MURFREESBORO - Today Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Jonathon Fagan admonished Representative Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro) for refusing to sign onto a resolution (HJR0750)in the Tennessee legislature honoring Congressman Bart Gordon’s 26 years of service to Tennessee.
“Rowland has already gained a reputation as an incompetent and ineffectual Representative, and this petty partisanship adds immaturity to that reputation,” Fagan said. He added that Rowland has herself sponsored many resolutions in the past, even for her current boyfriend Ronnie Barrett, and questions why Rowland would not simply add her name to a resolution honoring a retiring Congressman of 26 years from our own county.
On Wednesday, January 27 2010, Representative Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro) sponsored a resolution honoring the retiring Congressman. It is customary for all Representatives to sign on and co-sponsor such resolutions of recognition for retiring Congressman and Senators. However, Republican Leader Glen Casada of Brentwood notified Coleman that House Republicans would not be doing so.
“Bart Gordon has worked for Rutherford County and the Sixth District for over a quarter century. Whether or not we all agree with his every decision, he deserves to be recognized for his service just as Republicans Bill Frist and Fred Thompson were recognized by all Democrats for their service.”
Rep. Rowland and 36 Republican colleagues, in an unprecedented partisan move, refused to sign the resolution. By contrast, when Republicans Bill Frist and Fred Thompson retired from the U.S. Senate all 99 House members, Republican and Democrat, co-sponsored a resolution of recognition. At that time, both the Tennessee Senate and the Tennessee House of Representatives were controlled by Democrats, but Republicans are unwilling to return the favor this time around.
Yesterday, Rep. Kent Coleman sponsored a simple resolution in the Tennessee House to recognize Bart Gordon’s 26 years of service to the State of Tennessee. 37 Republicans refused to sign it. The Nashville Post and WPLN have the story:
Such a resolution is routinely “co-sponsored” by all the members of the House and Senate so that all their names appear on the framed document for the Congressman’s wall.
But this time most of the names on Gordon’s “thank you” will be Democrats. Coleman was asked by Republicans not to add them as co-sponsors.
“I think with the maybe increased partisanship that exists in government today. It was probably a better idea to allow people to sign on to the resolution and not make that type of motion and cause a political disturbance.”
Only thirteen of the 50 Republicans in the state House signed on to the resolution honoring Gordon’s services.
UPDATE: Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro) was among those refusing to recognize Gordon, even though she represents his home city and county of Rutherford.
NOT AWARE HE VOTED FOR INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The Daily News Journal’s weekly columnist Sam Stockard asked Bill Ketron why he voted for Race To The Federal Trough along with every other Republican legislator from Rutherford County. Here is what Ketron said:
Asked if he knows what the international benchmarks are, state Sen. Bill Ketron said, “I do not. We were told they would come from the U.S. Department of Education. The thing was on a fast track,” Ketron said. “We barely had time to read through it. It’s voluminous.”
Yet Ketron and fellow Republicans, Sen. Jim Tracy, of Shelbyville, Rep. Donna Rowland of Murfreesboro, Rep. Joe Carr of Lascassas and Rep. Pat Marsh of Shelbyville, members of the Rutherford County delegation, voted for it. Only state Rep. Kent Coleman, a Murfreesboro Democrat, voted against it.
So Republican Senator Bill Ketron admits that he voted for a massive overhaul of Tennessee’s education system without knowing much of what it actually accomplished. He also admits that as a “conservative” Republican, he thinks its just great to beg for half a billion dollars in stimulus cash with strings attached - strings that could bind our teachers to international standards. Sounds like something Tennessee’s Tea Party crowd would really oppose, but they are deathly silent on the matter because the legislation was backed by their republican overlords Ron Ramsey and Glen Casada. Just more evidence that the Tea Party crowd are willing to ignore their own stated beliefs if republicans tell them to, just like they did when they gave George W. Bush free reign to plunge our nation into huge war debts and pass unfunded federal mandates like No Child Left Behind.
Here’s how Rutherford County’s delegation voted when it came to tying teachers’ jobs to factors beyond their control: Kent Coleman (D) - NO, Joe Carr (R) - YES, Donna Rowland (R) - YES, Bill Ketron (R) - YES, Jim Tracy (R) -YES.
Last week’s Special Session called by Governor Bredesen to overhaul Tennessee’s education system was a locomotive speeding towards passage that even Superman could not have stopped. This massive legislation was debated in committees for a single day, and passed on the Senate and House floor the next.
Every Republican Representative voted to seek stimulus cash through federal Race To The Top grants, and our Democratic Governor and Democratic Caucuses backed the measure as well even though it meant adopting federal guidelines tying teachers’ performance to mere test scores . Only a handful of Democrats (8 to be exact) were willing to stand up for teachers and say ‘NO’ to a governor of their own Party and their own caucus leadership.
Our own Rep. Kent Coleman was the only Rutherford County legislator to stand on principle and stand up for teachers when it came time to vote, even though he knew he was also standing right in front of a speeding locomotive. It took the courage of Superman to rise and say this on the House floor last Friday night:
Republicans controlled this year’s session of the Tennessee legislature for the first time since reconstruction (1870’s). They took over in a time of unprecedented economic hardship and sagging revenues, adding up to a budget mess that required quick action. What did republicans do with their newfound leadership opportunities? They plugged the budget holes with the very stimulus money they protested, passed “Guns in Bars”, and headed home with their pockets full of per diem checks.
All the while, far right Tennessee Republicans made impassioned speeches about “following the Constitution”, the evils of the stimulus package (yet spent it to plug budget holes), and “limited government”. They even formed a committee to study secession.
Now a Chancery Judge has ruled that the “Guns in Bars” law is unconstitutionally vague, citing that it is problematic for police and small business owners (you know, the ones republicans claim to protect). Following the Constitution to the letter is the one thing all republicans pride themselves in and espouse constantly. This year, when they finally took power for the first time since reconstruction, they couldn’t even do that. The City Paper has the story
In her ruling, [Chancellor] Bonnyman agreed the law was too vague and “does violate the due process rights of the public in general and plaintiff gun permit holders.” The chancellor based her decision on the fact that permit holders cannot determine whether or not they are in violation of the law.
“The principle business being conducted cannot be known to the ordinary citizen,” Bonnyman said. “Inquiry would not be satisfactory or helpful.”
It’s not clear whether or not the Attorney General will appeal the ruling, which effectively eliminated the statute from the law. The legislature is likely to address a new version of the bill in the next session but it is unclear whether or not a guns-in-bar provision will see the same support.
Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas spoke out in support of Bonnyman’s decision, and said his one concern he had was that the ruling would allow the issue to “again take center stage during the next legislative session instead of the vitally important issue of keeping convicted felons behind bars.”
The state legislature may be out of session but according to local media reports Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) has been spending a lot of summer days at the Capitol claiming per diems, a day’s pay for showing up. Rep. Carr was at the top of the list when it came to which Republican requested the most per diems after the session was already over.
It’s gotten so bad that Republican House Speaker Kent Williams issued a letter to all Representatives asking them to follow some basic guidelines to cut per diem requests. You can read the letter here.
Rep. Carr must not have gotten the memo because he kept requesting money all summer when he thought no one would be watching. Rep. Carr didn’t think twice about pushing his own bill in the last session demanding Gov. Bredesen not accept federal stimulus funds for extended jobless benefits for his district’s growing unemployed. Now that Rep. Carr needs a stimulus of his own, he’s off to collect his directly from the tax payers.
We’ll take a closer look at Rep. Carr’s summer per diem requests later, but first, let’s look at how much our county’s delegation is costing us.
What the list of our county delegation’s per diem requests for the entire session factually shows the voters of our county is a record of spending on the part of the Republican delegation. Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) doesn’t look that bad on the surface, but then she’s got a lot of making up to do for being deemed the most expensive Republican in the entire House for filing resolutions honoring everything from campaign contributors to her new boyfriend.
The list below does not include per diem requests made after the session, which ought to put Rep. Carr over the top.
Just as a growing number of Rutherford County families are feeling the brunt of significant job loses, Rutherford County Republicans are very busy planning yet another “tea party” to protest the help we need from the federal government.
Last night, the House voted 73 - 20 to postpone fair and accurate elections in the state of Tennessee until 2012. Republican Representatives Joe Carr (R-48) and Donna Rowland (R-34) both voted for the delay. Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) voted against the delay.
The Senate will now consider Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) version of the bill. SB 872 will delay the implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act (TVCA) which passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The TVCA requires all counties to switch to optical scanned paper ballots instead of using electronic voting machines.
Sen. Ketron and fellow Republicans have expressed concerns over the cost of implementing the new law they passed despite the fact that it will be paid for by $25 million in federal funds from the Help America Vote Act.
A coalition of civic groups denounced voting machine legislation passed last night by the full House of Representatives. Gathering to Save Our Democracy, Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, along with VerifiedVoting.org, Voter Action, and Voters Unite.org called for the Senate to reject HB 614. A companion bill, Senate Bill 872, also awaits floor action in the Senate. HB 614 would delay the implementation of paper records verified by the voter from the 2010 general election to the 2012 general election. It would also replace a hand counted audit of computer vote tallies with an “audit” that would involve using the counties’ inventory of ballot scanners. These scanners would nearly always have the same software, and come from the same voting machine company, as the scanners used to tally initial results.
Sen. Ketron has failed to provide a rational arguement for his focus on delaying the implemention of fair and accurate elections in Tennessee, but his actions fall in line with a pattern of promoting bad government. Sen. Ketron was also successful during this session in yanking the teeth out of the independent Ethics Commission responsibile for investigating corruption on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) tried to exclude Rutherford County from a bipartisan bill that would create statewide building construction safety standards and promote energy efficiency savings for working families.
Several rural counties in Tennessee have no home construction safety standards for one-family and two-family dwellings. The bill would protect residents from builders who place families at risk to maximize their own profits.
Rep. Rowland said establishing basic safety and energy efficiency standards in Rutherford County to protect the lives of homeowners and save them money on energy costs would present an unnecessary burden on home builders. After hearing Rep. Rowland’s argument today on behalf of her major donors, Rep. Rowland’s House constituents voted against her amendment, and it failed.
Beginning July 1, 2010, this amendment applies the statewide building construction safety standards established by the state fire marshal to one-family and two-family dwellings, unless the local government has adopted the International Residential Code for such dwellings. Under present law, one-family and two-family dwellings are exempt from the statewide standards. The full text of this amendment establishes a process for appointment of deputy building inspectors to conduct safety standards compliance inspections of one-family and two-family dwellings.
Also, beginning July 1, 2010, this amendment requires that the statewide building construction safety standards must include energy efficiency standards. This amendment prohibits the state fire marshal from including in the standards a mandatory requirement that one-family and two-family dwellings have sprinklers; provided, however, that local governments will be authorized to adopt more stringent standards for such dwellings.
A Republican sponsored bill (HB 1204 / SB 1331) that would have allowed the coal industry to pollute Tennessee’s waterways narrowly failed in the state House today 49 - 42. The bill’s House sponsor says he is not sure if he’ll try to refile the bill.
Rep. Joe McCord (R-8) admitted today on the House floor that the bill was written and given to him to sponsor by the coal industry. The bill would have allowed selenium levels from coal production to reach unacceptable levels (7.5 ppm) in Tennessee lakes, rivers and streams. Watch this video to see what selenium waste has done to aquatic life.
Rep. McCord and several of his Republican colleagues repeatedly claimed the bill would bring Tennessee up to the latest EPA standards for selenium levels in U.S. waterways. The EPA, however, never adopted the proposal which Republicans falsely claimed were the latest standards.
Furthermore, the scientist who helped draft the 2004 proposal for the EPA on selenium levels has since reported that his findings were wrong and that the bill as written would in fact kill nearly 80% of fish in Tennessee waterways, one reason the proposal was rejected by the Bush Administration’s EPA in the first place.
Despite these facts, Tennessee Republicans persisted on behalf of the coal industry, including those representing Rutherford County.
The audacity of Tennessee Republicans to pass off junk science and misrepresent the truth in the state legislature as the basis of their support for poisoning Tennessee waterways is embarrassing and immoral.
Tennesseans are called upon to be good stewards of God’s creation and to protect it for generations to come. Tennessee Republicans demonstrated today yet again whose side they are on when it comes to that calling. Tennessee Republicans sided with the interests of the coal industry over protecting our environment and our great state’s cultural heritage of hunting and fishing.
Here is how our state’s delegation voted on the selenium bill:
Barely 20 people showed up today for an anti-government protest organized by Rutherford County Republicans. The protest took place on a short stretch of sidewalk in Murfreesboro, TN.
Michael Patrick Leahy, a prominent Williamson County Republican and national tea party organizer, was scheduled to speak at the protest but was a no show just as we predicted he would be.
Leahy was recently exposed by a blogger for having over $100,000 in unpaid tax liens and civil judgments against him over the past 16 years. Leahy has virtually disappeared since our reporting. Leahy is now suing the blogger.
Today’s “instant tea party” was held barely weeks after hundreds of Rutherford County Republicans stood on the square protesting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
In today’s Daily News Journal, Rep. Rowland finally explains why her resolution honoring her boyfriend, Ronnie Barrett, wasn’t wasteful at all.
When state Rep. Donna Rowland issued a statement recently showing her dissatisfaction with the amount of time and money spent on memorials and congratulatory resolutions in the General Assembly, she failed to mention she passed a resolution in May 2007 honoring her current boyfriend.
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“That’s one of a handful I passed since my freshman year,” Rowland, R-Murfreesboro, said Monday. “It was my attempt to honor an outstanding individual in the community.”
The House joint resolution Rowland sponsored two years ago commended Ronnie Barrett as the the 2006 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
“WHEREAS, this prestigious award recognizes leaders and visionaries who are creating and building world-class businesses; and WHEREAS, a born problem solver and innovative thinker, Mr. Barrett passionately pursued his belief in a .50-caliber rifle that could be shoulder-fired; in 1982, at the age of twenty-eight and through self-taught engineering and personal research and development, Mr. Barrett designed and manufactured the M82 .50-caliber rifle … ” and it continues, extolling the virtues of Barrett’s invention and manufacturing.
Despite Republican protests, several construction companies are now placing bids to spend the stimulus funds and create jobs for Rutherford County families. Below is a list of the stimulus funded road projects in our county and the current company bids being considered by the state.
With the Senate’s passage of the Moonshine Bill, the focus now shifts to Rep. Joe Carr’s version in the House and the liquor interests Carr said his bill was for.
IASIS Healthcare Secretary and General Counsel Frank Coyle and IASIS Healthcare Operations Counsel Heath Clark were vaguely identified in an April 30, 2009 article in the Daily News Journal as “entreprenuers” who Sen. Ketron said sought his legislative help to bring distilleries to Tennessee, promising him one would locate in Rutherford County.
Both Clark and Coyle are not registered as lobbyists with the state of Tennessee.
Clark used to work for Bass, Berry & Simms, a legal and lobbying firm that represents the liquor industry, including Kentucky-based distilled spirits manufacturer Brown-Forman. If that name sounds familiar, it should. Sen. Ketron failed to get a bill passed for Brown-Forman back in 2006 that would have allowed a $10 million liquor museum in downtown Nashville. Interestingly enough, the current legislation sponsored by Sen. Ketron and Rep. Carr could allow Brown-Forman to pursue those plans without ever establishing its own distillery in Rutherford County or elsewhere.
As written, Sen. Ketron’s bill would allow a licensed distillery to operate a still of any size within zoning guidelines. That would include a very small “craft” still. Brown-Forman could easily have their $10 million museum in association with a small “craft” distillery through Sen. Ketron’s new bill without all the fuss of paying lobbyists and drawing attention to a previous failed effort.
On April 23 we reported that Rep. Joe Carr announced his intention to help the two IASIS attorneys bring a liquor distillery to Rutherford County. When asked who these people were by his colleagues, Rep. Carr had no idea but assured the House they were not contributors to his campaign. You can watch the embarrassing exchange in this video.
The reason Rep. Carr had no idea who his bill was for is now clear thanks to an article in Daily News Journal. Rep. Carr’s bill wasn’t by request of any voter in his district. It was requested by Sen. Ketron who asked Rep. Carr to sponsor a House version, and Rep. Carr did it without asking important questions or doing his homework.
The voters of Rutherford County deserve to know more about who is really behind Sen. Ketron and Rep. Carr’s effort to bring a liquor manufacturer to Rutherford County. What does IASIS think about their moonlighting attorney’s seeking this legislation?
Rutherford County deserves to know where they plan to put a liquor distillery, and we deserve due diligence before our lawmakers do the bidding of the liquor industry. Instead, Sen. Ketron and Rep. Carr are playing games and hiding the true interests behind their legislation.
House Speaker Kent Williams, in response to a reporter question, said had noticed Rowland pushing the blue light on consent calendars, but did not know why she did so. Williams said he was “curious” how Rowland arrived at her cost estimate.
He recalled Rowland “standing in the well,” taking a prominent place in the proceedings, for passage of resolution honoring The Rogers Group, Inc., a construction firm, on its 100th anniversary.
“Maybe she paid for that one. I don’t know,” he said.
Rowland is listed as a co-sponsor of the Rogers resolution on the legislative website — and as voting ‘aye.’
Crunching the numbers, Representative Rowland has spent an average of $35,000 more than the next-most expensive legislator elected in the same cycle. The range - the space between the most expensive and least expensive - is $95,200. The AVERAGE cost here is $58,880 - with Representative Rowland’s fiscal request costing $55,000 more than that!
MURFREESBORO - Today Rutherford County Democratic Party Chairman Jonathon Fagan admonished Representative Donna Rowland (R-Murfreesboro) for refusing to sign onto a resolution (HJR0750)in the Tennessee legislature honoring Congressman Bart Gordon’s 26 years of service to Tennessee.
Here’s how Rutherford County’s delegation voted when it came to tying teachers’ jobs to factors 
Republicans controlled this year’s session of the Tennessee legislature for the first time since reconstruction (1870’s). They took over in a time of unprecedented economic hardship and sagging revenues, adding up to a budget mess that required quick action. What did republicans do with their newfound leadership opportunities? They plugged the budget holes with the very stimulus money they protested, passed “Guns in Bars”, and headed home with their 
Just as a growing number of Rutherford County families are feeling the brunt of significant job loses, Rutherford County Republicans are very busy planning yet another “tea party” to protest the help we need from the federal government.
Last night, the House voted 73 - 20 to postpone fair and accurate elections in the state of Tennessee until 2012. Republican Representatives 
Barely 20 people showed up today for an anti-government protest organized by Rutherford County Republicans. The protest took place on a short stretch of sidewalk in Murfreesboro, TN.
President Barack Obama’s stimulus funds are creating jobs for Rutherford County families in 
Republican House Speaker Kent Williams is the latest Republican to remind Tennessee that 
