When I first became interested in public service, I met a man named Terry. He told me he had a job making a good hourly wage, but his employer provided no benefits. His adult son worked a similar job for a different company, but also possessed no benefits.
As a result, Terry’s family was unable to pay for a yearly medical checkup for his grandson before the school year started.
Terry asked me, with an earnestness I will never forget, to go to Nashville and make it better.
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NASHVILLE — State senators voted 26-1 Wednesday to compel the state attorney general’s office to launch legal challenges against any would-be federal legislation that requires individuals to buy health insurance.
Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, sponsor of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, told colleagues the bill “would not nullify any federal law. It would simply acknowledge the right of individuals not to participate in a government-run health program.”
Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, was the lone “no” vote. Five Senate Democrats, none from Southeast Tennessee, abstained. The bill has yet to move in the House.
“This bill was nothing but political grandstanding,” Sen. Berke said after the vote. “It doesn’t do anything to help the middle-class families who call my office every week, trying to get and keep health insurance, and the businesses struggling to pay their premiums.”
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Even though the U.S. Congress has not passed an overhaul of health care, the Tennessee Senate took steps Wednesday to block a national insurance system.
State Senator Mae Beavers of Mount Juliet steered her bill through the upper chamber easily, arguing it would protect Tennesseans from having to purchase government health insurance if a such requirement should ever pass in Washington.
Beavers, a Republican, says she’s worried that the Obama administration will force
everyone to buy a government insurance policy.
“I’m concerned that it will happen. I know this president is very ambitious and intends to get some kind of national health care passed.”
Beavers’ bill would put a state law in place that would purport to overrule a hypothetical federal law.
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From the AP:
The Tennessee Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to require the state attorney general to mount a legal challenge to any federal law to require participation in a health care system.
The “Tennessee Health Freedom Act” sponsored by Republican Sen. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet (SB3498) passed without debate on a 26-1 vote, with five abstentions.
The bill’s goal is “not to nullify any federal law,” Beavers said in brief remarks on the Senate floor. “It would simply acknowledge the right of individuals to refuse to participate in a government-run health insurance program.”
Beavers said her proposal seeks to check congressional power. Otherwise the federal government “could mandate that each of us buy a Chevrolet every year so we could help pay of the loans that were made to the industry,” she said.
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The Tennessee Senate has passed a measure aimed at blocking any federal requirement that citizens of the state purchase private health insurance.
The bill cleared the Senate 26-1-5 and is now headed to the House.
Coined “The Tennessee Health Freedom Act,” the bill would require the state attorney general to defend residents who find themselves in trouble with the IRS, or some other federal agency, for disobeying an order from the United States government to purchase health insurance.
“I think this just protects the rights of our citizens to choose,” said Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, who sponsored the bill.
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NASHVILLE — If Sen. Dewayne Bunch, R-Cleveland, has his way, Tennessee legislators and other “public servants” could face misdemeanor bribery charges when they horse-trade votes for special budgetary treatment of their home districts.
Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, meanwhile, wants drivers of neighborhood ice cream or snowball trucks to serve up clean criminal records and clean bills of health to authorities before they are authorized to sell treats to children.
The two lawmakers’ proposals are among dozens outlined in legislation filed this year by Southeast Tennessee lawmakers as they returned for this year’s session of the 106th General Assembly.
Other local lawmakers’ bills include a measure by Rep. Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, to punish “super speeders” with fines of $200. It would raise an estimated $3.76 million in state fines with the money directed toward hospital trauma centers, according to a legislative analysis. The bill would apply to motorists going 75 mph or greater on two-lane roads and 85 mph or more on other highways.
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State Senator Andy Berke says he doesn’t know if his bill will pass this session, but he predicts it will be approved soon.
Berke is talking about Senate Bill 2976, the Tennessee Food Desert Relief Act.
Its designed to make Larger grocery stores more available to low income households.
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Donesha Aldridge – Staff Writer
Friday, February 05, 2010 issue
UT and other colleges in Tennessee will benefit from the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010 that Gov. Phil Bredesen signed into action during the 106th Tennessee General Assembly special session at the end of last month.
Tennessee Sen. Jim Kyle from Memphis said the act will make changes to the relationships among colleges, eliminate remedial classes and provide a more uniform system for schools across the state.
“With these new laws in place, we’ve now got a landmark opportunity to move Tennessee public education forward in a dramatic and positive direction,” Bredesen said in a press release from the Governor’s Communication Office.
Russ Deaton, director of fiscal policies and facilities analysis for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, said one of the major changes is the way higher education will receive funding.
Deaton said higher education funding is based on the enrollment levels of each school. With the new law passed, colleges will be funded based on the productivity level of each year.
Deaton explained that the productivity level is determined by how many degrees and graduates are produced from each college.
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Tennessee Senator Andy Burke defends Governor Phil Bredesen’s Higher Education Bill.
The Tennessee Senate approved the plan last week overhauling the state’s higher education system.
The plan aims to improve Tennessee’s poor graduation rate at community colleges and four-year schools.
But it’s come under fire from community colleges because it bases funding on graduation rates and student retention… instead of the size of a school’s enrollment.
Community Colleges say one of their main functions is continuing education for those already in the workforce, not just producing degrees.
St. Sen. Andy Berke is a Democrat representing Tennessee’s 10th District, “We passed devised this reform based in large part on making the community colleges a system and a more integral part of the system. But we’ve got to get our college graduates up at every level if we’re gonna bring major employers to the area and if we’re gonna keep the employers we have.”
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