Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Legislative Update
June 2, 2006
Close of Session
The 104th General Assembly came to a
close on Saturday. Look soon to the Chamber's website for a recap of issues of importance to the business community. Here are some items of
interest from the final few days:
Budget
The two houses of the General Assembly
were able to agree on a budget without a conference committee in the last two days of the 104th General Assembly. The
Senate passed their appropriations bill on May 24th with the House passing their version the following day. Although
several notable differences existed between the two bills, the Senate yielded to the House version avoiding a conference committee.
Some highlights of the state budget for
2006-2007:
- Budget finally meets the requirements
for the Rainy Day Fund. By the end of the fiscal year, the Rainy Day Fund will have half-billion dollars.
- $34 million in operating funds will go
to higher education to keep tuition increases below 5%.
- $10 million for a film industry
incentive package.
- State employees will get a 3% pay
raise.
- Higher education employees and K-12
teachers will get a 2% bonus.
- Education funding will include a
change in the state share of the Basic Education Program funding, to 66.4%. It currently is 65%.
Nashville State Community College
The Chamber has long recognized the importance
of our community colleges and vocational and technical schools in bringing essential options to the higher education landscape and workforce
development of Middle Tennessee. Nashville State Community College has been and will continue to be critical to Nashville's economy. The need for
updated and added facilities at Nashville State is well known and cannot be underestimated; the Chamber has long advocated for the funds to properly
update NSCC.
In our 2006 Legislative Agenda, the
Chamber encouraged that immediate consideration be given to the capital project requests currently outlined on the state's higher education capital
projects list for basic facility needs at NSCC.
Outcome: The
Chamber would like to thank and acknowledge Governor Bredesen, Senator Henry, and the entire Davidson County delegation for meeting this critical
need for the Nashville community. In the budget submitted by Governor Bredesen and passed by the General Assembly last week, Nashville State
Community College received all $16.1 million needed for the first phase of the capital project requests. This is a huge victory for Nashville, our
future workforce, and our economy. The Nashville State Community College Foundation Advocacy Committee should also be commended in their tireless
efforts to help the community and our elected officials understand the urgency and importance of these funds.
Firefighters
Bill (SB 1116/ HB 2035)
The Firefighters bill, that would have given
firefighters the ability to unionize, passed the House albeit meaningless after members exempted most counties from the proposal. The Senate voted to
send the bill to the Judiciary committee where it would later die with the Minimum Wage bill after not enough votes were there to suspend the rules
and allow the committee to actually hear the bills. Essentially, this killed the firefighter bill on the last day of the session.
The Chamber commends members of our Senate and
House who voted against this bill. We joined with the urban chambers throughout Tennessee, the TML and the entire business community in strong
opposition to this bill, which could have had drastic impacts on our communities.
Minimum Wage (SB
3120/ HB 3402)
The Minimum Wage Bill, that would have raised
the minimum wage in Tennessee to $6.15/hour ($1 above the federally mandated $5.15/hour), also passed the House on Friday 52-43-0 after several hours
of debate. Hours later the Senate referred the bill to Senate Judiciary Committee where it would stay, unheard, until the session ended.
The Chamber again would like to recognize those
members of the House and Senate who recognized the negative impacts that a minimum wage at the state level would have on our economy.
Metro News:
Budget
Mayor Purcell officially delivered his proposed budget to members of the Metro Council last Friday.
The Council has begun the review process and will release a finalized 2006-2007 budget by the end of the month. The Chamber will be
following that process and keeping you updated.
Music City Center Public Hearing
The Nashville Civic Design Center this week held
two public forums to discuss the proposed Music City Center, a new convention center for downtown Nashville. This was an opportunity for the public to
hear from members of the Music City Center Committee about the proposed site and funding plan as recommended by the Task Force appointed by the Mayor
to study the issue. The public then had an opportunity to comment and discuss the plan and submit ideas.
The Chamber's Board of Governors has come out in
unanimous support of the Music City Center. For more information or to become involved in the effort to build a new convention center for downtown
Nashville, click here.
Federal
Issues:
Immigration Bill
heads to Conference
On June 1, President Bush urged an avidly divided Congress
on Thursday to reach an election-year compromise on immigration legislation that provides a chance at citizenship for some illegal immigrants already
in the country.
The two houses have passed significantly
different versions of the comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
The House version is generally limited to border
enforcement, making all illegal immigrants
subject to felony charges and cracking down on employers who hire them. The Senate version includes more money for border
security, creates a guest worker program to bring in new foreign workers, and provides an opportunity for citizenship for many of the estimated 11
million illegal immigrants already in the country.
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce joins
with the President and Senate Majority Leader Frist in advocating for a comprehensive package that includes a guest worker provision. We will
keep you posted as the two houses attempt to come to a resolution.
To contact the Chamber's Government Relations Department click here
