Two Memphis lawmakers are raising concerns about the state’s decision to cut federal HIV funding from nonprofit agencies and direct it through metro health departments, saying such a move could endanger lives.
State Rep. Antonio Parkinson is asking the Tennessee Department of Health why it is cutting HIV funds received through multi-million dollar grants from the Centers for Disease Control. He contends the Department of Health shouldn’t “play politics” with the money because HIV prevention and treatment is needed statewide.
The Memphis Democrat sent a letter this week to the department requesting an official explanation for the end to HIV funds by June 1.
“I want to know why and how that decision came down,” Parkinson says.
The Associated Press reported documents show the state planned to cut HIV funding from Planned Parenthood and to stop a partnership with the organization for HIV testing even before the state made the decision to end the funding for nonprofits. Planned Parenthood has been a target for anti-abortion lawmakers and top state officials for years.
It’s irresponsible to deprive trusted organizations in our community (of) giving non-controversial lifesaving treatment, testing and prevention for HIV.
– Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis
Dr. Ralph Alvarado, a former Kentucky state senator and 2019 Republican candidate for lieutenant governor there, was appointed commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health by Gov. Bill Lee shortly before the funds were cut. Alvarado is set to address the Senate Health and Welfare Committee Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
Dr. Amy Gordon Bono, a primary care physician, said Tuesday she hopes Alvarado will explain the decision. She pointed out Davidson County organizations such as Nashville Cares and Nashville Health have been providing HIV services for years where the “most vulnerable populations live.”
“Does Dr. Alvarado really think that our Metro Health Department has the infrastructure and staffing in place to provide these same services?” Bobo says. “And, more critically, will those who need these services be able to access them if they are not conveniently located in their communities?”
More than 20,000 Tennesseans live with HIV, and 14% with the disease don’t realize it, according to reports.
Even though funds are supposed to go to the state’s six largest health departments, Gov. Lee said last week the state will continue to use some nonprofit agencies for HIV services. He admitted the details haven’t been worked out.
Gov. Bill Lee swears in Dr. Ralph Alvarado, pictured with his wife and Lee, as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health on Jan. 17. (Photo: tn.gov)
“The purpose of this is to make sure that we spend the dollars in the way that best serves Tennesseans and that best mitigates and prevents HIV spread in the community, particularly focusing on human trafficking victims, on the transmission to first responders, on transmissions from mothers to their babies,” Lee said.
However, state Sen. London Lamar says in order to be a “pro-life state,” Tennessee should ensure the funds are reaching people who need them.
“It’s irresponsible to deprive trusted organizations in our community (of) giving non-controversial lifesaving treatment, testing and prevention for HIV,” Lamar says.
Planned Parenthood is already prohibited from providing abortion treatment under the state’s new law, and now the state is “attacking” the organization to stop it from providing other types of health care, Lamar points out.
Restricting those services for nonprofit organizations puts people at risk of spreading HIV, in part because of a lack of trust for health departments and poor access to them, Lamar points out.
Parkinson says he doesn’t know whether the funding withdrawal is designed to punish specific organizations.
“I hope that it’s not political like that. I hope and pray it’s not, because we don’t need to put politics over the lives and health of the people of Tennessee,” Parkinson says.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Six months after one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws took effect in Tennessee, state lawmakers are ready to loosen it.
Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) confirmed to the Tennessee Lookout this week he is preparing legislation to make rape and incest exceptions to the “trigger” law, which was enacted in 2019 before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Yager (R-Kingston) also is set to sponsor a bill to change the “affirmative defense” mechanism that criminalizes physicians who perform abortions to save the life of a mother going through a deadly pregnancy.
“I’m certainly going to support that piece of (Yager) legislation going forward, and I’m still looking at some other options,” Haile, a Gallatin Republican, said this week.
Haile and Yager are both leaders of the Senate Republican Caucus and are likely to be given leeway by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) to carry their bills through the legislative process without him trying to quash them, though McNally is satisfied with the law as written.
Yager recently said his legislation would “strengthen protections” for doctors who perform abortions to save the life of the mother or stop her from suffering the loss of bodily functions by changing the “affirmative defense” exception “to a clear exception when the life of the mother is in clear jeopardy.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) says he would back measures to create exceptions to abortion restrictions; GOP Sen. Ken Yager, Kingston, and Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin confirm they are set to sponsor legislation. No such legislation has been proposed in the House.
“Although well intended, the affirmative defense provision is not only overly burdensome for physicians but it can prevent them from performing life-saving abortions for fear of litigation, which puts at risk the lives of pregnant women who require medically necessary abortions,” Yager said in a statement.
The Kingston Republican noted he has heard from constituents and doctors who support such a bill. He added that “abortion would remain illegal” under his legislation in Tennessee.
Yet another heavy hitter, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, is saying he would back exceptions to the abortion restrictions.
“Speaker Sexton believes clarification is needed in the current law, as well as a change to affirmative defense — meaning someone has to prove their innocence which runs contrary to our judicial system. A doctor should not be singled out under affirmative defense instead of the usual standard of being innocent until proven guilty,” spokesman Doug Kufner said this week. “As with any legislation, should a proposal with agreeable language make it through the committee system to the House floor — including exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother — the speaker would be supportive.”
Sexton is expected to appoint a committee when the General Assembly convenes this week, along with standing committees, that would shepherd such legislation through the House.
Tennessee Right to Life PAC, which pushed the “trigger bill” to passage, withdrew an endorsement of Republican Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) for saying he supports changes to the law. It will be interesting to see if they harangue Speaker Sexton, Yager, and Haile. Former legislator Roger Kane, leader of the Tennessee Right to Life PAC said last week he doesn’t expect to pull any other endorsements, even if legislators sponsor bills to tweak the law. Briggs was targeted, Kane said, because he kept seeking out the media to make his point.
Right to Life counsel Will Brewer said this week he is set to meet with Yager and Haile and is waiting to see the legislation but still opposes “any changes in the abstract.”
Democrats said last summer they would be proposing a litany of bills designed to turn back the state’s abortion ban, which is among the most stringent in the nation.
Rep. Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) is sponsoring HB10, that specifies a criminal abortion doesn’t include a procedure necessitated by a medical emergency affecting the physical or mental health of the mother or one performed on a patient whose pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. It requires the doctor who performs the abortion to verify the patient reported the offense to law enforcement before the procedure.
Hakeem filed his bill weeks ago, but it would be fairly amazing to see this Republican-controlled Legislature allow a Democrat to turn back a bill they worked so hard to pass, only to realize they angered every physician in Tennessee, in addition to many women who, like it or not, go to the ballot box.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
A week after unveiling a report displaying incompetence in the state’s lethal injection program, Gov. Bill Lee appointed an Arizona prison official who oversaw a renewal of executions there to lead Tennessee’s prison system.
Frank Strada, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections, will replace interim Commissioner Lisa Helton this week as the governor marks off one of his steps for fixing the state’s lethal injection protocol.
The governor put a hold on executions in May after finding out the state failed to follow guidelines on the testing of lethal injection drugs, stopping the execution of death row inmate Oscar Smith one hour before he was to be put to death.
Frank Strada, commission, Tennessee Department of Corrections. (Photo: Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry.)
“I commend Lisa’s [Helton] strong leadership as interim commissioner and appreciate her continued service to the department,” Lee said in a statement. “Frank’s extensive corrections management and law enforcement experience make him well-suited to lead the Department of Correction, and I am confident he will serve Tennessee with integrity.”
In Arizona, Strada handled prison operations, inmate programs, public affairs, facilities management, and financial services for four years. He also oversaw three 2022 executions in Arizona by lethal injection, marking the first execution there in eight years, a delay caused by a botched lethal injection, according to reports.
But in all three of the 2022 executions, Arizona Department of Corrections officials “struggled” to properly place needles delivering lethal injection chemicals, according to the The Arizona Republic. In both the June 8th execution of Murray Atwood and the November 16th execution of Murray Hooper, prison staff had trouble inserting an IV in the men’s arms to administer the lethal dose but eventually the doses were made through the femoral artery of the leg.
Strada has 34 years of experience in the corrections field, including nearly three decades with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, where he led 121 institutions and advised the bureau’s director. Helton, who replaced Tony Parker in December 2021, is to continue working as assistant commissioner for community supervision in the department.
Strada is the second corrections official in less than a week to depart Arizona for the top job in another state. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders tapped Joe Profiri, deputy director of the Arizona Department of Corrections since 2018, to lead Arkansas’s correction agency.
The appointment comes a week after the governor released a third-party review of the state’s lethal injection operations by former U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton.
Based on the review, Lee said he planned to shake up the department’s leadership, hire a permanent commissioner this month, require department leaders to revise lethal injection protocol in consultation with his office and the attorney general, and order new leadership to review training for the revised guidelines.
Lee issued temporary reprieves for five executions in May after finding out the department failed to follow lethal injection rules put into place in 2018.
Among the findings, the review determined there was no evidence the state provided a copy of its protocol to the pharmacy hired to test its lethal injection chemicals.
The report also found the state didn’t follow protocol in several executions, failing to properly test drugs before executions took place, mishandling drugs, and preparing to use defective drugs for at least one execution.
The ACLU of Tennessee recently called the report “disturbing” and said it displays “the danger that arises when government operates in secrecy.”
“The state was fully prepared to execute seven people using improperly tested, and at times defective, drugs that create the sensation of drowning or burning alive — in the name of Tennesseans,” ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Kathy Sinback said in a statement. “Because of state laws that allow secrecy in execution protocols, these horrific errors would not have come to light had the governor not ordered this investigation.”
ACLU Tennessee, which contends the death penalty is unconstitutional and a failed government program, called for a moratorium on executions while the governor continues to review a “broken system.” It also encouraged the governor to find “more effective ways” to protect public safety.
Frank Strada, new commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Corrections, oversaw three executions in 2022 as deputy direction of the Arizona Department of Corrections, all of which were marked by problems delivering lethal chemicals.
Chemicals that were to be used in the April execution of Smith were tested for potency and sterility but not for endotoxins.
Evidence further showed lethal injection chemicals used to execute Billy Ray Irick in August 2018 were not tested for endotoxins, nor was the drug Midazolam tested for potency.
The report also found that when the state put Edmund Zagorski to death in November 2018 using electrocution, the lethal injection chemicals prepared as an alternative if he changed his mind were not tested properly. Similar errors were made in the executions of David Earl Miller, Stephen West, Lee Hall, and Nicholas Sutton, who all chose electrocution.
The lethal injection chemicals used in the execution of Donnie Edward Johnson weren’t tested for endotoxins, either, according to the review.
The report lays the blame at the feet of leaders in the Department of Correction.
“The evidence shows that TDOC leadership placed an inordinate amount of responsibility on the drug procurer without providing much, if any, professional guidance; resources; or assistance,” the report states. “Instead, TDOC leadership viewed the lethal injection process through a tunnel-vision, result-oriented lens rather than provide TDOC with the necessary guidance and counsel needed to ensure that Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol was thorough, consistent, and followed.”
The report shows the drug procurer hired by the state is responsible for obtaining lethal injection drugs to be used in executions but that neither the position nor the responsibilities are defined in “any iteration” of the protocol.
Under instructions from former Commissioner Parker, the department’s deputy commissioner/general counsel picked the current drug procurer in 2016. The drug procurer, which is not named in the review, described it as an “off the books” role because obtaining the drugs was not its only responsibility with TDOC.
Before the company took that role, the state used a lethal dose of one drug, Pentobarbital, in executions. Parker instructed the drug procurer to find a new source for the drug, but it had trouble locating a supplier because pharmacies and manufacturers didn’t have the quantity of the chemical Tennessee requested or didn’t want to be associated with lethal injection executions.
The state also sought the drug from an international supplier but ultimately decided the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency would not allow Pentobarbital, a schedule II drug, to be imported.
Thus, the department opted for a three-drug lethal injection, even though TDOC officials told the reviewers that the one-drug injection had a lower risk for error.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Not long after the Tennessee Department of Transportation proposed public-private partnerships to build express lanes and cut congestion on highways, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville sought permission for a joint venture to build dorms and an indoor athletic facility.
The State Building Commission authorized the university’s plan to take bids for a public-private partnership for three multi-use student housing facilities on campus and construction of the infield practice facility.
The General Assembly will have to pass legislation enabling the Department of Transportation to enter a public-private partnership in which a company would invest the money in a road project, then recoup it through fees.
Under the UT-Knoxville proposal, which didn’t require legislative action, the university will “engage” a developer to design, construct, finance and maintain the buildings, which will meet growth needs and allow renovation or replacement of older dorms. The university is requesting proposals from developers on each project.
“The added facilities will help us meet our campus housing needs and position UT-K for anticipated enrollment growth while supporting the Volunteer student experience. This process has been utilized in various other states,” the university said in a statement.
It is unclear what impact these public-private partnerships would have on the university’s finances, though UT-K would remain in charge of dorm assignments and programming.
State transportation officials prefer to use the term “choice lanes” for their proposal on express routes, but Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, contends they are “toll roads” in essence because motorists would have to pay to drive on them.
The question is whether this is the wave of the future for Tennessee government operations in which it would ask the private sector to take control of building projects and maintain and operate them. Thirty-five states have authorized public-private partnerships for highways, and Tennessee could be the next.
The idea is to inject 80 percent of private investment in road projects, expedite the delivery of construction from the typical 15-year time frame and cut the cost of urban projects to free up money for rural road expansion.
Most lawmakers aren’t aware of the UT-K project, and they say they need more financial information about public-private partnerships on road construction before making a commitment.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, a Chattanooga Republican, believes proposals for express lanes, which would be paid for with motorist fees, would most likely be geared toward Nashville.
“I would have to see what the economics of it is and make sure it’s not more of a public with a capital P and private with a little p,” Gardenhire says.
He’s also uncertain how express routes or use of high-occupancy lanes would work differently than they do now.
Gardenhire contends that few drivers use the state’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes appropriately. During his trips on I-24, he sees the HOV lanes surrounding Nashville packed with vehicles carrying only one person, when they are supposed to be for two or more during rush hours, such as 7 to 9 a.m.
“People don’t even try to hide it anymore by putting a dummy with a hat on in the passenger seat,” Gardenhire says with a laugh. “They’re a waste of space.”
He appears willing to give them a chance, though.
“If somebody can figure out how to make it so I can pay a fee and get in there and blow it out going back home or coming to Nashville, that’s great,” Gardenhire adds.
Though state transportation officials prefer to use the term “choice lanes” for their proposal on express routes, Gardenhire, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, contends they are “toll roads” in essence because motorists would have to pay to drive on them.
My big concern is the extent they’re talking about privately-owned toll roads or fast lanes. That’s going to be a dead end when it comes to Democratic support. We’re not going to back a plan that hands over state roadways to management, operation or ownership of a private entity.
– Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, House Democratic Caucus Leader
State officials, including Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley, the former founder and CEO of Infrastructure Corporation of America, proposed “choice lanes” and public-private partnerships in response to Gov. Bill Lee’s request to find ways to build more roads without raising taxes to meet a 9 percent growth rate over the last decade.
Eley’s old company is one of the nation’s leading asset maintenance management companies with contracts nationwide. DBi Services bought HDR | ICA Asset Management from Nebraska-based holding company HDR in 2018, the second sale of the company in three years.
Tennessee state Rep. Sam Whitson agrees with the need to find an innovative way to move traffic, and he believes Eley can get it done.
“I’m still driving on the same roads and interstates I’ve been driving on since I was 16 years old in the 1970s,” says Whitson, a Franklin Republican.
Whitson says he’s interested in finding out how options such as public-private partnerships would generate revenue to build “choice lanes” and express routes.
Butch Eley, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Eley founded Infrastructure Corporation of America, highway management company. (Official photo)
House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons is not enthused with the idea of allowing private entities to take control of tolling. Privatizing government services has been a goal of both Lee and former Gov. Bill Haslam, he points out.
“My big concern is the extent they’re talking about privately-owned toll roads or fast lanes. That’s going to be a dead end when it comes to Democratic support,” Clemmons says. “We’re not going to back a plan that hands over state roadways to management, operation or ownership of a private entity.”
Clemmons contends transportation and roadways are an “inherent governmental function” and the public needs accountability. The state could lose authority over rates and maintenance if it allows a private entity to control the roadway, he says.
“The last thing you want is somebody profiting off of somebody else’s inconvenience,” Clemmons says.
The Transportation Department is declining to discuss too many details or exactly how “choice lanes” would be monitored because it doesn’t want to get ahead of legislative action.
It contends state law not only prohibits public-private partnerships for highway projects, it also limits the number of “alternative delivery” projects the state can complete each year.
“All we are doing right now is asking the Legislature to change that in the Build With Us proposal so we can keep up with the growth Tennessee urban areas are experiencing,” TDOT spokeswoman Beth Emmons says.
TDOT says Texas and Georgia are good examples of how “choice lanes” or express routes work.
Eley and other state officials recently visited Dallas, Texas to review its “choice lanes,” which have seen a 10 percent increase in general traffic but with a 60-75 percent reduction in congestion and an average speed increase of 10-15 percent, according to the state.
The department points out many states with “choice lanes” use electronic transponders to track vehicles. Texas issues different types of fees to motorists who want to use its express lanes.
The Georgia Department of Transportation partners with the private sector for projects in which the contractor designs and builds the highway or takes complete control, designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining.
That state touts “expedited” completion compared to the normal time for delivery of a project, in addition to cost savings and improved quality along with the use of private resources and personnel to cut back on the need for public employees and funding. Access to private capital is another benefit, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
“We’re all over them. We are a believer and utilize them and will continue,” says Georgia state Rep. Rick Jasperse, a Jasper Republican who chairs the House Transportation Committee.
Known for having some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation but as a “transportation hub of the Southeast,” Georgia had to find a new method for building roads quicker and moving people faster, which impacts surrounding states such as Tennessee.
Georgia is in the midst of a project it calls a “P-3 heavy” on Atlanta’s north side along I-285 that will connect I-20 East to I-75 and then to I-20 West. The limited access road is to be funded, built, tolled and maintained by a third party and enables the state to embark on a project that, otherwise, would “overwhelm” the state’s budget, Jasperse says.
Another project calls for a truck route from Atlanta to Augusta in East Georgia.
“There is some state money in any of these projects, but it really helps us spread our money further and addresses true traffic needs,” he says.
In some instances, the private entity will take all of the risk on a project. In others, the state will pay back the price of construction plus interest, but state officials feel they can justify that expense because the road is completed in half the time of conventional methods, according to Jasperse.
“It’s not some damn giveaway either,” he says.
Jasperse is quick to note that bidding for these projects is highly competitive among multinational companies and contracts are heavily scrutinized.
Georgia motorists use what is called a Peach Pass, a small transponder or small electronic toll collection device that kicks in when they use an express lane. They’re also good in North Carolina and Florida.
Money is deducted from the motorist’s account, and violators receive a civil fine from the Georgia Toll Authority. No private tolling is done yet in Georgia.
A trip for Jasperse to Jasper in North Georgia can cost $2 to $8, depending on how jammed the interstate is around Atlanta. The minimum is 10 cents per mile.
“I have the choice. I don’t have to get on that road. I can stay on the five-lane highway or get on the express lane at a cost,” Jasperse says.
One possible drawback is that express lanes along interstates such as I-75 allow traffic to move in only one direction at different times of day. The lanes are closed for an hour when the direction is shifted.
Jasperse also acknowledges express lanes can get backed up too, but he says they don’t run into the same problems as the normal interstates. He believes it’s the right option, though, because the state has limited money and construction costs are increasing.
Jasperse also says it is critical to have a department of transportation and governor’s office that can be trusted to handle complex multi-year contracts and “to do what’s right and not to make screwy deals … or allow poor infrastructure that hurts us in the long run. Because you really get one shot.”
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Facing tens of billions of dollars in transportation project backlog, Gov. Bill Lee’s administration is proposing a patchwork of proposals designed to expedite work and raise more revenue, the most notable of which would institute toll roads or “choice lanes” built and maintained by the private sector through a state partnership.
The thinking is that Tennessee’s IMPROVE Act of 2017, a combination of fuel tax increases and vehicle registration fees, isn’t bringing in enough money to construct the roads and bridges needed to serve a state that grew by 9 percent over the last decade.
Tasked with finding alternatives to raising the fuel tax or taking on debt, Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley recently presented a list of options, including public-private partnerships on express lanes, creation of “choice lanes” on existing routes, raising electric vehicle fees, speeding up planning and bidding phases on construction projects and eliminating $34 million in unfilled Transportation Department positions and using that money to raise salaries for staff.
The response as the 113th General Assembly prepares to convene in January 2023 varies widely, with some lawmakers supporting and others raising questions.
Gov. Bill Lee is proposing public-private partnerships to create toll roads in Tennessee. Photo: John Partipilo)
“Mussolini liked those public-private partnerships. They called it fascism back then,” says Republican Sen. Frank Niceley, a Strawberry Plains farmer, referring to the early twentieth century Italian leader and the governor’s plan for toll or “choice lanes.” “I’m adamantly opposed to toll roads. Everybody in my district’s opposed to toll roads.”
Niceley points out that Texas adopted toll roads but mainly because it owed $20 billion for construction, in contrast to Tennessee, which holds no road work debt.
The Department of Transportation avoids the term “toll roads,” preferring “choice lanes” instead because motorists would have the option to use them and pay a rate to avoid slower traffic.
Other states use transponders to track vehicles’ use of “choice lanes,” but Tennessee hasn’t made a decision on how user fees would be collected here.
The Dallas, Texas area has a 100-mile TEXpress Lanes System of toll-managed lanes, with fees collected by the North Texas Tollway Authority through the use of three types of tags. Vehicles carrying more than one person can receive a 50 percent discount during peak travel periods during the week.
More than 60 managed price lanes exist in about 12 areas nationwide, mainly in California, around Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.
Mussolini liked those public-private partnerships. They called it fascism back then.
– Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains
The state points out on its Build With Us site that pricing managed lanes enables it to control congestion and help it keep pace with changing traffic volumes and “guarantee travel reliability.”
Getting into the details
The governor will need approval for any plan from the Legislature, as well as authority to set up multiple public-private partnerships for highway projects.
Tennessee officials are likely headed to Texas soon to see how its “choice lanes” and express system operate.
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton generally agree with Lee’s efforts to bolster the state’s road system and say they anticipate lively debate when the session starts.
“How quickly and efficiently people and goods can move across the state is directly related to our economic success,” McNally says. “I also agree that we should not abandon our pay-as-you-go system of road funding and that we must not increase the tax burden on our citizens.”
Says Sexton, “We must have honest discussions on infrastructure in our state to solve the traffic congestion issue. Those must include expansion of rail access, shortening the decades-long timeline to build roads, as well as looking at express lanes on our interstates in highly congested areas.”
Sexton doesn’t anticipate toll booths or mandatory toll roads but believes giving motorists the option to travel on an expressway will be considered.
The 2017 IMPROVE Act was projected to bring the state $1.081 billion from fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2022, and it is $5 million over projections. Yet gas tax revenue was down 4.4 percent through September and 2.5 percent through October this year, and state officials worry those dollars will continue to drop as electric vehicles take a bigger market share.
Thus, part of the proposal is to increase the $100 wheel tax on electric vehicles and bring it in line with the roughly $250 to $300 most motorists pay annually in fuel taxes.
The state has completed about 30 percent of the projects approved through the IMPROVE Act, and $16 billion worth of work remains. Another $26 billion of investments need to be made to deal with congestion across the state, according to TDOT.
Transportation officials haven’t put a dollar figure on the amount of money “choice lanes” would net. The idea is that a private company would invest its own money in the project and recoup expenses through fees.
State Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, is willing to delve into the proposals because of the “exponential growth” in Tennessee and its impact on highways.
“The public-private partnership is looking at ways to build roads a little more efficiently, try to build them quicker, which saves us money,” Massey says.
“Choice lanes,” as long as they are an option and not the only way to reach a destination, are a “viable solution,” Massey adds.
The 2017 IMPROVE Act was projected to bring the state $1.081 billion from fiscal 2018 through fiscal 2022, and it is $5 million over projections — but gas tax revenue is down and state officials expect that it will continue to drop as more drivers transition to electric vehicles.
Massey, a Knoxville Republican, says her daughters have used an Austin, Texas toll road that enabled them to arrive at work in 15 minutes compared to a free route that took an hour. Even though they had to pay, the shorter ride equated to savings, she says.
While most lawmakers want to dig into the details, state Rep. Pat Marsh, a Shelbyville Republican and trucking company executive who serves on the House Transportation Committee, is ready to move on the governor’s entire plan.
Traveling to Nashville from his home along I-24 is “horrible,” he says. And traffic in neighboring Murfreesboro is nearly as bad. He typically dreads driving anywhere.
“I’m proud that (Gov. Lee) is saying he wants to tackle that problem,” Marsh says. The influx of new residents in Tennessee and the rising cost of road construction, 50 percent to 100 percent more, are driving the need for new solutions, Marsh says.
He compares the matter to reforming the way the state pays for education, though the governor’s solution drew criticism from much of the education community.
Democratic state Rep. Sam McKenzie of Knoxville, also a member of the House Transportation Committee, recalls that former Gov. Phil Bredesen discussed the idea of building a toll road from the interstate to Gatlinburg. The proposal didn’t draw much Republican support.
“We already pay a lot in gas taxes and from a transportation standpoint our roads are in really good condition. I give us a B-plus,” McKenzie says.
But if a road can be built as an “optional path” for a direct route into a town, he would support it. On the other hand, McKenzie says he would oppose a toll road that would cost the same amount for a wealthy motorist and someone making $15 an hour.
In addition, McKenzie says fees for electric vehicles should not be raised to match the amount motorists pay in fuel taxes, noting an incentive should be kept in place to purchase EVs.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown (Photo: John Partipilo)
Brian Kelsey changes his plea.
Ten months after calling the feds’ case against him a “witch hunt,” outgoing state Sen. Brian Kelsey is set to plead guilty to federal campaign finance violations, according to a court filing.
Kelsey’s attorneys, Paul Bruno and Jerry Martin, filed documents in federal court Thursday requesting a hearing to change his not guilty plea.
The Germantown Republican is charged with funneling more than $90,000 from his state account to his failed 2016 congressional campaign through two political actions committees and then to the American Conservative Union, which bought independent radio/digital ads supporting his run for office.
The request for a plea change comes a week after Kelsey’s co-defendant, Joshua Smith, pleaded guilty to one charge in the case. Smith’s sentencing is set for June 2023.
Federal prosecutors say Kelsey gave a $103,000 check six years ago to Smith, proprietor of The Standard Club, a downtown restaurant that catered to Republican lawmakers. The money was filtered through The Standard Club PAC and Citizens 4 Ethics in Government PAC to the American Conservative Union, which bought the advertising shortly before Kelsey finished fourth in the race, according to the indictment.
In an impassioned statement on the Senate floor this year, Kelsey blamed the indictment on political divisiveness and the Biden Administration, even though the investigation started during the Donald Trump presidency.
Kelsey also pinpointed former friend, ex-state Rep. Jeremy Durham, for talking to federal prosecutors in exchange for immunity. The Tennessee Lookout obtained a copy of Durham’s subpoena, which required him to provide copies of all documents and records related to Kelsey, Kelsey’s wife, Amanda Bunning, who worked for the American Conservative Union at the time, Jessica Durham, Josh Smith, Andrew “Andy” Miller, Zach Crandell, Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union, and several other people and organizations believed to be connected to the scheme.
Durham, an unindicted co-conspirator, also was required to turn in all records related to the transfer of funds between several entities and the Standard Club PAC.
Bunning, who later married Kelsey, is listed in the indictment as an individual who received information from the senator and passed it on to others who handled the ACU’s advertising.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Joshua Smith leaving the Fred D. Thompson United States Courthouse in Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Joshua Smith, owner of The Standard social club, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a campaign finance scheme to funnel money from state Sen. Brian Kelsey’s campaign fund to his failed congressional bid in 2016.
Smith, 45, changed his plea to guilty in front of U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw on count two of a federal indictment, admitting that he “solicited, received, directed, transferred, and spent” more than $25,000 in “soft money” as an agent for Kelsey’s 8th Congressional District campaign. It is illegal to spend that type of money not subject to federal limitations and reporting requirements on a federal campaign.
Smith “secretly and unlawfully funneled $67,000” in “soft money” from Kelsey’s Senate campaign committee to a national organization, the American Conservative Union, that paid for radio and digital ads backing Kelsey’s campaign, according to the indictment.
Accompanied by attorney Phillip S. Georges, Smith waived his right to a trial and appeal Wednesday and told the judge he had spoken “extensively” with his attorney before making the decision. Sentencing is set for June 9th when he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
Kelsey’s trial is scheduled for late January 2023.
Georges said in a statement last week that Smith accepts responsibility for his involvement and if called to testify will be “truthful regarding the activities that took place.”
Joshua Smith leaving the Fred D. Thompson United States Courthouse in Nashville. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Prosecutors say Kelsey and Smith conspired with others from February 2016 through mid-October 2016 to violate campaign finance laws and illegally move “soft money” totaling $91,000 from the senator’s state account through the The Standard’s political action committee and Citizens 4 Ethics in Government to the American Conservative Union, which purchased advertising to support Kelsey’s federal campaign.
A Nashville grand jury returned the five-count indictment against Kelsey in October 2021 after more than four years of investigation. The Germantown Republican, who has called the investigation a “witch hunt,” is not seeking re-election this year.
The federal indictment claims Kelsey gave Smith a check for more than $106,300 in July 2016 during a gathering at The Standard, an upscale restaurant in downtown Nashville, to be transferred from his campaign account to The Standard PAC and Citizens 4 Ethics in Government, which was run by Andrew Miller, and ultimately to the American Conservative Union.
Kelsey’s future wife, Amanda Bunning, director of government affairs for the American Conservative Union at the time of the alleged incidents, also sent emails to Smith asking him about making contributions to her organization, according to federal documents.
Former state Rep. Jeremy Durham and Miller are believed to be unindicted co-conspirators in the scheme.
Bunning was director of government affairs for the American Conservative Union and a member of its senior management team from late 2015 to March 2017 and managed its political expenditures, according to the indictment. She and Kelsey got engaged around July 2017 and were married in January 2018.
She received and sent a list of Kelsey’s Senate achievements, according to the indictment, and worked closely with a member of the ACU’s senior management team, which oversaw daily operations and directed all aspects of its political activities, including political expenditures.
In July 2016, the ACU reported to the Federal Election Commission that it made independent expenditures for a radio and digital ads to back Kelsey when the expenditures were coordinated with Kelsey and his agents and were not independent, according to the indictment.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
Tennessee House Republicans sent a letter Wednesday to Vanderbilt hospital urging it to immediately stop gender transitioning surgeries on minors.
Sixty-two members of the House Republican Caucus signed the request in the wake of social media videos purportedly showing a physician calling the surgeries a “huge money maker” because of the number of follow-up visits required.
State Rep. Jason Zachary, a Knoxville Republican who wrote the letter, details “serious ethical concerns” about procedures Vanderbilt’s Pediatric Transgender Clinic is allegedly performing on minors, in addition to claims the hospital could be discriminating against employees who refuse to participate in the surgeries.
Zachary’s letter says he and his colleagues are “alarmed” by a Daily Wire report about “surgical mutilations” of minors and calls the clinic’s practices “nothing less than abuse.”
“While those 18-years and older are recognized as legal adults and free to make decisions in their best interests, it is an egregious error of judgment that an institution as highly respected as Vanderbilt would condone (and promote) harmful and irreversible procedures for minor children in the name of profit,” Zachary’s letter says.
The letter also requests Vanderbilt hospital, Vanderbilt University’s School of Medicine, School of Nursing and affiliates to “honor” conscientious objectors whose religious beliefs prohibit their participation in certain procedures.
The letter demands a response from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Board of Directors within 10 days of receiving the letter and says that will determine what action the Legislature takes when it convenes in January.
Asked about the letter Wednesday, Vanderbilt University Medical Center referred questions to its statement after the Twitter videos were posted last week, saying the media posts “misrepresent facts” about the care it provides to transgender patients.
The hospital noted it provides care to all adolescents “in compliance with state law and in line with professional proactive standards and guidance established by medical specialty societies,” including requiring parental consent to treat minors for issues related to transgender care.
In the videos taken from 2018 and 2020, Vanderbilt physician Dr. Shayne Taylor calls gender transition surgery “a big money maker” but does not refer to children.
Another video shows a Vanderbilt plastic surgeon discussing guidelines doctors must follow before doing “top surgeries,” or double mastectomies, on transgender patients. Those include a letter documenting persistent gender dysphoria from a licensed mental health provider. Patients who are 16 and 17 who’ve been on testosterone and have parental permission can qualify, the doctor said.
A state law passed in 2021 prohibits hormone therapies – such as puberty blockers – for prepubescent patients, a practice physicians told lawmakers at the time was not part of their standard of care.
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.
