Category Archives: State

Up in Smoke?

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On Tuesday, the Cigarette Tax Bill — SB 2326/HB 2354 — is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Finance, Ways and Means committee.  This bill is the basis for substantial education funding improvements proposed by the Governor this year.

It’s also likely to be considered in the House Agriculture committee on Tuesday, where it faces a much more substantial challenge.

Last Tuesday, the Tennessee School Boards Association joined with other members of the education, business and health community as part of the SchoolsFirst Coalition to endorse the Governor’s plan.  Their website has information detailing the benefits to each school system in the state under various parts of the Governor’s proposal, but all of it is predicated on funding.  To date, I haven’t heard anyone propose specifics for another funding mechanism — only the usual drivel about cutting waste in other areas.

I really don’t care whether it comes from a cigarette tax or from not spending it to support things like the film commission, horse racing commission, or buying up land for conservancy… but please, if you oppose the cigarette tax AND claim to support education, suggest exactly where those dollars should come from.

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Hubby and I just returned from most of a week in northern Michigan, where the very cheapest of generic cigarettes are over $5/pack.  Yet, there still seem to be plenty of smokers there.  When I pointed out the pricing to him, he suggested that eventually, all states will tax tobacco out of existence.  I disagree.

I’ve been smoke-free for 42 days now (that’s six weeks).  The difficulty of NOT going outside, lighting a cigarette, and watching the vestiges of night flee the first rays of the sun with the kick and subsequent calm that only inhaled nicotine can deliver, is still painfully fresh on my mind (and body).  Were it not for the fact that I chose to quit because I was tired of being a slave to the addiction — tired of the third-rate hotel rooms, tired of standing in the rain for my fix, tired of feeling like an outcast — yes, I would have gladly paid $5 for a day’s worth of satisfaction.

Even with the 40-cent tax, cigarettes will still be cheaper here than in a lot of other places, including several that I’ve traveled through in the last few days.
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It’s time to quit squabbling over a too-small educational pie, and get serious about being competitive nationally.  In my 34 hours in the car over the past week, I listened to Thomas Sowell’s Black Rednecks and White Liberals, which provides a very interesting view of why some parts of the country do a better job of supporting education, and how it relates to the ethnic background of the region’s settlers.  If you’re easily offended, don’t read or listen to it, but if you’re really interested in some astute (and surprising) observations that likely assault your own ethnic heritage along with everyone else’s, it’s fascinating.

Well-Intended, but…

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We require children to wear seat belts in cars; why not school buses? It seems like a good idea, but research indicates that it wouldn’t make much difference (except perhaps to keep kids in their seats):

[TSBA TLN Notes –] Organizations such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have concluded that seat belts would not have prevented most of the serious injuries and fatalities from occurring in school bus crashes. In 1989, the NAS completed a study of ways to improve school bus safety and concluded that the overall potential benefits of requiring seat belts on school buses were insufficient to justify a mandate for installation.

On Wednesday, the State Senate Education Committee unexpectedly approved legislation to require seat belts on buses purchased after July 1, 2007. The cost is estimated at $14 million in recurring dollars in State cost, accompanied by $27.6 million in one-time and $13.8 million in recurring costs to local governments.

That’s a lot of money for something that is not expected to make a significant difference.

The measure next goes to the Senate Finance Committee, of which our own Sen. Randy McNally is the Chair. It might be worth dropping a note in opposition to this bill, which exemplifies part of the funding difficulty faced by local school systems — unfunded mandates.

Stresses

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I started on our tax return yesterday, quitting about 9 to get some sleep before a busy Monday… but sleep is an elusive thing when there are unfinished deadline items.

The FAFSA application is due by March 1, which pretty much requires having one’s tax return substantially finished to complete. The FAFSA has to be submitted every year in order to remain eligible for the lottery scholarship, and most other scholarships use it as well (like the one Alpha got from the College of Engineering last year, which I hope she can pick up again). If you have a student going off to college next year, get busy — it’s not a quick and easy process!

Since I have a busy Monday scheduled — three meetings then leaving for Nashville before lunch — I just acknowledged that sleep will elude me until I have the FAFSA finished and submitted, got up around 2 a.m., and went to work on it.

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At 7:30, the League of Women Voters will host their second “breakfast with the legislators” for this year, at the Civic Center. I hope that Les Winningham attends, because I want to ask him — in front of an education-friendly crowd — why he filed the bill to do away with the BEP Review Committee, and who he proposes to take over that role.

At 9:00, the League hosts another public meeting (also at the Civic Center) where the results of the shopping center survey will be announced. I hope that the results are positive and decisive… but second-guessing what Oak Ridgers might think is never a safe bet, so we’ll just have to see what they say.

Tomorrow is the Tennessee School Boards Association’s “Day on the Hill,” where school board members from across the state converge on the Legislature. Tomorrow’s activities begin very early in the morning, so most people will arrive today and take a little extra time to visit their legislators or attend session this evening.

While the General Assembly’s website is greatly improved, one thing that hasn’t changed is the posting of committee calendars; there’s no way to know which bills Tuesday’s committees will hear before sometime on Monday. For folks who have to travel a substantial distance in order to attend these committee meetings and provide input (as good citizens should), that’s cutting it a little thin. Shucks, even your local school board has to have an agenda set and sent to the media five days in advance; seems like the legislative committees ought to, too.

One of the bills I’d love to be around to hear debated is SB0951/HB0480, which would designate “any person communicating on behalf of a school board, municipal utility, utility district, or any department, agency, or entity of state, county or municipal government” as a lobbyist.

Sounds to me like Sen. Harper and Rep. Moore want to discourage input from local governments, because it can be troublesome having your local school board member, county commissioner, or city council member show up to see what you’re up to in the hallowed halls of Legislative Plaza. The lobbyist designation would definitely put a chill on it, if only because of the registration fees and endless reporting requirements.

Moore’s day job is 1st Vice-President of the Nashville Firefighters’ Union, which would explain why he’d like to keep City and County officeholders (who generally oppose mandated recognition of municipal employee unions like police and fire) from talking to Legislators.

But that’s a nuisance bill. A few of the education bills I’m really interested in following are:

  • SB0339/HB0239 (increasing the State’s share of teacher salaries from 65% to 75% over five years);
  • SB0462/HB0476 (allowing any local education agency to convert to a special school district);
  • SB0627/HB0694 (abolishes the BEP Review Committee); and as usual,
  • SB0868/HB0569 (transition from the current BEP county model to the TACIR system-level model, which is harmful to 67% of the school systems in the state).

I doubt you’re wondering, but just to be clear: I support the first two, and oppose the second two. However, Harper and Moore’s lobbyist bill would probably be pretty effective in preventing local elected officials like myself, with some actual working knowledge of the impact these bills would have on the folks back home, from going to Nashville on your behalf.

To me, a “lobbyist” is someone whose income is derived from influencing legislation on behalf of others. It’s a necessary profession, but at the same time, not everyone who expresses support for or against legislation is a lobbyist. Most local officials do so at personal expense, in whole or in part.

Stay tuned; I’ll likely post again this evening to let you know what’s going on in your state capitol, through the eyes of a small-town gal.

Falsely Accused

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On Sunday, I wrote rather harshly of Sen. Jamie Woodson’s sponsorship of a bill that would abolish the BEP Review Committee. I also e-mailed Sen. Woodson, and yesterday received her response (which I will post in its entirety if she gives me permission to do so).

It seems that I falsely accused her of filing this bill because she didn’t like the outcome of the BEP Review Committee’s recommendations this year. However, she informed me that she sponsored the bill in the Senate at the request of Rep. Winningham, her counterpart (Chair of the Education Committee) in the state’s lower house. Apparently, it is common practice for the chairs of respective committees to sponsor each other’s legislation in the other house.

I admit that I didn’t know that. Naively perhaps, I thought that one only sponsored bills that one actually supports.

Sen. Woodson said that the bill will open a legislative conversation about whether the current method of advisement on education funding is the right one, and I agree that that is a conversation that might be useful. What I do not know — and do not want to speculate on at this point — is whether she feels that TACIR (specifically, Harry Green, the executive director of that body) is sufficiently unbiased to develop a new formula on system-level fiscal capacity.

I do agree that a system-level model would be more accurate in determining the fiscal capacity of local governments with school districts. However, I also recognize that local governments compete for growth on the basis of local tax rates, and that my city is in a disadvantage in that regard because of the money we put into education. For the State to make up the difference in those communities (ahem, Knox County) that could tax themselves at a higher rate but choose not to, is equally wrong.

I do hope to continue this discussion, as I believe that the answers can be found.

Memorialized in the Senate

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I was cruising through the newly re-vamped General Assembly website, and realized that a resolution in memory of Marshall Whisnant passed the State Senate today.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 41
By McNally
A RESOLUTION to honor the memory of Marshall Whisnant of
Oak Ridge.
WHEREAS, the members of this General Assembly were greatly saddened to learn of
the passing of Marshall Whisnant; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Whisnant was an exemplary public servant and consummate
professional who worked assiduously to improve the quality of life for his fellow citizens in
numerous capacities; and
WHEREAS, Marshall Whisnant served with acumen and alacrity as the President of
Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge for nearly thirty years, in which position he earned the
respect of his peers and employees alike for the exemplary quality of his work; and
WHEREAS, a community and civic leader, Mr. Whisnant rendered sterling service as a
member of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Oak Ridge, Leadership
Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge Schools Education Foundation, and the Oak Ridge Regional
Planning Commission and stood on the Board of Directors of the Roane State Community
College Foundation, a testament to his firm belief in the importance of education; and
WHEREAS, an avid tennis player, Marshall Whisnant was an active member of the Oak
Ridge Country Club and the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club; and
WHEREAS, he was also deeply devoted to his family, and he always endeavored to
remain true to family values of the highest order; and
WHEREAS, Mr. Whisnant leaves behind an indelible legacy of integrity and probity in
public life, compassion and loyalty in private life, and diligence and dedication in all his chosen
endeavors; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting that this General Assembly should pause to remember the
bountiful life of this exceptional public servant and human being; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIFTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
CONCURRING, that we honor the memory of Marshall Whisnant, reflecting fondly upon his
impeccable character and his stalwart commitment to living the examined life with courage and
conviction.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we express our sympathy and offer our condolences
to the family of Mr. Whisnant.

Marshall was a man I admired, but also a dear friend.  On Sunday afternoons when Hubby and I used to play tennis (the least crowded time, when we hoped no one would be there to laugh at us), Marshall sat on the porch as our spectator.  He always cheered for me, the smaller, weaker underdog in that match.

“Living the examined life with courage and conviction” indeed.

A Very Bad Idea

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As I explored the new General Assembly filed bills index this morning (as discussed previously), I came across one very interesting, very bad bill on education — shockingly, sponsored by the Chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees.

Sen. Jamie Woodson (SB627) and Rep. Les Winningham (HB694) have moved to abolish the BEP Review Committee by deleting §49-1-302(a)(4)(B) from the Tennessee Code Annotated:

(B) The [State Board of Education] shall establish a review committee for the Tennessee basic education program (BEP). The committee shall include the executive director of the state board of education, the commissioner of education, the commissioner of finance and administration, the comptroller of the treasury, the director of the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations, the chairs of the standing committees on education of the senate and house of representatives, and the director of the office of legislative budget analysis, or their designees. The board shall appoint at least one member from each of the following groups: teachers, school boards, directors of schools, county governments, municipal governments that operate LEAs, finance directors of urban school systems, finance directors of suburban school systems, and finance directors of rural school systems. The BEP review committee shall meet at least four times a year and shall regularly review the BEP components, as well as identify needed revisions, additions, or deletions to the formula. The committee shall annually review the BEP instructional positions component, taking into consideration factors including, but not limited to, total instructional salary disparity among LEAs, differences in benefits and other compensation among local education agencies, inflation, and instructional salaries in states in the southeast and other regions. The committee shall prepare an annual report on the BEP and shall provide such report, on or before November 1 of each year, to the governor, the state board of education, and the select oversight committee on education. This report shall include recommendations on needed revisions, additions, and deletions to the formula as well as an analysis of instructional salary disparity among LEAs;

The BEP Review Committee is comprised of a group deliberately specified to ensure that every point of view is represented, and their mission is to provide knowledgeable guidance on keeping the education funding formula current and effective. For example, if the average cost of textbooks doubles, that funding component should double as well.

As chairmen of the education committees, Sen. Woodson and Rep. Winningham both sit on the BEP Review Committee. This year, the committee focused exhaustively on whether to recommend a change in the fiscal capacity formula from the present 95-county model to a system-level model (several were discussed). Sen. Woodson, seeming to represent Knox County more so than her position as chair of the Education Committee, was adamantly in support of the TACIR system-level prototype that greatly benefited the four, large urban systems, but caused 67% of the school systems in the state to lose funding. It would cost Oak Ridge a staggering $2.2M.

At their final meeting on January 25, the committee admitted that they could not reach consensus on a system-level funding model, but issued a resolution urging the General Assembly to consider fiscal capacity as part of a larger discussion on adequacy. If state funding for education were adequate, equity would be a much lesser (and more easily addressable) problem.

Sen. Woodson didn’t like the outcome, so she’s moving to abolish the committee.

Jamie Woodson is a bright, capable, competent woman, but I’m gravely disappointed in her actions with regard to the BEP. As a State Senator, she is elected to represent Knox County and does so very well; as Chair of the Senate Education Committee and the corresponding seat on the BEP Review Committee, however, she is supposed to represent the interests of education in general.

I consider this bill — along with her arguments for a formula that is harmful to more than it helps — an utter failure in that regard.

Open Government Progress

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The scandals in the Tennessee Legislature generated several knee-jerk reactions that will do nothing to resolve last year’s underlying problem (legislators taking bribes, which was already illegal), but there has been one change that will actually be useful to the people of Tennessee — especially those outside the state’s capitol city.

Beginning last week, information about all the bills filed is available online, indexed by subject, listing the sponsor and a brief summary along with a link to the bill information.

Previously, the General Assembly website listed filed bills only by number, and the search engine is so cumbersome as to be practically useless. I’ve used the TSBA “Legislative Scoop” website to keep up with filed bills in the past, but that only applies to education legislation — my primary area of interest. Because someone, somewhere, had to piece together that information, it wasn’t quite as current as the new legislative site should be.

People tend to be suspicious of the unknown, and it’s really in the best interest of those elected to represent the people to have as much information publicly available as possible. It decreases the suspicion and distrust, but more importantly, provides elected representatives with views from an informed constituency — harnessing the watchful eyes and brainpower of many, rather than just a few.

Check it out. Whether you’re concerned about education, traffic safety, gas taxes, or anything else — there’s something for everyone, and government works best for those who pay attention and provide input.

Competing Interests

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On Monday, Governor Bredesen proposed a 40-cent per pack increase in the cigarette tax, with the estimated $200 million in new revenues to be directed to improvements in education funding.

Yesterday, he announced his support for a statewide ban on workplace smoking. This would seem to include restaurants, bars, hotels, and such — the few public places where smoking is sometimes (but not always) permitted, at the discretion of the business owner.

Neither concept would seem objectionable to non-smokers, who are decidedly in the majority.  I haven’t heard any objections to the tax, even from smokers.  But the simultaneous ban creates a problem: banning indoor smoking will unquestionably reduce smoking in general, which would lower the revenues from the cigarette tax.

What happens then for the funding promised to education?

Whinefest in Knox

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The headline reads “Cigarette-tax plan draws fire,” but there’s nothing in the article criticizing the Governor’s proposed 40-cent increase in cigarette taxes.

Maybe it should have said “Ragsdale wants more.”

Knox County would get about $3.3 million of the new money if the tax increase and Bredesen’s spending plans are enacted, according to data provided by the governor’s office Tuesday. That is less than schools in any other major urban area of the state.

The biggest bump in education funding would come from the State’s fully funding the needs of at-risk (economically disadvantaged, poor, whatever label appeals) students.  Just two weeks ago, I met with the Knox County Finance Director, John Werner, to see if we could find any common ground on changes in education funding.  Funding for at-risk and ELL (students who are learning English as a second language), as well as State funding for growth in the student population, were three of the four items of agreement, and all three were included in the Governor’s proposal.

The fourth was to return to having the State pay 75% of their version of teacher salaries, reduced to 65% about five years ago.  That’s going to cost more, and would likely have to be phased in.

I’ll accept Bredesen’s proposal for increasing funding in these three areas with gratitude, even though Oak Ridge won’t benefit nearly as much as Knox County.  The important point is, no one is harmed by this proposal — every school system will receive these funding improvements commensurate with the burdens borne in each of the three areas.

It’s not enough to bring Tennessee from the depths of our standing nationally, but it’s moving in the right direction.  Simply tinkering with the distribution formula isn’t going to improve education statewide — only rearrange the problems.

In Tennessee, education funding is a responsibility shared by State and local governments.  The amount contributed by the State depends on the ability of the local government to generate revenue for schools, according to the fiscal capacity formula (taking into account the sales and property tax base, average income, etc.).  Local governments are required to contribute a specified amount, but nearly all contribute more than the required minimum.

Local governments set priorities, then raise the necessary revenue (through taxes) to fund them.  Oak Ridge has historically established education as one of it’s highest priorities; Knox County unquestionably has the tax base to do so, but to date, has not.

To insist on stepping upon someone else to raise your own standing is a bully tactic.  Let’s not go there, Mayor Ragsdale.

State of the State

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I listened to Gov. Bredesen’s State of the State address tonight, then downloaded the print version so that I can better absorb the details.

Education consumed the majority of the content, and I have to say that I’m fairly pleased with what I heard. He does plan to ask for a 40-cents per pack increase in the cigarette tax, and that’s where most of the new education money will come from.

The quandary: to continue my habit and support adequate education funding (thereby preserving my sanity and that of everyone around me), or to quit (thus avoiding a $146/year tax increase)? NOTE: my question is purely rhetorical. Leave me alone.

Another of the Governor’s ambitious goals is for every 8th grader and every 10th grader to take the ACT. He wants to add a fourth year of math to the high school graduation requirement, but did not specify a particular course.

I’ll undoubtedly write more about his plans once I’ve slept, and again when his budget is introduced in a couple of weeks.