Month: June 2011

• JB
• Rep. Todd during debate on Norris-Todd bill last winter

A striking feature of the session that just ended was the sheer number of bills introduced — and, in many cases, passed — at the instigation of special-interest sources outside Tennessee itself. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, every now and then, someone actually puts up a fuss — as when, for example, state Senator Roy Herron (D-Dresden) did his best on the last day of debate to derail, or at least amend, a bill that would divert state school funding to “virtual school” entrepreneurs operating elsewhere in the nation.

Most of the time, as in Herron’s case, these Horatio-at-the-Gate efforts fail for the simple reason that the resister is in the minority and is overridden.

But every now and then, and this is the really good news, someone on the majority rethinks the case and is actually in a position to repair the lock and secure the gate.

Give Curry Todd his due. Rep.Todd (R-Collierville) — he of the Mexicans-as-teeming-rats metaphor at a notorious committee hearing last fall, he of the Norris-Todd school-merger bill t — was able to stop one paint-by-the-numbers bill cold.

This was SB1033, introduced by state Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and designed, according to its caption, to prohibit and provide criminal penalties fore “certain union and employee organization activities,” spelled out by Ketron as “bribery, extortion intimidation, and disorderly conduct.”

When the bill came through the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 26, it was stoutly resisted by state Senator Beverly Marrero (D-Memphis), who pointed out the one-sidedness of the measure, which targeted labor only and mentioned potential management transgressions not at all, but the bill was passed through on a 6-3 party-line vote.

On the last legislative day, however, when the bill came through the House for final passage Todd returned to another issue that Marrero had mentioned — namely, that none of the iniquities which it mentioned had turned up in Tennessee itself; that, in fact, the bill was a hobby-horse mounted by the National Chamber of Commerce in each of the 50 states. Indeed, the chief spokesman for it had been a Nashville attorney representing the Chamber.

Somewhat impatiently, Tiodd explained that the bill seemed to have nothing to do with Tennessee and promptly moved it off the calendar and back to the House’s State and Local Government Committee, out of harm’s way, at least for the current calendar year.

Moral of the story? For all of the one-party domination of the 2011 session, there were a few such independent gestures. But not many.

(Note: This is an amended and corrected version of the account in this week’s Flyer print edition, in which — through some brain fog on the author’s part — the word “Senate” was inadvertently substituted for the correct word “House” in the last two paragraphs./jb)

• JB
• Bloggeer/Would-Be Councilman Steve Ross

The impasse in city budget negotiations is keeping another matter, that of redistricting of City Council districts, on the back burner.

Municipal elections are scheduled for October 6. The filing deadline for them is July 21, with a withdrawal deadline of a week later. And potential candidates, like blogger Steve Ross of vibincblog.com, who is contemplating a run for a Council seat, are complaining that the Council has been unreasonably tardy in redrawing district lines.

The 2010 census information for Shelby County, which would provide the basis for redistricting, has been available since March 16, Ross notes on his blog. He points out that his residence, as of now, is at a point close to several existing district lines and that, with less than two months to go before showtime, his preparations for organizing a campaign are hampered by not knowing where that campaign is to be run.

Ross, who addressed the council on the subject some weeks ago, says he was gven no guidelines by Council attorney Allan Wade, who, however, promised more information next week, at the Council’s June 6th meeting.

From Ross’ blog: “Certainly, there are difficult decisions to be made and stringent rules that must be followed. The consent decree that governs the drawing of districts in Memphis has very particular guidelines. From my perspective, these rules are one of the most important reasons there must be public scrutiny of the process, never-mind the whole notion of “open government” itself.

“For me, the issue is less about “why hasn’t this been done” than “why isn’t more information available about this”. Because, aside from an ordinance on third reading, there is nothing. No maps, no information, nothing. And my attempts to find out more about this process have yielded very little concrete information, calling the process into question, which is concerning to a person, like myself, who believes that the public’s trust in government comes not from the officials, but from the easy availability of information.”
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Ross got some moral support this week from Council member Jim Strickland. “ I think Steve is justifiably concerned that the districts have not been set, and we’re only seven weeks prior to filing deadline,” said Strickland, who added, “ I’ve spoken to Allen Wade, and he has a problem matching the census figures with the precinct.”

The councilman (a candidate for reelection in District 5, after all) said he, too, hoped the matter could be expedited.

Almost unnoticed in the recent press of events, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made an announcement last week that, in response to the recently concluded congressional deal that pared $780 from the federal budget, Homeland Security would be cutting $170 million from its Urban Areas Security Initiative program.

In practical terms, that means that both Memphis and Nashville are slated to lose millions in grant money that had been used to upgrade technology and training over the last seven years, during which the two Tennessee citiers had received some $40 million between them.

Last year Memphis’ share was $4.1 million, Nashville’s $2.8 million.

The money had been allocated for such purposes as enhancing communication capabilities among police, fire and other emergency officials providing bomb squads with new equipment and training; and even funding the training of bomb-sniffing dogs.