Take action for parent's right to review material used in the classroom.

From Tennessee Eagle Forum:

SB 2559 by *Bowling ,Hensley, Bell, Tate, Green, Dickerson, Burks, Crowe, Gardenhire
HB 2453 by *Matheny, Holt, Dunn, Hill M, Moody, Butt, Womick, Casada, Faison, Carr J, Matlock, Shipley, White D, Carter, Doss, Pody, Weaver, Kane, Williams R, DeBerry J, Alexander, Spivey
Education - As introduced, requires every LEA to allow parents to review all instructional materials used in the classroom of the parent's child; mandates the LEA to allow parents access to review all surveys and evaluations administered to the parent's child

NOTE: This bill came directly from complaints from parents about not having access to materials used in their child's classroom, their student not being allowed to take a textbook home, and surveys  being giving that actually violated federal law when permission was not sought prior to administering the survey.  School - minor children in the classroom by compulsion. Therefore, NOTHING should happen in the classroom that parents (or guardians) cannot have access to!! PERIOD!! The last section of the legislation (requiring review and an op-out for "surveys, analysis, or evaluations" took on increased importance and urgency as we learned about NOT WITH MY KIDS, YOU DON'T!

STATUS:  Absolutely thrilled to report that on Tuesday HB2453, as amended, was unanimously voted out of the House Education Subcommittee and will be in Full House Education Committee on Tuesday, April 1.  SB2559, as amended, was voted out of Senate Education on Wednesday, 9-0!!

ACTION:  Please contact these legislators and ask them to support this important legislation: rep.john.forgety@capitol.tn.gov, rep.harold.love@capitol.tn.gov, rep.raumesh.akbari@capitol.tn.gov.

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Lamar Alexander on his vote against Democratic legislation that would extend unemployment benefits

March 27, 2014 - U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today released the following statement on his vote against Democratic legislation that would extend unemployment benefits without considering Republican proposals to help unemployed Americans:

"There are many good ideas for helping unemployed Americans find a job, and Republican proposals should be debated and deserve a vote. The Democratic leader has repeatedly cut off amendments and debate on important issues facing our country. We need to offer Americans real solutions to jumpstart our slow economy by liberating the free enterprise system, replacing long-term unemployment insurance with job training and using existing federal education dollars to give low-income families the chance to choose a better school."

Alexander is a cosponsor of the Workforce Investment Act of 2013, bipartisan legislation that would provide approximately $145 million for job training in Tennessee, and was passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, of which Alexander is the lead Republican. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a more streamlined version of the Senate legislation earlier this year that would consolidate 35 federal programs and create a single Workforce Investment Fund.

Alexander has introduced the Scholarships for Kids Act, which would create $2,100 scholarships out of existing federal education dollars to follow 11 million low-income children to schools they attend. He has also supported efforts to repeal burdensome regulations, such as Obamacare, that make it harder and more expensive for businesses to create jobs.

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Thought for the Day

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‘Republican’ label on anti-Islam event confuses some reports The Tennessean

The Tennessean, 3-27-2014  - The Tennessee Republican Party won’t formally distance itself from organizers of an anti-Islam event being thrown in Nashville this weekend. But the event’s organizers are quick to distance themselves from average Republicans.  Calling themselves “the Republican Wing of the Republican Party,” the Tennessee Republican Assembly will host anti-Islam activists Michael Del Rosso and Andy Miller at its annual conference Saturday.

My Comment: Just for the record, neither is A Disgruntled Republican affiliated with the Tennessee GOP or viewed as an auxiliary organization. To see my previous post concerning the TRA, follow this link.

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Bob Corker joins Democrats in supporting unemployment benefit extension

Roll Call, March 27, 2014 - The Senate easily cleared a 60-vote threshold Thursday to advance a bipartisan extension of emergency unemployment insurance benefits.

With backing from Republicans, the Senate voted 65-34 to end a filibuster against bringing the bill up for debate. It’ll still face the likelihood of another filibuster before final passage, expected next week.

Ten Republicans voted with Democrats to advance the bill: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Dan Coats of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Dean Heller of Nevada, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mark S. Kirk of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rob Portman of Ohio and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania. (link)

My Comment: I am disappointed in Corker's vote. The pending bill would  provide for a 5 month extension of unemployment retroactive to December 28. It is not that I am hard hardhearted and do not want to help those in need, but extending unemployment does nothing to create jobs. Long term unemployment benefits may in fact contribute to unemployment. Many people can be choosy about which job they accept if they have unemployment benefits. I cannot find the documentation to support this assertion, but I believe it is true that most people on unemployment find a job right before the unemployment expires. The longer the term of the benefits, the longer they remain unemployed.  Also, the longer a person is without a job, the harder it is for them to find a job.

A recent study quoted in the Washington Post (link) says that if you have been unemployed only five weeks you have a 31% chance of finding a job in the next month.  If you have been unemployed 53 weeks you have a 9% chance of finding a job within the next month.

I know many people are still unemployed after 26 weeks unemployment but then many are still unemployed after a year. At some point there must be a cut off. Is giving benefits for one year and then cutting off benefits any more kind than cutting off benefits after 6 months?  Instead of extending unemployment benefits, I think we should be  encouraging job creation and opportunity. Such things as declaring areas of high unemployment as special zones where income tax collections are suspended, giving cash payments to people who relocate from areas of high unemployment to areas of low unemployment and giving employers tax breaks for creating new jobs would be preferable to extending unemployment benefits.

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Senate Approves Bill Blocking The Amp's Current Design (UPDATED)

Nashville Scene - Without discussion, or any vocal protest from members of the Davidson County delegation, the state Senate gave near-unanimous approval to legislation that would block The Amp as it's currently proposed.

Jim Tracy's bill passed 27-4, with the only opposition coming from Democrats Lowe Finney, Jim Kyle, Charlotte Burks, and Nashville's Thelma Harper, ...(link)

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Boehner On New Obamacare Delay: ‘What the Hell Is This? A Joke?’ (VIDEO)

House speaker John Boehner (R–Ohio) ridiculed the latest Obamacare delay today, sarcastically saying that President Obama “hasn’t put enough loopholes into the law already. The administration is now resorting to an honor system to enforce it.”

Yesterday, The Washington Post reported that people would be allowed to sign up for Obamacare past the March 31 deadline, as long as they stated they had tried to sign up before.

“This is part of a long-term pattern of this administration manipulating the laws for its own convenience,” Boehner added, “and it’s not hard to understand why the American people question this administration’s commitment to the rule of law.”

I believe this is the 38th unilateral change President Obama has made to the health care law. This is contempt for the rule of law.  Obama is not acting like a president who is the leader of a democracy but like a king with absolute authority.  

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Muslims unwelcome, Dead or Alive. The effort to stop the Murfreesboro Mosque cemetary.

In case you missed it, the war against freedom of religion led my Lou Ann Zelenik in Murfreesboro continues.  Opponents of the Murfreesboro super Mosque don't want Murfressboro to be home to Muslims, dead or alive. This is an interesting report revealing the tensions in the hallway where there was a hearing where Mosque opponents were seeking an injunction to stop the cemetery at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro from moving forward. In January the Board of Zoning appeal had been approved the cemetery. Unfortunately, you must watch a few seconds of commercial before the news story, but this is interesting.WSMV Channel 4
For more post on the topic of the Murfressboro Mosque follow this link. 

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A Common Core compromise is in the works

A great Common Core compromise coming?

 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Senate sponsor of a contentious proposal to delay further implementation of Tennessee's Common Core education standards for two years said Tuesday that a compromise is close on the legislation. 

Earlier this month, a broad coalition of Republican and Democratic House members passed a bill seeking to delay implementation of the new standards, as well as the testing component for the standards for the same amount of time. 

The Senate would have to agree to those provisions before the measure would head to the desk of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, who has said he's against delaying the standards. (link)

Common Core delay would cost Tennessee millions of dollars

 
NASHVILLE — Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says efforts by fellow Republicans to put off Tennessee's Common Core standards face problems because of money: a two-year delay is estimated to cost $10 million, atop a looming budget shortfall that could hit $275 million.

Still, the powerful speaker said that doesn't mean he isn't interested in finding some remedy to address concerns raised by Common Core critics.

"I think we can reach a compromise on this somewhere," Ramsey said. (link)

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Take action to end the Hall Income Tax

From Nashville Tea Party:

Unfortunately Tennessee still has one remaining income tax. It is the Hall Income Tax on interest and dividends. We have an historic opportunity this legislative session to eliminate the Hall Tax and truly make Tennessee income Tax FREE. Please take a few seconds to click on the link below to email key Senators who will soon be voting on this issue in the Senate Finance Committee, Thank YOU!

Click HERE to Email Key Senators to ask them to eliminate the Hall Income Tax so Tennessee can truly be income tax free.

 

If the link above does not work in your browser
you can also call and email these key Senators
individually. When you call simply leave a message
with their staff saying “Please eliminate the Hall
Income tax.” THANK YOU!!

Senator Randy McNally
sen.randy.mcnally@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-6806

Senator Bo Watson
sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-3227

Senator Doug Overbey
sen.doug.overbey@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-0981

Senator Steven Dickerson
sen.steven.dickerson@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-6679

Senator Ferrell Haile
sen.ferrell.haile@capitol.tn.gov
(615) 741-1999

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The April 1st Council meeting agenda is now available.

The April 1st Council meeting agenda is now available. To get your on copy follow this link. If you will wait I will read if for you and highlight the important legislation.

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Action Alert: Stop AMP

From Stop AMP:

We are on the final approach of finalizing the first of two bills at the Capitol and need your help once more!

Tomorrow before the Senate will be the final approval of Senate Bill 2243 which prevents any bus rapid transit to be built in the center lanes of any state highway. The passing of this bill will help us in 'Stopping the AMP'.

We are urging all STOPAMP supporters to contact all the Senate members and ask them to support and pass Senate Bill 2243 tomorrow.  Listed below is a link to email all the Senate at once.

We also encourage you to attend the Senate Session which will be on the second floor of the State Capitol at 8:30 a.m. and to please wear RED.  This bill is the 6th on the Tennessee State Senate Calendar in the morning and should not take long.

Thank you for all you have done to help make this bill into law.  Without you we would not have been able to accomplish this!  You have truly made a difference!
 Rick Williams, Chairman

For a link to the email addresses of Senate Members click here.

Click here for sample letters to help you create your communication.

Be sure to visit our Facebook page and share with your friends!
 

P.S. Be sure to visit the web site to request a StopAMP.org 
sign the petition and request a yard sign.

Please donate to help us to keep up the fight. CLICK HERE.

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