Of course I am quoted again in the Jackson Sun on the subject of mandatory age requirements for officers in the police and fire departments. Of course there many more issues here besides costs and the paper, in its editorial view, decided not to include the contract requirements we have already made with the present set of officers or the increased tax burden on our citizens.

Councilman Wallace made a the statement:

"If I got to call for a policeman or a fireman or something, do I want to have a 60-year-old guy show up or a 30-year-old guy show up?" Wallace said. "I hate to say that ... but I'd rather have the younger guy."

I tend to think that under all matters such as the protection of my life, I would prefer the experience.

Across the state of Tennessee about 900 hundred political officials did not file the required financial disclosures within the designated time limit. Nicholas Beadle with the Jackson Sun reported:

The executive director of the Tennessee Ethics Commission said problems with an online filing system are not to blame for most of the approximately 900 financial disclosure reports the state has yet to receive from local elected officials.

On this account I will agree. There was a three month window for which officials around the state could file financial disclosures either online or via the mail or fax (due to efforts of TMAS, the ethics committee changed its ruling from only online filing to fax or mail filing). But at the same time, the original system was terribly flawed causing some confusion on whether filings were accepted or not.

Not ignorant of poorly designed systems (I have created a few myself) I actually had to file three times and then later check each time to see if it was online. The first month the system was up (January) it was a complete fiasco. But the phone lines to the ethics office worked because I called and discussed the problem and reviewed with them the procedures for downloading the files. It was difficult but not impossible to achieve success.

The 900 who failed to file were simply not diligent in their responsibility.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's political career was built on cleaning up corruption, including busting prostitution rings. Spitzer resigned last week after it was revealed he has spent $80,000 on prostitutes since being elected governor, and his office went to Lt. Gov. David Paterson. In his first press conference as governor, Paterson -- who recently admitted to extramarital affairs -- was asked by a cautious reporter if he, too, had patronized any prostitutes. "Only the lobbyists," Paterson replied. (New York Times)

He might just work out.

Tennessee Bills on the up and coming

HB 3723/ SB 3948 (Fitzhugh/ McNally) grants municipalities an additional year to meet the requirement of employing a certified municipal finance officer.

SB 3813/ HB 3994 (Tate/ L. DeBerry), as amended, would allow municipalities with a population greater than 150,000 to issue revenue bonds to fund additional benefits, including life, dental, vision insurance and post-retirement benefits.

SB 3445/ HB 3108 (Southerland/ Curtiss) directs the commission on firefighting personnel standards and education to create grants to enable volunteer fire service personnel to attend the fire academy tuition free with funds provided from the fire prevention fund.

SB 3280/ HB3637 (McNally/ McDaniel) makes several changes to current open meetings and open records laws, including creating the office of the ombudsperson to answer questions and provide information to public officials and the public in general regarding public records; creating an advisory committee to oversee the administration of the office of the ombudsperson; and requiring MTAS and CTAS to develop programs to educate officials about how to comply with open meetings and records laws. It is anticipated that the committee will adopt an amendment that is supported by TML, TCSA, the press, and open government advocates that removes all provisions related to open meetings.

SB 3715/ HB 2426 (Tate/ Hardaway) provides that annual income limit for purposes of the state tax relief program for disabled homeowners be the same as that for elderly, low-income homeowners which includes an annual cost of living adjustment, affecting any municipality that has elected to match or supplement the states’ program.

SB 3363/ HB 3306 (Beavers/ Lynn) requires a municipality to obtain an independent appraisal of the fair market value of real property prior to purchasing or entering into a contract for the purchase, lease, or lease-purchase of the real property.

SB 3809/ HB 3522 (Stanley/ Fitzhugh) requires municipally-owned utilities and rural cooperatively-owned utilities to allow telecom providers and cable operators to make pole attachments at “reasonable, just and non-discriminatory cost-based rates;” stipulates that the denial of an attachment will only be allowed upon a showing of insufficient capacity and for reasons of safety, reliability, and technical impossibility; and prohibits in-kind payments allowed in exchange for or as a condition to attachment. The bill requires the TRA to mediate disputes. The bill is anticipated to decrease local government revenues by at least $ 4 million.

SB 3370/ HB 3845 (Beavers/ Curtiss) would require new wireless telecommunications towers or antennas to comply with any aesthetic standards required by local governments and would also require local governments to hold a public hearing and to notify all residents within a one-mile radius of the proposed cell tower construction site by mail prior to approving the construction of a new tower or antenna.

SB 3375/ HB 3620 (Jackson/ Maddox) allows municipal electric systems to provide cable service outside their service areas if: 1) the electric system obtains the consent of each electric cooperative or other municipal electric system in whose territory the municipal electric system will provide such services; and 2) the municipal electric system obtains such franchises as are required under present law.

HB 2965 (Hardaway) reduces the sales tax on food from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent on January 1, 2009, and is estimated to decrease state-shared revenue to local governments by $4,000,000 annually.

HB 560/ SB 167 (Dubois/ McNally) was amended to require city councils to hold a public hearing prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of such body on the necessity of condemning property for a municipal purpose and to stipulate that a majority vote is required before the exercise of eminent domain by the municipality or any municipal agency having authority to exercise the power of eminent domain.

HB 584/SB 822 (DuBois/McNally) requires condemning entity that does not use property for intended use or decides to sell such property within 10 years of being condemned to first offer the property for sale back to person from whom property was condemned.

It seems that enough Republicans have announced retirement from Congress to almost guarantee that the GOP will not retake either chamber in November.

In the House, Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York became the 29th Republican to retire this session. Reynolds moved up quickly in his decade of service, starting in state politics in the Buffalo region and will leave as chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee. However, in 2006 he won with only 52% of the vote and his reputation was tarnished when the committee treasurer embezzled millions of dollars under Reynolds’ watch. His retirement will leave the New York GOP delegation with only five of 29 seats should they not be able to defend his seat.

In the Senate, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) agreed to step down quietly by letting the deadline for filing for re-election pass last Friday. Craig, whose shenanigans in a Minneapolis airport men’s room became national news, had vowed to fight disorderly conduct charges to which he originally pleaded guilty in June of last year.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican Senate Campaign Committee Chairman John Ensign both supported Craig’s decision to step down, but when he made an about-face, he was stripped of his committee assignments and sent to the political wilderness. Craig, with his guilty plea on record and his reputation sullied, will now return to private life, something he should have done in the first place.

The Senate voted 54-44 in favor of an amendment sponsored by Lamar Alexander (R-TN) that would bar federal employment regulators from filing suit against small businesses that require English in the workplace.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently sued the Salvation Army and 125 other organizations because English was required on the job, except during breaks. Alexander’s amendment aims to curb such frivolous lawsuits and would require that the money used to finance the lawsuits be used for adult English programs instead.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering doubling or even tripling the H-1B visa cap in 2008 and 2009. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the Strengthening United States Technology and Innovation Act in the House, which would triple the number to 195,000. “American employers have an urgent need,” Smith said, “for highly skilled foreign workers to fill positions in specialty occupations...[in order to] remain globally competitive.” Not that companies never abuse the H-1B...

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) introduced H.R. 5616, the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act, which would repeal the unconstitutional congressionally mandated phase-out of the good old incandescent light bulb.

District of Columbia v. Heller, a Supreme Court case that will be decided in the next few months, will determine whether “the People” mentioned in our Constitution really means “the Government” when it comes to the right to keep and bear arms. The Justices heard arguments last Tuesday.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution states: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Using the arguments posited by attorneys for the District of Columbia, this really means only the militia should be armed, not the people. Of course, this argument ignores the plain language of the Amendment, the historical context of the word “militia” (every able-bodied adult male) and several hundred years of practice and precedent.

For more than 30 years, DC has banned all handguns, the cheapest and most common weapon of self-defense, and requires homeowners to either disassemble or unload and lock up all other firearms. The (un)reasonableness of a total ban on handguns, however, is just one of many questions the Court will decide in this landmark case. In the hearing, it seemed the Justices understand the right belongs to individuals, leaving the question as what constitutes reasonable regulation.

As the NRA-ILA reports, 31 state attorneys general, many former senior DOJ officials, and Congress have filed amicus briefs opposing DC’s position in the case. “The congressional brief had the largest number of co-signers of a congressional amicus brief in American history,” the NRA-ILA said, “with 250 House Members, 55 Senators and the Vice President of the United States, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate.” Perhaps the most encouraging sign came during the hearings last Tuesday when Justice Anthony Kennedy said, “[T]here’s a general right to bear arms quite without reference to the militia either way.” It appears the “swing” Justice may have his head on straight for this one. After all, it is clear that this case dealing with what former Justice Joseph Story called the “palladium of the liberties of a republic” is one of utmost importance to our nation.

May God Bless and  Keep You This Day Till Tomorrow