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Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

Legislative Update

May 26, 2006

State of Metro Address

"The state of our city is great", Mayor Purcell announced to around 1,000 Nashvillians during his annual State of Metro Address yesterday. The event marked the release of the Mayor's budget for the coming year. The Mayor shared some highlights from the budget that was officially delivered to the Metro Council this morning. Items in the budget include:

Metro Nashville Public Schools would get the full operating request and an extra $6.2 million for previously unfunded priorities, for a total of $563.23 million. This is a 3.87 percent increase over this year's $542.25 million.
Funding for Nashville General Hospital
Funding for the new Museum of African-American Music, Art & Culture and the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall
Funding for the next phase of the "Parks and Recreation Master Plan" (a plan commissioned by the Mayor in 2001 to lead our parks system into the next 20 years)

The Chamber applauds the Mayor for each of these funding priorities, and looks forward to learning more details as the Metro Council reviews the budget.

Budget

The Senate and House both approved different versions of the $26 billion 2006-07 appropriations bill this week. Tennessee's booming economy led both houses to pass budgets with more than $400 million in extra tax revenues being spent. The surplus largely resulted from increased corporate tax collections. The Senate and the House, as expected, did not agree on how best to spend this surplus.

Of the $400 million in the House's budget, Nashville received some additional direct help with local school funding and for Nashville General Hospital.

The Senate also turned down a provision that would increase the state share of the BEP funding. As it stands now, some school districts already benefit from higher funding than the formula would allow, and so many urban school systems would not benefit. Gov. Phil Bredesen previously avoided any changes in the complex BEP formula which he believes should be further examined and considered for action next year.

Many deem the two houses are close enough on the final budget figures to avoid a conference committee on the budget. If the final budget is agreed upon by the Senate today, the Legislature could adjourn its 104^th General Assembly. We will have to wait and see...

Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Executive Order Signed by the Governor

The Chamber commends Governor Bredesen for the signing of Executive Order 38 on Monday. The Governor acknowledged that "small business really is the heart of our economy" and that regulations are often more difficult on owners of small businesses who have fewer resources and staff than larger companies.

The Chamber joined with the National Federation of Independent Business and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce this year in asking legislators for reform in this area.

The order requires, prior to initiating a rulemaking process, that an agency conduct a review of whether the proposed rule affects small businesses and whether a means exists to make the rule less costly for small businesses without compromising the objective of the rule. The Order is further recognition by the Governor of the importance of small business in growing Tennessee's economy and in creating jobs. We thank the Governor for his leadership and initiative.

SB 1116 / HB 2035

The Professional Fire Department Employees Negotiation Act

This bill is strongly opposed by the Chamber and the greater business community and your legislators need to hear your voice.

This bill continues to move and is scheduled to be on the floor of both houses today. The Chamber has joined with the Urban Chambers of Tennessee in STRONG OPPOSITION to this bill, and we encourage you to contact your legislators today to make your voice heard.

This is a poorly drafted bill that is anti-government employee, anti-local government and anti-taxpayer.

The result would be a landmark philosophical shift in Tennessee's laws governing employee/employer relationships. More time should be spent studying and comprehending the scope of the effects of the bill on firefighters and taxpayers alike. It will change the ways in which our local governments do business, change costs of local government, and have an impact on the delivery of services and the employment culture of our communities.

The Chamber must work to ensure we maintain the business-friendly environment that gives Tennessee a competitive advantage in business recruitment and retention. The increased and real likelihood of disruption of government services would do serious damage to that advantage.

SB 3120 / HB 3402

Tennessee Minimum Wage Act

The Tennessee Minimum Wage Act also continues to move. The bill is scheduled to go before both the House and Senate today. The anti-business bill will enact a state minimum wage of $6.15 with penalties.

The Chamber is opposed to this bill and we encourage you to contact your legislators in both the House and the Senate and ask them to oppose this "jobs killer" bill today.

Eminent Domain sent to governor

Legislation regulating the use of eminent domain is on its way to Governor Bredesen after passing the House on Wednesday 90-6-1. This legislation prohibits local government from condemning land for public good with the following five exceptions: industrial parks, blighted areas, roads and utility companies, and incidental benefit.

Cover Tennessee

On Tuesday Governor Bredesen released the following statement with regards to his Cover Tennessee plan.

"I appreciate the thoughtful, bipartisan debate the General Assembly has applied to this proposal over the past two months, and I'm especially pleased we can now begin building out these programs to provide health coverage for working Tennesseans and small businesses.

"Since introducing the Cover Tennessee program in March, the proposal has received the support of small businesses, uninsured individuals and, with today's action, the members of the General Assembly. It's clear that Tennesseans want to provide affordable and portable coverage for most needed health services and I'm glad we're now able to move ahead toward implementation."

Immigration Bill heads to Conference

After lengthy debate, the United States Senate passed an immigration bill by a 62-36 vote yesterday. The bill is a comprehensive package that includes enforcement details of border security in addition to a guest worker program, a farm worker program, and options for some illegal immigrants to become citizens. Now a new debate will begin as the House and Senate attempt to reconcile their bills. The bill that the House of Representatives passed last year is generally a border enforcement bill. It would subject all illegal immigrants to felony charges and has no guest worker or citizenship provisions.

The Chamber commends Senate Majority Leader Frist, who voted for the Senate bill, and said he would seek to have negotiations begin soon. It is expected to be a difficult conference and Senate leaders have said they expect President Bush to play a role in helping the two houses resolve this issue.

The Chamber is supportive of the comprehensive version of immigration reform as passed by the Senate. Chamber leaders discussed this issue with Senate Majority Leader Frist during our D.C. Fly-In in March. The Chamber advocated for this type of comprehensive reform and stressed its importance to the economic growth and stability of Middle Tennessee.

In case you missed it...

Four lawmakers received summonses this week to the federal court trial of former State Senator Roscoe Dixon due to be prosecuted for bribery in a trial starting May 30, 2006. Those that will testify, largely as character witnesses, include Lt. Governor John Wilder, Sen. Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland), Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis), and Rep. Ulysses Jones (D-Memphis).