership suite that had been occupied by Sen. John S. Wilder (D-Mason) for 36 years.  The dust is beginning to settle and the regular session for the 105th General Assembly is underway. 

Lt. Gov. Ramsey has appointed Republicans to chair seven of nine standing committees: Finance, Randy McNally of Oak Ridge; Commerce, Steve Southerland of Morristown; Transportation, Jim Tracy of Shelbyville; State and Local, Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro; Judiciary, Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet; General Welfare, Rusty Crowe of Johnson City; and Education Jamie Woodson of Knoxville.

Bredesen Delivers State of State

On Monday night of this week, Gov. Bredesen previewed his budget for the fiscal year 2007-2008.  In his annual state of the state address, Bredesen emphasized education.  For K-12 education special attention will be placed on at-risk funding, growth funding, and school construction.  Bredesen announced plans to make college more accessible and affordable by funding operating cost increases with recurring funds.  There is also a plan to provide free tuition to state community colleges for students making at least a “C” average.  Bredesen plans to use excess lottery funds and raise the cigarette tax 40¢ to implement the new incentives.

The majority party in the Senate was quick to respond to the Governor’s remarks, however most noted that it is difficult to comment when so little information has been given: 

“Republicans, who control the state Senate, were noncommittal on the governor's tax proposal but said they are concerned about the risk of paying for a substantial increase in education funding with a tax on a declining number of smokers.”
                                                               The Commercial Appeal

“Obviously, we like the emphasis on education, but at the same time, as always, the devil’s in the details in how you pay for it and should we actually have to have a tax increase.”  Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said.
                                                               The City Paper
 
A cigarette tax hike could spark heavy resistance, especially from republicans. At 20 cents per pack, Tennessee's cigarette tax is one of the lowest in the country. "We are one of the lowest in the nation, maybe time has come to look at it, but until I see budget figures, it's kind of premature at this time," Speaker of the Senate Ron Ramsey said.
                                                               WTVF-News Channel 5

Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris of Collierville said Republicans "embrace his willingness to move forward on education," but said the administration claimed a year ago that tobacco taxes were "an unreliable revenue source.  "And we can engage in conversation about the wisdom of social engineering through tax increases," Norris said, adding he would keep an open mind on the tax hike.
                                                               The Commercial Appeal

Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, said he wants to see more details but noted, "if there's additional funding for Hamilton County in there, then obviously we're pleased with that."
"But we want a fair shake. We don't want to continue the same kind of funding through the Basic Education Program where at the end of the day we're still 135th or 136th" in per pupil funding, Sen. Watson said.
                                                                        The Chattanooga Times Free Press

Legislation Being Filed
As committee meetings begin, a flurry of bills have been filed this week.  For the second year in a row, Sen. Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) has filed that would remove the sales tax on food.  SB 305 would reduce the tax by 0.5 percent each year until there remained no sales tax on food.  Sen. Beavers bill does not require any new taxes or any increase in current taxes.

With over 1.3 million voters overwhelmingly approving Constitutional Amendment 2 last November, Senator Mark Norris (R-Collierville) filed SB 2, the enabling legislation for Senior Citizen Property Tax relief.  The bill provides the structure enabling local governments to “freeze” property tax levels for qualifying homeowners aged 65 or older.

Sen. Black has filed the “Child Sexual Predator Act”.  SB 230 applies to those convicted of aggravated statutory rape, aggravated sexual battery of a child, sexual battery by an authority figure, solicitation of a minor to commit a sexual offense, and statutory rape by an authority figure. The bill would also help identify and keep locked up those who have pled to a lesser charge and repeat the offense.

In future weeks we hope to highlight key legislation from all of our Republican Senators.