I return to the State Capitol this week to work for Nashville families.


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Paid for by Friends of John Ray Clemmons, Sydney U. Rogers, Treasurer

Happy new year! With a new year comes a new legislative session. I am proud to return to our state Capitol and continue representing you and Nashville's families for another two-year term. Thank you for this opportunity.

NEW LEADERSHIP ROLE
I was recently elected by my Democratic colleagues to serve as the Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. While I take on multiple new roles and responsibilities with this new role, the residents of District 55 and Nashville will continue to be my top priority. For those who visit the Capitol or correspond via USPS, please note my new office address:

425 Rep. John Lewis Way North
Cordell Hull Building, Suite 662
Nashville, TN  37243

PUBLIC MEETING RE: POWER OUTAGES
Throughout and following the rolling blackouts across the Nashville region and the prolonged power outages in Cane Ridge and southeast Davidson County, I was in communication with Councilwoman Joy Styles and others attempting to get much-needed information to share with affected residents. Unfortunately, timely information was in short supply from both NES and TVA, and families endured long hours and days without knowing when their power would be restored. Councilwoman Styles and I have personally met with NES and TVA officials to communicate our sincere concerns about the failures and events that transpired, as well as the state of infrastructure in southeast Nashville.

It is imperative for District 55 residents to hear directly from NES and TVA and share your concerns in person. To this end, Councilwoman Styles and I are hosting a public meeting with officials from NES and TVA.

Thursday, Jan. 12th, 6:00-7:30pm
Southeast Community Center
5260 Hickory Hollow Pkwy

THE WEEKS AHEAD IN THE HOUSE
The tentative House schedule for the next two weeks is as follows:

Jan. 9, 3-4pm: House Ad Hoc Committee on Rules
Jan. 10, 12:00pm: House Organizational Session Day One
Jan. 11, 9:00am: House Organizational Session Day Two
              9:30am: Joint Session to Elect Constitutional Officers (Treasurer and Comptroller)
Jan. 12, 9:00am: House Organizational Session Day Three
Jan. 16: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday - OFFICE CLOSED
Jan. 20, 9:00am: House Organizational Session Day Four
Jan. 21, 10:30am: House Organizational Session Day Five
              11:00am: Inauguration of the Governor
              12:00pm: House Convenes the Legislative Session

UPCOMING LEGISLATION
I am currently working on my legislative package for the upcoming session. The filing deadline is January 31, 2023, so I will detail my legislation in the coming weeks.

Some of the following issues are expected to be on the legislative agenda this year:

Reproductive Healthcare Rights
The trigger bill passed by the GOP supermajority purposefully contained no exceptions for rape, incest or life of the mother, so this bill must be amended. I would prefer a full repeal, but that appears unrealistic with this Republican supermajority. For various reasons, there now appears to be strong momentum behind amending the criminal defense portions of the bill. Because there still appears to be strong Republican opposition to creating exceptions for circumstances such as rape and incest, those issues will likely be debated in a separate bill. I will continue working across the aisle to amend, to the extent possible, what is now the most restrictive anti-reproductive healthcare bill in the country.

Transportation Infrastructure
Having inherited a crumbling I-440, I have been working on transportation infrastructure issues since the day I took office in 2014. Now that I represent the I-24 corridor, I am even more driven to address the transportation issues plaguing our region and state. Our economic growth is being limited and every families’ quality of life is detrimentally impacted on a daily basis because we have nothing resembling a 21st century infrastructure system. Not only is our state behind the curve, it is also failing to develop a sustainable long-term vision for continued growth. Additionally, the state continues to allow itself to be handcuffed with an archaic funding model dating back to Gov. Austin Peay. We cannot wait any longer to substantively solve these problems.

Governor Bill Lee has finally decided to focus on the issue. Unfortunately, while he has outlined all the obvious problems and challenges, he has proposed no solutions that come close to addressing them to date. After parsing through all his fluff, all Lee is proposing thus far is to: a) increase fees on electric vehicles by 300%; and b) privatize lanes on state roadways under the guise of a “public/private partnership.” To sell these proposals as a “modernization” of our transportation system is offensive to the families I represent sitting in traffic for two or three hours every day. We cannot simply tax and pave our way out of this problem. Neither of Lee’s proposals will generate the funds necessary to adequately fund the development of a modern transportation infrastructure system that Tennessee families and businesses need and deserve or address the root causes of our funding woes. Regardless, for now, I am going to remain optimistic that those of us on both sides of the aisle who truly want to do the hard work to solve these problems can come together and use Lee’s proposal as a springboard to accomplish something meaningful.

Third Grade Retention Law
I was one of only two legislators in the House to vote against Gov. Lee’s shortsighted “literacy bill” during a special session two years ago, because I found its inherent flaws glaring. From placing too much weight on a single standardized test to removing input from teachers to exacerbating educational inequities to being an unfunded mandate, the bill was yet another poorly conceived Lee policy that was blindly rushed through the legislature by the GOP supermajority. Now that teachers and local officials have resoundingly communicated their displeasure to their legislators from one end of the state to the other on the eve of its enactment, we may finally be positioned to amend or even repeal the law. I will be working across the aisle to this end.

Taking Aim At Nashville
The legislature again appears prepared to overstep into local affairs. This year, Nashville families should be prepared for the state to attempt to limit the powers of the mayor and shrink the size of the Metro Council. The most commonly discussed plan would shrink the Council to 20 members with no at-large members.

YOUR SUPPORT MAKES AN IMPACT
Thank you all for your continued support ([link removed]) of my efforts and our campaign. I will be unable to solicit or receive contributions after Jan. 10, 2023 at 11:59am.

STAY IN TOUCH
Call ([link removed]) | Email (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Staying%20in%20Touch)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION
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2501 Oakland Avenue | Nashville, TN 37212 US

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