Thank you to everyone who reached out to wish me well during this legislative session and special thanks to my friends in the faith community who shared prayers and positive words as we prepare for the work ahead. This year is off to a fast start with some really harmful legislation being rammed through with little to no debate or input from stakeholders.
I started posting a weekly roundup video titled “The State of Things” on my Instagram account (@jrclemmons) at the end of each legislative week, so please be sure and check it out if interested.
The Organizational Session
On January 12th, the 112th Tennessee General Assembly convened for its organizational session, during which we re-elected Speaker Cameron Sexton, Treasurer David Lillard, and Secretary of State Tre Hargett. I objected to the latter’s nomination because of his many voter suppression efforts and consistent opposition to our voting rights legislation. The body also elected Jason Mumpower to replace District 55 resident Justin Wilson as comptroller. The Speaker made committee appointments, and I have been assigned to the following committees for this session:
Not Business as Usual: Medicaid Block Grant Authorization
Following the above-described activities, the House normally adjourns for two weeks before returning for our legislative session. However, this year, the supermajority adjourned the organizational session, immediately convened the legislative session, and moved to suspend the rules to rush through a joint resolution authorizing the governor’s controversial Medicaid block grant waiver. The clear intent was to pass it before President Biden’s inauguration.
I remain a strong supporter of TennCare expansion. To date, our state has lost approximately $6.4 billion of our own money and hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans in the “gap” remain without health coverage.
The Special Session
Gov. Lee called an extraordinary session of the legislature to allegedly address the education issues presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. In reality, he hauled legislators back to Nashville for a week on taxpayers’ dimes to try and score some political points among his base by attacking MNPS and Shelby County Schools and pass a “literacy bill” that flopped last year due to pushback from legislators on both sides of the aisle. Aside from a few minor details, the only thing that has changed since Lee’s original bill last year is the pandemic and this notion of “learning loss” that you keep hearing about. By design, no educators, local school board members, or other interested parties were allowed to testify or share their concerns and perspective during the process.
All of us, regardless of party, agree that literacy must be a priority. The data about the importance of children reading at grade level by third grade is clear and undisputed. However, I, as well as every teacher from whom I heard, fundamentally disagreed with the governor’s approach to addressing this issue, so I voted against all three of his bills (HB7002, HB7003, HB7004). In addition to the many unfunded mandates, further requirements for more testing and assessments, I did so for a multitude of reasons and am happy to elaborate for anyone who has specific questions. Interestingly, none of the bills actually addressed the impacts of COVID-19 on students, which was Lee’s stated purpose for the special session.
For the special session, I wrote and introduced three bills. If passed, the bills would have: provided educators the 4% pay increase that Lee promised them a year ago, with retroactive application to Fall 2020 (HB7008); provided all school-based employees a 2% hazard pay bonus for the 2020/2021 school year (HB7009); and, required behavioral health and mental health screening for all K-8 students beginning in Fall 2021 to ensure that every child adversely impacted by the pandemic is provided the assistance and/or treatment they need (HB7018). Upon the governor’s instruction, the GOP supermajority killed all three bills in a Senate committee.
I will be reintroducing the latter bill during the regular session. Screening children is imperative if we truly intend to substantively address the root causes of students’ underperformance in our classrooms. This has always been necessary, but the pandemic might provide us the impetus we need to make progress. Every child has been impacted in some way by the pandemic, and it has only served to exacerbate other issues already faced by too many children. It is going to take years for us to recover from this pandemic, and providing screening in our schools with sufficient assistance and treatment for students on the back end is a necessary part of our recovery.
We reconvene for the legislative session on February 8, 2021.
Infrastructure Updates
TACIR Report
TACIR just released its 19th annual report on the infrastructure needs of our state. It concludes that “Tennessee needs at least $58.6 billion worth of public infrastructure improvements.” Included in this total is $32.7 billion for transportation and utilities, $14.2 billion for education, and $7.7 billion for health, safety and wellness. This year, I will again be working to convince my colleagues for the very real need to modernize our funding mechanisms for transportation and other infrastructure projects.
District 55 State Road Projects
Modification of I-40 interchange at Old Hickory Blvd.
Status: The engineering is scheduled to begin in the 1st Quarter Calendar Year 2021.
Ramp improvements at Charlotte Pk. on Westbound Exit Ramp
Status: The engineering is underway.
Widening of Charlotte Pike from Old Hickory Blvd. to I-40
Status: The planning report is complete.
Widening of Charlotte Pike from I-40 to American Road
Status: The engineering is scheduled to begin in the 2nd Qtr Calendar Year 2021.
Widening of Charlotte Pike from American Road to White Bridge Road
Status: The engineering is scheduled to begin in the 2nd Qtr Calendar Year 2021.
IN THE NEWS
Tennessee House passes Medicaid block grant waiver - WSMV
