Jackson Miller kicked off his campaign for school board in a living room announcement at his home today

Jackson Miller kicks off his campaign for School Board

Jackson Miller kicked off his campaign for school board today in the living room of his 10th Ave South home across the street from Waverly-Belmont Elementary School. Twenty-five or so people crowded into the living room and dinning room for the announcement.  He was introduced by his son who is standing to his left in this picture. I am an amateur journalist and did not take good notes, so I don't recall what he said but he was cute and charming and his remarks were clever. Mr. Miller should be proud of his son.

Miller said that as a parent of six children, five of whom attend public schools in Nashville, and as someone who grew up attending  public schools, he had a vested interest in improving the city's public education climate.  He told of attending Eakin school as a child and how Eakin was a very good school.  He said he attended school with immigrants who were refugees from Cuba and Burma, as well as students who were children of privileged immigrant parents who were professors at Vanderbilt, and some of the best students from across the county. He said Eakin was an excellent school but he thought there should be good schools in every zip code.

After what he describes as a “phenomenal” experience at Eakin Elementary School, he said he attended J. T. Moore Middle School and Hillsboro High School. A devastating event in middle school changed his trajectory.  “During my second week at J. T. Moore, my mother was hit by a drunk driver and told she’d never walk again,” he said. “Middle school is hard enough when you’ve got a good support system at home. But that wreck shook our family to the core, and I quickly found myself on the ‘discipline’ track at school.”  He said that was back when they could still paddle in school and he said he got more than his share of paddling. He also said he spend a lot of time in the principal's office. "Books and instruction aren’t enough if a kid’s working through challenges, stress or trauma at home." he said. “I Know what It’s like to slip through the cracks,” he said. He dropped out of school and ended up getting a GED rather than a regular diploma.

He said that from his own experience as a product of Nashville public schools and as a parent of students in public schools he knows that we must do more than what we are doing for Nashville to have great schools.  He said that the most important factor in a child succeeding or failing is school is often a good caring teacher.  He said if the teacher's time is taken up by needless testing, training, and reporting that there may not be enough time for that child who needs extra help to get it.  He said he believes the key to a good school is a collaborative approach to learning within the school and a strong school leader. He said schools need more autonomy. He says he favors an organizational structure that goes from the bottom up, not the top down.  While I did not record the exact words, he said something to the effect that the dollars need to follow the child, and creating an environment that puts the child first is important to success in educating children.

It was a pleasure to get to meet Jackson Miller and his wife, mother and sister today.  I was impressed by what I heard and I am supporting him in his campaign for the school board seat to replace Will Pinkston.  I have already made my first contribution to his campaign, making it today as soon as I got back to my office from attending his announcement. When it comes time to put yard signs in the yard, I will put a Jackson Miller yard sign in mine.  The election is not until August of this year, so this will be a long campaign but the differences between these two candidates is clear and Jackson Miller is the kind of person we need on the school board.

To learn more about Jackson Miller or contribute to his campaign, follow this link: Jackson Miller for Nashville School Board. 

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Update #3. What is on the January 5th Council agenda? Short-term rental regs and Pedal Tavern regs and a controversial rezoning and Farmers Market

Update #3: There is another zoning bill that will be controversial. See "BILL NO. BL2015-81" below.

The Metro Council agenda for January 5th is available at this link and the staff analysis at this link. Since the last update, the staff analysis has been published and I have reviewed it and updated this post to reflect anything of significance gleamed from that information. If you watch the council meetings and you don't have an agenda and an analysis, it is really hard to know what is going on and the council meetings will seem really boring, so if you are going to watch the meeting I suggest you get your own copy of those documents. The meetings will still be boring, but you will know what it is that is boring you. For you own copy, follow the above highlighted links.

There are three mayoral appointees to Board and Commissions up for council confirmation. None of these are to the commission that are the subject of controversy.

There are 22 bills on public hearing on Second Reading.  I, for the most part, don't really care much about zoning issues unless it is a proposed rezoning in my neighborhood and I don't study zoning issues unless something has impact beyond one little neighborhood. I don't even try to be knowledgeable of all of the rezoning bills, so you are on your own. Zoning can have a tremendous impact on one's quality of life and financial standing, so zoning is very important, but the impact is often limited to just a few people.   Most council members will work with their constituents to let them know of any significant rezoning proposals and hold neighborhood meetings if a rezoning is significant or likely to be controversial. Also, the property to be rezoned must post signs stating it is slated to be rezoned and advertise the date of the pubic hearing. An active neighborhood organization can be important in keeping neighbors abreast of zoning and land use developments. If you have a neighborhood organization where you live, I suggest you join it. If not, I would suggest you start one. Also, get to know your councilman so he will be sure to communicate to your neighborhood any proposed significant rezoning.

The bills on public hearing on second reading, that I find of interest are these:

• BILL NO. BL2015-81 rezones 9.2 acres off on Clarksville pike which if approved would allow the construction of between 72 to 120 apartment units of what is considered "workforce housing" which is another term for affordable housing. The planning Commission unanimously voted to disapprove this bill and there is a lot of neighborhood opposition. Here is a link to a Tennessean story about the issue. 
• BILL NO. BL2015-84  establishes the Waverly Belmont Neighborhood Conservation Overlay District. This is significant because if covers such a large area and so many parcels. A conservation overlay is less restrictive than a historical overlay but is a planning tool to protect the architectural character of Nashville’s historic neighborhoods by managing growth and change. It is a type of ‘overlay zoning’ that is applied in addition to the ‘base’ land use zoning of an area. It makes it more difficult to demolish an existing home and insures additions are in character to the neighborhood.  This bill does not give the details.
• BILL NO. BL2015-85 adds eight acres to an already existing Contextual Overlay District. A Contextual Overlay District is a zoning tool that can be applied to residential neighborhoods. The Contextual Overlay applies design standards necessary to maintain and reinforce established form or character of residential development in a particular area. A Contextual Overlay must apply throughout the residential portion of a complete block face. This is for an area along Pinewood Road, west of Stratford Avenue.

There is one bill on public hearing on Third Reading.  BILL NO. BL2015-67  authorizing the creation of a Gulch Central Business Improvement District. This would require property owners in the Gulch area to pay a slightly higher property tax and the proceeds from that additional tax would be used to enhance services in that district. There are already a couple other areas of town with this arrangement.

There are eight resolutions, all of which are on the Consent Agenda. While a bill requires three readings to become law, a resolution only requires one vote. Resolutions include things like accepting grants, and spending money out of funds already approved, and other minor things. Bills are laws or are changes in zoning. All of the resolutions are at this time on the consent agenda. Resolutions are placed on consent if the Vice Mayor deems them non-controversial and they stay on consent if they pass the committee to which they are assigned unanimously. Resolutions on consent are all lumped together and pass by a single vote of the Council. However, any member of the Council may, from the floor, ask for a bill to be considered individually or may ask to have his dissenting vote or abstention recorded. This are the only resolutions I find of interest:

• RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-77 accepts a grant of $100,000 from the Conservancy for the Parthenon and Centennial Park to hire one employee. Metro must pay the fringe benefits which come to $35,460. While it is not wise to look a gift horse in the mouth, that is one expensive employee.  I hope the Council is curious as to this person's qualification and job description. What will they be doing? Will this position be advertised and will filling this position be competitive or is the person to fill this position already chosen?  I also find it informative that fringe benefits equal more than a third of an employee's salary. I wonder what that ratio is in the private sector?

• RESOLUTION NO. RS2016-85, "A resolution requesting the Nashville Farmers Market to provide a comprehensive report to the Metropolitan Council regarding its current financial status and its capital and operational needs to guarantee future success."  I am pleased to see this. The Farmers Market has been losing money for years. It is not structured to provide a market to help farmers sell to retailers such as super markets and restaurants but is designed for farmers selling retail to consumers. Think of it as boutique farmers market not a real farmers market. Recently the Farmers Market restricted the sale of produce to only locally grown products so the consumer may buy their watermelons and  tomatoes at the Farmers Market but they can't buy their bananas and oranges. Also, the Farmers Market stopped the sale of the velvet Elvis vendors and vendors of twelve socks for twelve dollars and restricted the flea market operation to the sale of locally produced artisan stuff such as soy candles and handicrafts. The Council needs to keep close taps on how much money the Farmers Market is losing. I was skeptical when the Farmers Market kicked out the food vendors who sold bananas and the flea market vendors who sold the velvet Elvis and socks, however with Nashville continuing to be the "it" city, perhaps the Farmers Market can be a success by being "authentic." We will see, but in any event the Council needs to keep close tabs.  

There are  nineteen Bills on First Reading. All bills on first reading are lumped together and generally not discussed until second reading. I don't read them until second reading.

There are only six Bills on Second Reading. These are two of interest:

• BILL NO. BL2015-94 amends the code pertaining to Short Term Rental Property. One change is that DADU's (Detached  Accessory Dwelling Units) will now be subject to the 3% limit the same as non-owner occupied units. In any area (and I think it is my Council district but I am not sure, it may by census track or some other delineating measure) only 3% of the non-owner occupied properties may be approved for short-term rental and it is first-come, first-approved.  I know someone who has spend a lot of money building a DADU "tiny house" for the purpose of renting it as a STRP.  It has taken longer to build it than they anticipated and they may be screwed if this passes.  These folks are a young couple who have risked a lot to build this house. They are not wealthy. Another provision prohibited advertising the short term rental as lodging for more people than is permitted by the permit for the property. That provision sounds reasonable to me. Another change would change the definition of "detached" so that if the rental unit is actually attached or separated by no more than 6 feet is is not considered detached for purposes of this ordinance and would not be subject to the 3% rule.
• BILL NO. BL2015-95 would restrict pedal taverns to certain areas and impose other restrictions.

There are seven bills on Third Reading and none of them are of much interest.

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TNGOP: Democrats Should Campaign on the Gun Ban They Want to Impose on Us

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - January 5, 2015 -- From the East Room of the White House, President Barack Obama announced a sweeping set of executive orders meant to restrict Americans’ access to firearms.
Following the President’s speech, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Ryan Haynes remarked:

Today’s announcement by the President once again lectured responsible, law-abiding Americans. It echoed his snide comments from 2008 where he talked down to concerned citizens who ‘cling to guns or religion' as if that’s a moral wrong.

Ultimately, these actions are a political play by the President that could undermine our constitutional rights. Governing solely by executive order ignores the fact the Executive Branch is supposed to enforce the law, not create it. Furthermore, it subverts the authority of Congress—the law-making branch of our federal government. These actions, supported by Democrats, show a disdain for the framework set up by our Founders. That’s inexcusable.

Instead of hiding behind the President's pen, Democrats should just campaign on the gun ban policy they want to impose on Americans. I would welcome the opportunity to debate the Democratic Party's gun restrictions. Let’s have an honest conversation and see if Tennesseans really want their 2nd Amendment rights gutted by Democrats. 

The TNGOP is circulating an online petition (associated graphic linked above) at www.GunsAreNext.com for Tennesseans to sign who believe the President is overreaching with today's executive orders. Weblink: http://tngop.org/demswantyourguns/.

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Pinkston, Miller set for school board showdown

Pinkston, Miller set for school board showdown 

Will Pinkston

 The Tennessean - The highly anticipated election showdown between outspoken Metro school board member Will Pinkston and challenger Jackson Miller is set. Pinkston, a lightning rod on the board and vocal critic of charter schools, announced on Monday he plans to run for re-election in August for the South Nashville-area District 7 seat.
Less than two hours later, Miller — a small-business owner, Pinkston rival and past co-chairman of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce's Education Report Card — issued a media advisory confirming he will challenge Pinkston. (Read more)

Jackson Miller

Pinkston’s Challenger Positions Himself As Uniter In Nashville School Board Race by Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio - Metro Schools parent Jackson Miller says he will run for the board of education, with a formal announcement planned for Tuesday afternoon. He will challenge the panel’s most vocal member, saying Will Pinkston has led to dischord on the nine-member panel and within the central office. .... Charter school advocates appear to be galvanizing around Miller, who once worked at Maya Angelou Schools, a charter organization in Washington D.C. .... There's a fundamental difference between Miller and Pinkston, and both agree. Miller says he welcomes experimentation and small-scale reforms while Pinkston says he prefers universal, district-wide initiatives that might help every student.

School Board's Hellraiser Wants Another Four Years | Pith in the Wind Nashville Scene‎ 

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Happy New Year from 1st Tuesday

From Tim Skow:

HAPPY NEW YEAR to our 1ST TUESDAY 2016 Members &friends !

GREAT NEWS is coming to 1ST TUESDAY in 2016 !!!!

You can expect the 1ST TUESDAY line up of speakers for 2016 to be the most impressive, informative and exciting in the years we have been at WALLER Law !! As most of you know, we do NOT meet on election days and avoid having meetings close to holidays. We are also known to move a meeting date to meet the schedule(s) of important speakers. These concerns will change our meeting dates for both JAN and for MARCH.
 
Details for our JANUARY meeting will be coming out shortly... Our MARCH 7th meeting will feature former Member of Congress and frequent FOX News contributor, the remarkable Col. ALLEN WEST ! 

There will be a pre-lunch event featuring Col. West benefiting his National Center for Policy Analysis. Those contributing $100 will not only be welcome to attend the 10:30am pre-lunch event with Col. West, but the $100 also cover lunch costs for 1ST TUESDAY. Given early demand, we EXPECT BOTH LUNCH and the pre-event to sell out!

If you have not already paid 1ST TUESDAY 2016 annual dues, you will want to ASAP. As noted, for special events, seating is initially reserved for 2016 Members.

Visit our website at www.1sttuesdaynashville.com and click on ''JOIN US'' to prepay for lunch [and/or your annual dues. ] See you on MONDAY, January 11th ... and more !

Tim Skow
Host of 1ST TUESDAY

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MIDDLE TENNESSEE REPUBLICAN WOMEN meeting Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016

From MTRW:

Happy New Year!

Please join us for our first social breakfast of the new year and meet and listen to our special guest speaker:

Patrick Rosenstiel, former Bush official from the Office of Legislative Affairs

Saturday, January 9, 2016, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

The Egg & I/First Watch, 710 Old Hickory Blvd, Ste 307, (two block past Target)
Brentwood, TN 37027

Come for a morning of great food, conversation, and a very informative discussion. 

Please RSVP to stachiagop@gmail.com so we know how many to plan for. We hope to see you there!

MTRW wants to be involved in the community to spread our conservative values. This is a great way to get started. Watch for more opportunities coming in 2016.

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TNInvestco almost out of money. Only $17 of $200 million left. Uncertain borrowed money will ever be repaid.

Today's Tennessean ran the first of a three part series that examines TNInvestco. TNInvestco was established with $200 million in state taxpayer funding to finance startup companies. It is almost out of money and it is difficult to determine what we got for our money.  Here are some excerpts from the article:

Just $17 million remained as of 2014 — the most recent year financials are available. The state’s $30 million INCITE program, a federally funded initiative run by Launch Tennessee, is down to $2 million as of 2015.

Six years into the program, TNInvestco has become a sparkplug for Tennessee’s startups and it has spurred job creation across the state. It has also put private investors on track to make millions and yielded millions in tax savings for insurance companies. But TNInvestco is a long way from repaying taxpayers.

In 2009 Tennessee lawmakers approved $200 million to fund TNInvestco. By enlisting private fund managers to invest the state’s money and insurance companies to help pay for the program, TNInvestco would support small business growth and create jobs. There was also the expectation that the state would recoup its massive investment.

The article goes on to report that at the time TNInvestco was proposed it had almost unanimous bipartisan support and was presented as a jobs bill, "but the descriptions that bill sponsors and state officials provided were often confusing, misleading or incorrect." More:

The problem is in TNInvestco’s design: It forces the state to bear all the risk and see only half of the proceeds, providing far more profits to the managers of 10 TNInvestco funds than they would make in the private markets. Tennessee also loses millions through the sale of tax credits to fund the program, tens of millions that could be spent on funding schools, roads or more early-stage companies.

This is complex but it looks like the taxpayers got the short end of the stick. In a nut shell, this is what happened. The State made available $200 million to ten INvestco venture companies, they sold the tax credits to insurance companies for $146 million, so right off the bat the state lost $54 million.  After some cost incurred by the venture firms and other professional fees are paid, $117 million was left available for investors to borrow. Loans were made to 175 companies. Since then, 50 of them were sold at a loss or closed, a few sold at a profit and the others are still struggling.  If the company is sold at a profit, Tennessee shares in the profit but that may not be sufficent to recoup Tennessee's investment.  It is unclear how many jobs were created in Tennessee. To read the full article follow this link: State needs big wins to see returns from TNInvestco.

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Nashville is Destination of the Year says Travel and Leisure

Travel and Leisure, by Caroline Hallemann, December 30, 2015 - With 15.8 percent of the votes, Nashville, Tennessee, is the newly crowned winner of Travel + Leisure's readers' poll for Destination of the Year, beating out international hot spots like Adelaide, Australia, and Korea, as well as fellow domestic darlings New Orleans and Detroit, in addition to Cuba, our editors' pick for the award. In fact, Nashville received almost double the votes of the number two destination, Charleston, with Cuba coming in third with 6.5% of the votes. Other readers' choice stand-outs included Greece, Iceland, Istanbul, and Paris. (link)

My Comment: I love Nashville and am pleased to see this city get the recognition it deserves.  Unfortunately, many residents will never experience the city the way a visitor does.  Treat yourself and "visit" Nashville.  Get a guidebook and visit the sites.  Stroll down Riverfront Park and take in the view, walk across the river's pedestrian bridge, spend an evening visiting the honky tonks of lower Broadway, eat at one of the many restaurants that are getting rave reviews, visit the Parthenon and really look at it and take the tour inside, go to the zoo, visit Andrew Jackson's The Hermitage, take in  a show at the Ryman, visit The Country Music Hall of Fame, look at the architecture of the city and go inside and take a tour and really see the State Capitol, The Hermitage Hotel, the Downtown Presbyterian Church. Union Station, Christ Church Cathedral, and more.   This is a great city. Get to know it.

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150,0000 people welcome the New Year with Nashville's Bash on Broadway

News Channel 5: NYE Bash On Broadway Draws Record Crowd
The Tennessean:  Bash on Broadway draws record New Year’s crowd

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Brian Kelsey's 5 Priorities for 2016

Dear Rod,

I hope that your family enjoyed a blessed Christmas season, and I write to wish you a Happy New Year.  A new year means a time for renewal for many.  It's a chance to start over with new resolutions and the prospect of an upcoming year better than the last.  For me, a new year means leaving home to spend much of the next four months working hard for you in Nashville. Here's a preview of what I'll be working on.

1.  Criminal Justice Reform

During the 2016 session I will be pushing for reforms to our criminal laws that keep Tennesseans safer by keeping violent offenders behind bars longer. I will also seek to save taxpayer dollars by considering alternative penalties for nonviolent offenders.

2.  Opportunity Scholarships

As new jobs are brought to Tennessee and Shelby County, we must have a ready supply of educated workers to fill the ranks.  Opportunity Scholarships will allow low-income students to escape the bottom 5% of schools in the state and use the funds that we are already spending on them to instead attend private schools.

3.  Hall Tax Repeal

The oppressive Hall Tax on interest and dividends discourages saving and investment and disproportionately impacts senior citizens and those on fixed incomes.  Opponents to my efforts to repeal the tax can no longer claim the need for offsetting, additional state revenue. With the state sitting on a $600 million surplus and economists' projections of future surpluses, we can repeal the Hall Tax, keep paying local governments their share of the revenue, and not have to cut one dime from state or local government.

4.  De-annexation

Now that we have successfully brought an end to forced annexation, it is time to provide a fix for those communities annexed against their will in prior years.  Legislation allowing certain communities a vote to de-annex will bring much needed economic growth to neighborhoods like Cordova and Southwind.

5.  Judicial Confirmation

I was honored to sponsor two successful amendments to the Tennessee constitution: one to forever prohibit a state income tax and another to adopt a Founding Fathers model for selecting appellate judges. I hope that the first few days of session will see implementation of the latter amendment and confirmation of the most conservative Tennessee Supreme Court in my lifetime. May you have a blessed and prosperous 2016!

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Marsha Blackburn's 2015: A year in review.

Friends-

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and your 2016 is off to a great start! The year upon us promises to be an exciting one and I’m looking forward to leading the fight for reduced government spending, protecting our most vulnerable, and ensuring American families are safe.

Before we look ahead, I want to take a few minutes and celebrate what we accomplished in 2015. We fought and had many successes in the battle for faith, family, freedom, hope, and opportunity. I’m not giving up that fight in the new year and hope to look back at 2016 with many more successes for the Conservative cause.

Fought for Tennessee taxpayers. This year I achieved permanent tax relief for Tennessee families. Language in this year’s tax extenders bill made permanent the ability of Tennesseans to deduct their state and local sales tax from their federal income tax. I, along with Congressman Kevin Brady, have been leading the fight in the House on the issue for over a decade. Making these deductions permanent is vital to Tennessee families and small businesses as it will allow millions of dollars to be pumped back into our economy.

Fought to cut out-of-control spending. As I have in every Congress in which I’ve served, I  offered my colleagues a choice of spending reduction bills: HR 39, to make 1 percent across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary spending for each of the fiscal years 2015 and 2016, HR 49, to make 2 percent across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary spending for each of the fiscal years 2015 and 2016, and HR 58, to make 5 percent across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary spending for each of the fiscal years 2015 and 2016. You will remember we were successful in having the 2% cut included in the Budget Control Act of 2011. That one provision has saved taxpayers hundreds of millions since implementation.

Fought for national security. It seems everyone but our President is very concerned about the security of this country and the American people. Recently, DHS Secretary Johnson admitted that ISIS could ‘exploit’ our refugee program to conduct attacks here at home, something my colleagues and I have been saying for weeks. We must do everything in our power to eliminate terrorist threats – which is why I introduced legislation this year that would temporarily defund the refugee resettlement program until certain conditions are met. We must confront the danger of radical Islamic extremism. Senator Sessions is leading this effort in the Senate.

Fought to protect you and your data. We cannot afford to sit idly by as malicious hacker groups, and the countries that sponsor them, devise more sophisticated and effective ways to attack our citizens, businesses, and government institutions. I introduced HR 1770, The Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2015, which would protect consumers by improving data security provisions and setting a national breach notification standard for industry. The private sector and government should be working together to share information about threats. This legislation has successfully moved through the committee process and is ready for a vote by the full House.

Fought for Fort Campbell. Fort Campbell is the most heavily deployed Army post in the country, providing both the personnel and capabilities to respond and to protect our national interests. When Fort Campbell suffers a troop reduction, it is felt by our entire nation. I worked hard to ensure Fort Campbell was not hit hard by this year’s troop reduction. Additionally, I secured a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act that authorizes funding for the “Army and Air Force flying hours program,” to provide training and flight hours at 100% levels for military aviators. Military installations across the country are facing budget constraints that will have an impact on military readiness programs. I have worked tirelessly to ensure the vital flying hours program provides the training necessary for mission success and the safety of our soldiers at Fort Campbell.

Fought to improve healthcare. Health care costs continue to rise and have become unsustainable for American families. Obamacare has not delivered upon the promise of access to healthcare. Millions of people have been given insurance cards, but find their deductibles and copayments make the insurance unaffordable and unusable. It is truly too expensive to use. Thousands are left without healthcare as they find it more difficult to find providers who are on the narrow Obamacare networks. My office hears regularly from constituents about the expense and the difficulty with the website and the bureaucrats who run the program. We also hear from businesses that are facing enormous fines because they want to provide better coverage to their employees than what is mandated by the misnamed Affordable Care Act but are being told no. Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with what we know works. Patient based reforms that use market forces to give consumers leverage is the best way to provide access to quality, affordable healthcare. One part of the solution is legislation I authored, HR 543, the Health Care Choice Act of 2015, which would allow Americans to buy insurance policies across state lines. The bill would allow insurance companies to compete for your business, offering plans with the benefits you want at a price you can afford.

Technology is all around us on our smart phones and watches. And these technologies are one key to improving healthcare access and outcomes. We must be sure our federal regulators are in the right lane when it comes to new technologies and their application in healthcare. The FDA is the agency charged with assuring the safety and efficacy of drugs and medical devices. But data is not a drug or device and it makes no sense to regulate it as such. However obvious that is, it hasn’t stopped the FDA from trying to make medical device law fit health IT. Medical device legislation was enacted in the 1970s. Leisure suits were popular and floppy disks had just been invented. We need to modernize the FDA authorities to reflect the new reality of health IT. That is why I introduced, HR 2396 the SOFTWARE Act. My SOFTWARE Act was part of a larger piece of legislation, the 21st Century Cures Act. The 21st Century Cures Act is landmark legislation that will speed treatments to people who have illnesses ranging from Alzheimer’s, autism, ALS, to zoonotic diseases and everything in between. This legislation has passed the House and is in the Senate waiting for action.

Fought for our seniors. You have worked hard for your social security dollars and they should be there when you need them. The federal government should not treat social security as a fungible source to shore up bad programs in the budget. My bill, HR 603, the Save Social Security for Seniors Act creates a true trust fund for those social security dollars so that they may not be appropriated for other uses. I also introduced HR 4090, the Health Care Choices for Seniors Act, legislation that would allow seniors to choose private insurance over Medicare without penalty. Due to the mandates of the federal government, seniors are given no option but to join Medicare. This legislation establishes a pathway that allows seniors to retain control of their healthcare decisions, stay with their current doctors and decide what’s best for them.
          
Fought for our military and veterans. This year’s defense bill passed both the House and Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The NDAA includes increased pay and benefits for our troops, safeguards our military personnel by allowing them to carry firearms on military bases and in recruitment facilities, improves access to child care on military installations, and provides our military with the resources needed to protect our country against the ever growing threat of terrorist groups such as ISIS. Thank you to Friends of Fort Campbell for the great job you have done in helping me secure some of these wins.

Fought to protect the life of all yet to be born. Every life is precious and we must work to build a culture that respects the right to life. The use of taxpayer money to fund big abortion businesses is both morally indefensible and fiscally irresponsible. I’m so honored to have been named as Chairman of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives. This select committee is tasked with gathering information and getting the facts about medical practices of abortion service providers and the business practices of the procurement organizations who sell baby body parts Additionally, I wrote HR 3494, the Protecting Infants Born Alive Act, which would amend Title XIX of the Social Security Act to ban any provider proven of violating the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP and will allow states that suspect any violation of this law to ban those suspected from the state’s Medicaid program.
 
Fought to keep the internet free. I have been leading the fight against the Obama Administration’s net neutrality regulations since they were first proposed in 2010 by Former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski. Despite being struck down by a Federal Appeals Court in January of 2014, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the FCC had once again adopted new Net Neutrality rules on February 26, 2015. In response to this announcement from Chairman Wheeler, I reintroduced legislation I first authored in the 112th Congress to block the FCC's efforts to implement new net neutrality rules. Additionally, I introduced HR 1106, the States' Rights Municipal Broadband Act of 2015, which would prevent the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from overriding state and local municipal broadband laws. This fight over the control of the internet is a First Amendment issue and we will continue to use every legislative means to block government control of the Internet.

Fought to close and protect the border. Secure countries have secure borders. Today, every state is a border state and every town is a border town. Since coming to Washington, I’ve worked to ensure that our immigration policies are in sync with this new reality. My legislation, HR 2964, the CLEAR Act of 2015, a reintroduction of legislation we first filed in 2006, gives law enforcement the tools they need to help the Federal government deport criminal aliens from our country and withholds certain funding for sanctuary cities. In addition, I’ve led the fight in the House to stop President Obama’s executive amnesty. I passed an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill in January to freeze the President’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program (DACA).

Fought for energy independence. Cheap and reliable energy is crucial to restoring our economic strength. We need to pursue clean, economical and responsible energy options that ensure we have access to the energy we need – including natural gas, nuclear, and coal. We should not allow ourselves to be hamstrung by the environmental lobby that pushes winners and losers at the expense of the American people. This year I introduced HR 1273, the Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 2015, which increases transparency and cost-effectiveness in the development of model energy codes, which set the baseline for energy efficiency in buildings. This legislation was successful and passed the House with inclusion in HR 702, common sense legislation that will help promote our energy security, economic security and national security by lifting the ban on crude oil exports. The four decades old ban on exporting crude oil was outdated policy that needed to be updated to reflect current realities.

Fought for Tennessee’s creative community. The Protecting the Rights of Musicians Act, HR 1999, is bipartisan legislation that would condition the ability of broadcasters to opt for retransmission consent payments on whether radio stations they own pay performers for their music. Further, a provision that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from imposing radio chip mandates for mobile devices has been added to the bill. Internet radio pays music creators fair market value for their performances, Satellite radio pays music creators for performances, Cable and Satellite TV/radio stations pay music creators for their performances. Everyone but AM/FM radio pays. This is a basic issue of fairness that must be addressed. In addition, I’m leading the effort in the House to ensure music creators receive fair compensation for their work as the lead co-sponsor of HR 1733, the Fair Play Fair Pay Act.

It’s been a busy year. Thank you for staying in the fight with me and I look forward to celebrating many more successes with you.

-Marsha

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Senator Alexander dissapoints on his support for an Internet tax. It is time for Alexander to retire.

Lamar Alexander

I have remained a supporter of Senator Lamar Alexander's despite many of my Republican friends saying he is far too liberal for their taste. I do not think "working across the aisle" and compromise and bi-partisanship are bad things. I have liked Alexander's moderate demeanor and temperament.  I like that he is polite and thoughtful. I have also liked his support of the great outdoors. I admire his successful effort to finally replace No Child Left Behind with a program that is less federally intrusive.

However, on more and more issues I find myself in disagreement with the positions of Senator Alexander. An example is his recent vote on the omnibus spending bill which he supported. The bill was not all bad and there were a few victories for conservatives in the bill but on balance, I think the proper vote was a vote against it.

Unfortunately, Lamar Alexander is disappointed me on another current issue and that is his position in favor of an Internet tax. I am not speaking of a sales tax on things you buy on the Internet but a tax on the Internet itself.  If you use the Internet or email, he wants local and state governments to be allowed to tax you for Internet service. 

Alexander is not only favoring allowing such a tax by local or state governments but is the lead opponent in stopping a current ban on the tax from becoming permanent. The Internet Tax Freedom Act banning a tax on Internet service was first passed in 1998 and has been renewed every year since.  Now there is a move to make that ban permanent. Alexander argues that Congress has no right to interfere with the states’ abilities to levy taxes.  He says to allow state and local governments to tax Internet access is a case of federalism. I'm not buying it.  The Congress does have a right to interfere with the ability of state and local governments to tax when a state in attempting to tax interstate commerce. They not only have a right, but a duty to do so The Constitution says only Congress can regulate interstate commerce. It is one of the enumerated powers given to Congress and says Congress has the power, "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes."

The Internet is interstate commerce. If you have email and email a message to someone out of state, that is interstate commerce. To pay a tax on that email use would be much like buying a bus ticket in Nashville and paying a sales tax on the full ticket price even though the trip is to Chicago and most of the travel will be outside the state.  There are nuances and various court cases that interpret and apply the Commerce cause and I am not the expert, but the way I understand it, use of the Internet should clearly be considered interstate commerce.

The Wall Street Journal has editorialized in opposition to Alexander's position of allowing state and local government to tax the Internet. Below is an excerpt:

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) R., Tenn.) is leading the Senate dead-enders who are once again holding hostage the popular ban on Internet-only taxes. The House has passed a permanent ban several times, most recently as part of a larger customs bill. But Mr. Alexander and friends are blocking Senate action until Congress also votes on a more controversial measure to give state and local governments more authority to force out-of-state merchants to collect online sales taxes. Sen. Alexander tells us that his opposition to the Internet Tax Freedom Act is a “simple matter of federalism,” and that it’s “none of Washington’s business” whether states and localities want to apply new taxes online. The Senator is mis-defining federalism to justify more taxing. (link) 

I have supported Lamar Alexander ever since he first ran for governor.  Back then, Tennessee was a predominantly Democrat state. East Tennessee was solidly Republican but the rest of the state was Democrat. Winfield Dunn had been elected governor in 1971 but was the first Republican to win that office in fifty years. At that time Governors could only serve one term. Following Governor Dunn, Democrat Congressman Ray Blanton ran for and won the office of Governor. It was not long into his term as governor that the accounts of corruption began being rumored. It was the selling of pardons and paroles that finally brought him down.

Governor Blanton did not seek a second term and the Democratic nominee in 1978 was Jack Butcher.  During that campaign, candidate Lamar Alexander walked the length of the state from Mountain City in the northeast corner of the state to Memphis in the southwest corner, wearing a red plaid flannel shirt. Along the way he gained attention and popularity and in the general election defeated Butcher.

Learning that Goveror Blanton  was planning a last minute pardon of a large number of prison inmates, Democrats such as U.S. Attorney Hal Hardin, Lieutenant Governor John S. Wilder and State House Speaker Ned Ray McWherter looked for a way to prevent that from happening. They found that the state constitution was unclear as to when a newly elected governor could actually take office and they swore Alexander in three days before the traditional inauguration day. That was high drama at the time.

On the day of the ceremonial swearing in, I walked with hundreds of other people in a parade up Charlotte Avenue to the Capitol building led by Lamar Alexander where he was sworn in. I went and bought myself a red plaid flannel shirt for the occasion. I also wore a button, which I think I still have somewhere, that had on a red plaid background the message, "I walked a mile with Lamar," or something like that. Even since, I have been a fan and supporter of Lamar Alexander.

Over the years, on occasion I have disagreed with votes he has cast but on balance have approved of his service. In recent years however, Lamar has disappointing me more and more often. His effort to stop a ban on a tax of the Internet, may be the final straw that makes me no longer able to support him.  I still like Lamar and don't want to vote against him. In the last election I voted for him, contributed to his campaign and had his bumper sticker on my car.

If he runs again it will depend on who is primary opponent is as to whether or not I support him, of course.  If he was running again against someone like Joe Carr, I would still vote for him despite some recent disagreements with him including his current stand on taxing the Internet. Elections are often about selecting the least objectionable candidate and if the race was between Joe Carr and Lamar Alexander, Alexander would still be the least objectionable candidate and I would still put a Lamar bumper sticker on my car.  Carr was too far outside the mainstream of conservative thought for me to vote for him. He subscribed to the discredited theory of nullification, he believed the First Amendment does not apply to Muslims and that the Second Amendment should allow one to carry a gun onto the private property of another regardless of the desires of the property owner.  Also Carr did not strike me as that competent or smart.

However, if someone who was solidly conservative and rational and smart (someone like Senator Mark Green for instance) was running against Alexander, I think I would have to vote against Alexander. I hope I don't get that chance. I hope I don't have to make that decision.  I really do not want to cast a vote against Lamar Alexander.  I hope that Alexander does little damage between now and the next election and then retires with dignity while still admired and respected. In July he will be 76 years old. He has served as governor, president of the University of Tennessee, Secretary of Education, and Senator. He should retire with dignity and be the beloved elder statesmen.

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