The governor has vetoed the second bill of the session…it’s the one that would prohibit unelected boards from enacting menu labeling provisions (like the Metro Health Board did earlier this year). Remember, the administration had wanted to institute statewide menu labeling for restaurants with at least 15 nationwide locations.
Here’s the veto letter to Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey:
Tomorrow, Randy Rayburn and 10 Nashville citizens will file a lawsuit in Davidson County Chancery Court asking for a temporary restraining order and injunction against “guns in bars” legislation, according to a media release.
“The plaintiffs will allege that the bill is illegal on eight counts. Among them being, that the law is an unlawful public nuisance that threatens the life, health and safety of the public, as well as violating due process and increasing civil liability for the restaurants as well as violating Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Act, which expressively requires as a matter of federal and state law that employers provide a safe work place for employees,” the release reads.
The suit is asking for a temporary restraining order and injunction to stop the law from taking effect on July 14th.
Both sides are claiming victory in the budget battle. House and Senate Democrats held a joint news conference this morning. Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey met with the media about an hour later. Here is what both sides had to say:
“We’re not going to quit educating our kids, or putting people to work because we are in tough economic times.” -Sen. Jim Kyle, D-Memphis
“We got awfully close to doing some things we don’t want to do in this government, and that is to shut it down and cause more pain than is necessary.” -Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley
“It was so bad that the Senate Republicans didn’t even want to have to vote on it.” -Speaker Emeritus Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, about the Senate Republican budget plan.
“I think that’s ridiculous. We didn’t back away from everything.” -Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, on assertations that the Senate caved to the House.
“We have not hit bottom yet, and I want to stress that. I think a lot of people breathed a sigh of relief that they weren’t cut. Well, get ready: It’s probably coming next year because we are going to make sure we don’t raise taxes and live within our means.” -Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville.
“You could pick this budget apart in the cuts that were made, but the bottom line is we passed a balanced budget that didn’t raise taxes.” -Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.
85-12 in the House. 32-1 in the Senate. Both sides came to a compromise after days of negotiating. Will update more tomorrow…or I should say later today.
I realize I’m a little late posting, but reporting on the budget progress (or lack thereof) kept me busy all day. I did want to put Sherri Goforth’s statement regarding the email on the blog, because based on the number of blog hits today, there is a lot of interest in this story. Here’s what she had to say:
“I want to offer my deepest apology regarding the offensive nature of the email forwarded to several of my colleagues. I want to make it clear that it was forwarded to me from an acquaintance with absolutely no political party ties and who is outside the Tennessee Capitol Hill arena. I should have deleted it upon receipt. Again, I am deeply sorry and offer a sincere apology to anyone I offended.”
The story has gone national. Sen. Diane Black was on CNN this afternoon because of the email brouhaha.
Sherri Goforth, and aide to Sen. Diane Black (R-Gallatin), sent out an email last month to 20 other Republican staffers. It included this picture:
Needless to say, this has sparked outrage among many people. Chip Forrester, TN Democratic Party Chair, is calling on Sen. Black to fire Goforth. Many members of the Black Caucus are asking for the same thing.
We spoke with Sen. Black about this late this afternoon. I will update with quotes from her and House Black Caucus Chair Rep. John Deberry once I get all of the interviews loaded in the server so I can hear them.
Updated with quotes:
“It’s very surprising that there are those who think it’s OK. That it’s OK to make jokes about race and gender. That it’s OK to bring up stereotypes that we wish would just go away.” -Rep. John Deberry, D-Memphis, Black Caucus Chairman.
“She made a mistake. But regardless of why she sent it out, I just want to be clear that it is unacceptable in this office.” -Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, Sherri Goforth’s boss.
“Ms. Goforth does not seem to understand what she did wrong. She has apologized for ’sending the email to the wrong list of people.’ I believe that any list of people would have recognized this email as offensive and hateful. The fact that a state employee would not understand that indicates she is not fit for employment by the state of Tennessee. We have hundreds of state employees facing that possibility of losing their jobs due to the budget deficit and no fault of their own. I think we could save at least one of those jobs by firing Sherri Goforth.” -Chip Forrester, TN Democratic Party Chairman.
Apparently, the deal for the House to recall the “guns in parks” bill broke down today, so the governor was forced to sign it, veto it, or let it becomes law without his signature. He took option 1. Handgun carry permit holders will now be allowed to carry their guns into state and local parks. However, cities can vote to opt out of the measure, and many are going to try to do so (including Nashville). Here’s what the governor said in his letter:
“I do want to urge local governments to use the opt-out provisions of this bill to remove parks from its effect where they are located close to schools and other places where large numbers of children gather.”
The governor also allowed HB1796, the “Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act” become law without his signature.
It’s getting nasty in the battle over the state budget. The Senate Republican’s budget amendment is not going over well with the governor (and Senate Democrats). Here are some of the things Governor Bredesen and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey had to say about their budget differences.
“I think elements [of the budget amendment] were stupid.” -Gov. Bredesen
“That’s just political posturing, that’s not good budgeting.” -Gov. Bredesen
“We’re deep in veto territory here and you need to make some changes in this thing and get something middle of the road or we’re going to be here a long time.” -What the governor says he told Senate Republicans.
“I can’t even imagine why you pull that thing out of the budget. It doesn’t do anything for the budget. It doesn’t do anything except show that you’re against bonds or something like that and I think that was stupid.” -Gov. Bredesen on the plan to pull funding for the West Tennessee megasite.
“First you argue on facts. If the facts are not on your side, I guess you go to emotion. If emotion’s not on your side, I guess you go to namecalling. That’s a terrible way of doing business. You didn’t hear me say that and you’ll never hear me say that.” -Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey on the governor calling the budget amendment “stupid.”
“I’m not going to back off because we have philosophical differences on borrowing money, philosophical differences on making sure we have a balanced budget, philosophical differences on raising taxes just because the governor disagrees with me.” -Lt. Gov. Ramsey on his proposed budget amendment.
Sen. Doug Jackson says he is, and that metro is wrong. We’re talking about the new battle over guns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. Yesterday, we reported that some Metro councilmen were pursuing legislation that would prohibit weapons in places that sell beer. They say they can do that, because local governments control beer sales. Here’s what Jackson said in a release today:
“The proposed ordinance is clearly not the correct approach and is barred by state law. State law presently gives the restaurant owner the choice to prohibit handguns by posting proper signage. There is no need to remove options from restaurant owners or interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens by revoking beer permits and punishing restaurants.
The release says that state code says this:
“No city, county, or metropolitan government shall occupy any part of the field of regulation of the transfer, ownership, possession, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or combination thereof …”
The Senate voted to override the Governor’s veto of the guns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol bill today. It will now take effect on July 14th, even though the bill says its legal starting on June 1. If a bill isn’t law by the time of the enacting date, then there is a 40 day waiting period from the time it becomes law to the time it takes effect.
However, Metro Councilmen are already taking the steps necessary to prevent guns in places that sell beer. While the state controls wine and liquor, counties control beer sales. Therefore, they believe they can ban weapons in places that serve beer. Councilman Charlie Tygard faxed me a copy of the proposed ordinance, which he plans on filing tomorrow. Here’s a link to the ordinance: http://carakumari.wordpress.com/?attachment_id=473
