Handguns Records Debate Headed to House Floor April 28, 2009

Another gun bill is headed to the House floor.  This one would close handgun permit applications, which are currently public records.  This whole debate started after the Tennessean (and more recently, the Memphis Commercial-Appeal) posted a database of those with handgun carry permits online.  That infuriated private citizens who own guns.  Those who would like the records to stay open argue that time after time, the media has exposed people who have active carry permits and shouldn’t.

The House Finance, Ways and Means committee voted to send this bill on to Calendar and Rules to be scheduled for a floor vote.

Is the Lottery Enough? April 22, 2009

     A new estimate from the Fiscal Review office now shows that there will be a $1.16 million shortfall in lottery funds in the 09-10 fiscal year.  State lawmakers were taken by surprise by these estimates, and are concerned it’s going to get even worse. 

    Here are the numbers FY09-10 net lottery proceeds are expected to be in the $260 million range, down from the Governor’s budgeted $273 million.  After you add interest earnings and take out administrative costs, you are looking at $272.8 million, down from $285 million.  Scholarships are projected to cost $267 million, plus the TSAA allocation and you get to $274 million in expenses.  Hence, the shortfall.

     Lawmakers are expecting to use reserves to close out FY08-09.  However, Senate Finance Ways and Means chair Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) tells me that reserves are currently tied up in other investments and probably won’t help for 09-10.  Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, says they will first look to the “Energy Efficient Schools” fund to plug the gaps.  However, both say this raises a question about future years.  Sen. McNally told me it appears that while sales are up, winnings are up as well and that’s contributing to the loss in revenue.

 This also brings up the question, are the lottery funds overcommitted?  We’ve gone from having huge surpluses in years past to being in the hole as far as the lottery goes.  Sen. McNally says they may be forced to take another look at eligibility for the HOPE scholarship as well as possibly reducing the amount of scholarships.

    This is all preliminary, but state lawmakers are very worried.

Guns in Restaurants April 16, 2009

     The Senate is tackling the guns in restaurants that serve alcohol bill.  The big question right now is whether or not the Senate will keep the curfew on the bill.  You may remember the House passed an amendment that would prohibit carry permit holders from bringing their guns in after 11:00pm until 5:00am.    The Senate Judiciary Committee have an amendment that would strip the curfew and the age restrictions.  The House bill also included a ban on carrying guns at age-restricted venues. 

     Right now there is debate on the issue.  The one confusing thing to me, is that everyone is bringing up examples of  crimes that don’t have anything to do with restaurants.

      Bill passes Senate 26-7

What Did He Say? April 16, 2009

        The Tennessee politics blogosphere is all abuzz with what Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, may have said during last week’s highly contentious slavery debate.  The two phrases at issue: use of the non-word “Hispaniel” and a reference to “the yellow man”.  There is an ongoing debate about whether he actually said “Hispaniel” or “Espanol”.  As a reporter that was actually there (and who has reviewed the video several times), I initially believed and still believe Rep. Watson did indeed say “Hispaniel”.  Immediately after the hearing, my photographer and I were talking about it in the car trying to figure out exactly what Rep. Watson was trying to say, because truth be told, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense.  At the time though, we were more surprised by the “yellow man” reference. 

    I will leave it to the rest of the blogosphere to decide what Rep. Watson actually meant and whether it was intended to be derogatory.

Maybe Next Year April 15, 2009

   Those who were hoping to see wine in supermarkets around the state are no doubt sorely disappointed.  This morning, Rep. David Shepard, D-Dickson, took the bill off notice in a House Subcommittee.  He said that there was not enough legislative support for the issue. In addition, he felt like some kind of compromise could be worked out between retailers and grocers to make more people happy. 

   By taking the bill off notice, there is still a chance it could come up next session.  However, Rep. Shepard says they are not going to bring it up again until they “get it right.”

     By the way, I apologize for my lack of posts over the past week.  Between the death of a beloved colleague and a massive tornado in Murfreesboro, my attentions have been elsewhere.

SJR 127 Clears Committee April 7, 2009

      SJR 127 bypassed the subcommittee and went straight to a full House Committee today.  The hearing just happened to coincide with Pro-Life Women’s Day on the Hill, so it was a completely packed room.  In fact, the Seargent-at-Arms had to shoo people out of the committee room at least two times. 

     There wasn’t a lot of debate on the issue.  Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, tried to pass an amendment that would guarantee exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.  It was shot down.  Rep. Joanne Favors, D-Nashville,  accused people of turning this issue into a “political ploy” and several people in the crowd let out exasperated sighs as she talked.  Then, Speaker Kent Williams, R*-Elizabethton, chastized those who mocked people with different opinions and asked everyone to respect all opinions.

    Right now, the big debate is whether or not SJR 127 will be allowed to proceed with only posting notice of the ballot issue online.  You may remember, just last week the House Budget Subcommittee tossed Rep. Brian Kelsey’s, R-Germantown, proposed constitutional amendment to ban an income tax behind the budget because it would cost $20,000 toll publish notice of the election in the paper.  At that time, many subcommittee members objected to only posting the issue online, because it would keep people who didn’t have a computer from finding out about the election.  But, that’s what may happen with SJR127.  I guess we’ll see.

Slavery Debate Gets Ugly April 7, 2009

   Wow.  After SJR 127 passed, I decided to stick around to hear the House State and Local Government Committee debate the resolution expressing a regret for slavery.  I am glad I did.  Be sure to watch at six, because I don’t think I can adequately describe in this blog what happened.  Let me give you the short version.  Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, accused the sponsor Rep. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, of turning the issue into a media circus because she talked to media  two weeks ago outside in the hallway after the subcommittee vote.  Rep. Ulysses Jones, D-Memphis, pretty much yelled at all of the opponents of this bill, saying “You’re putting your heads in the sand like [slavery] didn’t happen. It happened!” .  Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, told everyone the debate had exposed “true colors” and threatened opponents to try to object to Gilmore’s request to roll the bill.  “For those of you who raise your hand [and object to the rolling of the bill] I’m going to call you what I think you are. If you raise them again, if you want to get this ugly with this thing.” And that’s just the beginning.   The full story at 6pm.

What They Said About Guns Tonight April 7, 2009

     If you are an avid blog reader, then you probably already know that a bill to allow guns in places that serve alcohol passed the House 70-26.  The 11pm-5am curfew stayed on this version of the bill, although there is talk the Senate will strip it out of their version.  So, the fun in House might not be over yet.   Anyway, here are some of the highlights of  what was said tonight.

“The blood is gonna be on your hands and not on mine.” -Rep. Joanne Favors, D-Chattanooga, on how she is not going to vote for a bill that, in her opinion, doesn’t do enough to keep unstable people from having guns in restaurants.

“Law-abiding citizens, the gun owners of this state, the people of this state that have permits in this state respect the law.” – Rep. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, on why this should pass.

“I believe more in my chiefs of police, my sheriff’s and my DA’s than I do the NRA.” -Speaker Emeritus Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, talking about how the aforementioned law enforcement groups in his district are totally against this bill.

“Through the hundreds of arrests, I’ve never arrested anyone of violating their gun carry permit.” -Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, a law enforcement officer who disputes the danger some believe this bill would create. 

Paper or Machines? April 1, 2009

    Last year, the state legislature passed a bill that would mandate optical-scan paper ballots at all Tennessee precincts by the 2010 gubernatorial race.  The tab for buying the new machines was supposed to be picked up by the federal government via the “Help America Vote Act” funds designated for the state.  About two months ago, I did a story about how some lawmakers were looking to revisit the paper ballot idea after hearing from local election coordinators that it was going to still cost a considerable amount of money for counties to implement.  That movement has gathered steam to either get rid of them or put off the implementation until 2012. 

    Today, the House Elections Subcommittee is hearing a bill sponsored by Rep. Curry Todd, R-Memphis, to move them back to 2012.  The mayor of Cocke County is testifying about the bill.  According to the estimates, it will cost Cocke County $46 thousand to buy the ballots for the 2010 election, up from $2,000 during the 2008 election.  That’s for a county with 35,000 people.  They say the most important equipment they have in the county is the election machines they were mandated to by in the aftermath of the 2000 election.  He calls it an ill-conceived unfunded mandate that couldn’t be coming a worse economic time. 

     Dick Williams with Common Cause of TN is up now.  He is reiterating that the current machines we have in Tennessee are not machines that voters can have confidence in.  Bernie Ellis with “Gathering to Save Our Democracy” is also talking.  He says that the estimates he’s hearing are not accurate, and that ballots can be bought for as low as 15 cents a ballot.    Lynn Williams with the League of Women Voters is also here, speaking against the changes.

Guns on Campuses April 1, 2009

    Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, is presenting a bill that would allow staff and faculty to pack heat on college campuses if they have the proper permits and training.  It failed for lack of second.