NASHVILLE - Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said the legislative record of state Sen. Bill Ketron indicates that the Murfreesboro lawmaker is simply a “yes” man for fellow Republican senator and gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey, the state’s lieutenant governor.
“The district’s voters deserve an elected official who is looking after their interests, not someone who is more worried about political posturing and feathering his own nest,” Forrester said. “Mr. Ketron has demonstrated time and again that his priorities align more with the powers that be than with the hard-working families in Middle Tennessee.
“At a time when families are struggling to make ends meet and the state’s budget is being trimmed to the bone, you have a legislator introducing bills that bleed the working man, delay fair and accurate elections, and shut the door to a more open government. Mr. Ketron is out of touch with ordinary people.”
For example, Ketron introduced poorly written workers compensation legislation that passed into law in 2008 but was delayed at the beginning of this year’s legislative session after concerns arose; a bill that delayed implementation of a law requiring the purchase of new voting equipment across the state; and a bill that would make some public records off limits to the general public.
“We need lawmakers in the General Assembly who understand the challenges we face and work tirelessly to make Tennessee a better place to live and raise a family,” Forrester said.
“Policies that create jobs for our communities, ensure our children are well educated and make our lives more comfortable should be at the top of the priority list, not how to take care of a special interest group contributing to your campaign or a colleague with ulterior motives.”
Ketron has even admitted he doesn’t always have time to thoroughly read and understand legislation he votes for or against. He represents Lincoln, Marshall, Maury and part of Rutherford counties in the Senate.
“The thing was on a fast track,” Ketron reportedly told the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal when explaining his vote to reform education through the state’s application for federal stimulus money. “We barely had time to read through it.”
Forrester called Ketron’s explanation for not reading legislation thoroughly before casting a vote a “lame excuse and a blatant disregard for your duty as a legislator.”
“It appears to me that Mr. Ketron is Ron Ramsey’s ‘yes’ man,” he added.
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:
FORCED TO CO-SPONSOR DEMOCRATIC BILL TO DELAY HIS OWN LAW
A big win for small independent contractors occurred yesterday when republican Senator Bill Ketron, under pressure from independent contractors across the state, was forced to co-sponsor a Democratic bill he did not support last year to delay his own law, Public Chapter 1041, from taking effect. Ketron has finally agreed to support Democrat Tim Barnes’ bill (SB7001) that postpones until March 11, 2011 the deadline for contractors to purchase costly extra insurance. Interestingly, Ketron just last year did not support the delay sponsored by Senator Barnes of Clarksville, a Democrat.
Barnes sponsored SB2055 in 2009 in order to protect small independent contractors from the high costs of new insurance required by the Public Chapter 1041 Law which Ketron sponsored and passed in 2008. Ketron, a republican from Murfreesboro, abstained from voting for Barnes’ delay.
But now that he’s taken so much heat from Tennessee’s small business owners, he thinks delaying his own law is a great idea. He has demanded to be added to the list of co-sponsors of Barnes’ re-introduced bill (now SB7001), a bill he previously did not support.
Barnes’ bill to delay Ketron’s law will come up for a vote today at 1:00 in the Finance Ways & Means committee during Special Session. Unless Ketron abstains from voting again, he has officially flip-flopped on his own law. Maybe Ketron should have supported a delay led by Democrats last year, before he lost the support of Tennessee’s independent contractors.
NASHVILLE - Citing the slumping economy’s devastating effects on small-business owners, Democratic lawmakers Joe Pitts and Tim Barnes are seeking to delay until 2011 a state law that forces all building contractors to carry workers’ compensation insurance.
The law in question, sponsored by Republican House Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol and Republican state Sen. Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, went into effect on Dec. 31. Some building and small-business groups have said the new workers’ compensation policies are too costly for their members, especially at a time when the construction industry is in a downturn.
“Mr. Ketron and Mr. Mumpower are more worried about helping their big business buddies than on helping the self-employed guy out here trying to make ends meet,” Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said. “The workers’ compensation bill they shepherded through the legislature may put some small-business owners in a real financial bind or even out of business.”
Sen. Tim Barnes (D-Clarksville)
“We need lawmakers in the General Assembly who understand the challenges we face and work tirelessly to make Tennessee a better place to live and raise a family. Policies that create jobs for our communities, ensure our children are well educated and make our lives more comfortable should be at the top of the priority list, not how to take care of a special interest group contributing to your campaign.”
State Rep. Pitts and state Sen. Barnes have introduced a bill delaying the new workers’ compensation law, which forces general contractors to carry the insurance on subcontractors and other workers who were not otherwise covered. As written, the new law also applies to sole proprietors and partnerships with six or fewer employees.
“They can’t pay when they are an industry that has been devastated by this recession and their income has shrunk dramatically,” said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, during a recent television interview with WSMV-TV in Nashville.
Efforts by Pitts and Barnes to delay implementation of the law were scuttled last year. The General Assembly, however, will convene tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 12, a special session dealing with education reforms and the workers’ compensation issue.
Many lawmakers agree the law is flawed and hope it can be delayed until all concerns can be addressed.
“I hope this next session will focus on real concerns for the state and not be a venue to score cheap political points for the November elections,” Forrester said. “We have too much riding on the future of this state to waste time on grandstanding and nonsense.”
Republican Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro is an insurance salesman. He has taken in over $20,000 in campaign cash from big insurance and large homebuilding special interests. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he sponsored a new state law to force small contractors and subconstractors to spend their hard-earned profits with him and his insurance buddies instead of spending it on their families in tough economic times.
Public Chapter 1041, sponsored by Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) was lobbied for heavily by the Tennessee Hombuilders Association (a special interest group that represents large development companies) and the Tennessee Insurors Association, who greased the wheels of government with copious amounts of campaign cash for Republican lawmakers in order to further the interests of big business over the little guy. It would require all contractors to purchase workers’ compensation insurance even if their only employee is themselves. The new law took effect January 1st, and small contractors are howling mad about it:
Gerry Fridlund, owner of Skybright Metal Roofing in Memphis, found out about the law the hard way when his insurance company sent him a bill for $4,300 last summer.
“I told them I wasn’t going to pay it,” Fridlund told NIT. “When I asked who was responsible for this I was told the Home Builders Association pushed this through. I think they wanted to stop the little guy from bidding up against the big boys. They want to squeeze the sole proprietors and make it difficult for people to start small businesses.”
The new law’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), is himself an insurance salesman who benefits from raising premiums on small contractor businesses. During his current term, special interest PACs representing large home builders, developers and insurance industries gave more than $20,000 to Ketron’s campaign war chest.
The new law’s House sponsor, Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol), has received $18,000 from special interest PACs representing large home builders, developers and insurance industries during his current term.
Its all fine with Bill Ketron, who will be sending out grossly inflated insurance bills to his customers this year. He doesn’t really care that jobs may be killed to pay for it as long as he gets paid.
Thankfully, Rep. Joe Pitts (D - Clarksville) and Sen. Tim Barnes (D-Clarksville) have listened to the voices of Tennessee’s small business owners and are seeking to delay the enforcement of the new law in Special Session of the General Assembly next week. HB1899 and its companion bill SB2055 delay Ketron’s law until July 1st of 2010. As usual, its up to Democrats to finally stand up for small business owners when republicans and their big business cronies try to sneak in sweetheart deals for themselves.
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.
“The Secretary of State is using his office to obstruct the voting rights of all Tennesseans,” Forrester said. “Mr. Hargett’s refusal to do the job he was sworn to do appears to be part of a nefarious Republican strategy to stand in the way of secure and verifiable elections in Tennessee.
Instead of working to implement state law that was passed almost unanimously last year by both the House and Senate, Sec. Hargett has spent the time lobbying legislators to support Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) bill to re-write the law so that it doesn’t apply to the 2010 elections. State Election Coordinator Mark Goins has also urged county election commissioners to spend their time lobbying the legislature back Sen. Ketron.
“I am honored to present the NASS Medallion Award to Sen. Ketron for his work in pursuing the highest standards of integrity in the electoral process as well as his work to protect the fiscal stability of local governments,” Hargett said in the news release from Senate Republican Caucus spokeswoman Darlene Schlicher.
It’s no surprise Sec. Hargett would use one of five medallions he’s allowed to give out every year as a tool in his continued campaign to obstruct existing election law. Sec. Hargett and Sen. Ketron are two peas in a Republican pod working together to make sure the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act does not apply to the 2010 elections. Voters of Rutherford County deserve and demand better.
Sen. Bill Ketron kisses Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey's pinky ring while Sen. Tracy waits his turn.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey will be in town early tomorrow morning to keynote the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club at the Stones River Country Club. As we predicted last week, Lt. Gov. Ramsey will be introduced to Rutherford County voters by his dutiful pet Senators pictured to the right kissing his pinky ring, Senators Jim Tracy (R-16) and Bill Ketron (R-13).
Voters who considered attending out of curiosity can save themselves the trip. What Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Senators Tracy and Ketron will say is no different from what they’ll say all the way up to the 2010 elections despite the facts.
During tense budget negotiations, Lt. Gov Ramsey disappeared to attend several fundraisers during the legislative session, leaving his pet Senators Ketron and Tracy to defend Ramsey’s disastrous budget proposals. His absence was even noted by the much more disciplined Republican Speaker of the House Kent Williams.
Williams said House members were trying to negotiate with senators over a revisions to the state budget plan on Monday, but Ramsey was not involved.
“He’s not here,” Williams told reporters Monday afternoon. “He’s got three fundraisers tonight and that’s a little more important than state government.”
When Lt. Gov. Ramsey returned from raising money for his gubernatorial campaign he found the Democrats got the priorities of working families fully funded despite Ketron and Tracy’s best efforts. Now Lt. Gov Ramsey is on a desperate tour to claim credit for a compromise budget that funds the very priorities his own budget proposal aimed to destroy.
We’re certain Lt. Gov. Ramsey will find at least a couple of suckers in the room tomorrow as he will across the entire state.
Newly appointed Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett has been caught using the TBI to intimidate proponents of fair and transparent elections in the state of Tennessee.
Sec. Hargett claimed to local media that he couldn’t speak about an ongoing TBI investigation, but the TBI told the media the truth. There is no investigation, and a TBI spokesperson added that Sec. Hargett’s claims were “unsubstantiated.”
Once he knew he was caught in a lie, Sec. Hargett admitted to the media that he sent the TBI to investigate an advocate for fair and transparent elections claiming the advocate made a threat against the state by referencing an incident known as the Battle of Athens.
The August 2, 1946 “battle” involved Second Amendment loving citizens of McMinn County, Tennessee rising up and taking up arms against their corrupt county government for standing in the way of open and honest elections.
Below is part of the Nashville Scene’s account that should enrage every voter in the state of Tennessee.
Newly installed Republican Secretary of State Tre Hargett sicked the TBI on a political opponent on a trumped-up charge of making a “terrorist threat.” The case is now closed, the TBI having found no justification for Hargett’s complaint. Yes, it matters who governs.
Bernie Ellis, founder of the group Gathering to Save Our Democracy, says TBI agents came to his farm yesterday to question him about whether he threatened the Secretary of State’s office in an email. Ellis said he never sent an email to that office, and the agents left after asking him a few questions.
Pith phoned Hargett’s spokesman, Blake Fontenay, for comment today. Guess what? He’d love to talk, of course, but he just can’t. The TBI won’t let him, he says, “because they’re still investigating.” Yes, it’s the old “we never comment on pending investigations” trick.
“I really am not supposed to say anything more than that at this point,” Fontenay apologized. “We’d love to respond but we were asked by the TBI specifically not to respond. There definitely is another side to this, and we wish we could talk about it, but it’s not usually advisable to get the TBI mad at you. My hands are tied at this time.”
So then we phoned the TBI, whose spokeswoman Kristin Helm said basically there is no investigation, and she doesn’t know what Fontenay is talking about.
“We had to go pay Bernie a little visit,” Helm said. “We had a public official who felt as though he was being threatened, who felt there was something floating around in cyberland that was a threat. A couple of agents went to talk to Bernie and pretty much found the threats were unsubstantiated.”
Sec. Hargett’s latest stunt continues a disgraceful pattern by state Republicans that foments distrust with our state’s election process by intimidating proponents of fair elections, openly violating state law to exclude the public from open records and open meetings of county election commissions and delaying existing laws meant to protect the constitutional right to have our votes count.
Rutherford County’s newly appointed Election Commission Chairman Tom Walker violated state law on Monday and Tuesday, both times openly stating to the media that he will not obey the law when it comes to open meetings and public records in the Rutherford County Election Commission office.
This growing pattern of distrust is a disgrace to the state of Tennessee. It is also an affront to the very liberties and freedoms many American heroes fought for and died to protect.
Hello fellow Democrats. I’m pleased to inform you that this year’s session of the Tennessee Legislature has finally come to an end. It was a long and arduous one for our own Curt Cobb and Kent Coleman, who had to wade through 142 gun bills and several booze bills sponsored by our republican Senator Bill Ketron and Rep. Joe Carr . At last, republicans proposed a budget that killed recruitment dollars for a private solar power plant that would bring 30,000 jobs to Tennessee , put Pre-K education on the chopping block , gutted the Ethics Commission , repealed the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act , stripped funding for MTSU’s Education Building , halted badly needed road and bridge projects, and even refused to erect statues for Tennessee’s Nobel Peace Prize recipients! Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle (D - Memphis) likened it to cuttin’ and runnin’ and Governor Bredesen called it “stupid” . Our republican Senators Jim Tracy and Bill Ketron quickly voted for this “stupid” budget, and refused to help MTSU and its Education Building project. Luckily, Democrats in the House were able to fix most of this disastrous budget and forced Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey (R-Bristol) to surrender . We won this round.
But, we weren’t able to save the Ethics Commission, even though Rep. Kent Coleman tried his best to stand up for ethics in government. We also have to live with guns in bars, and paper-verified voting was postponed for another year even though we’re sitting on $34 million to implement it! Bottom line - we need more Democrats in the Tennessee Legislature. This website offers ways to get involved, contribute to the effort, stay updated on the issues, and stay connected. Your continued help and involvement is appreciated.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey fails to defund pre-k and MTSU bonds
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s budget proposal to defund pre-k education and construction bonds for MTSU failed to get support of more level-headed lawmakers on Capitol Hill, after Rutherford County rank-and-file Democrats applied the heat over the past week.
In a last minute effort to cut funding to Tennessee’s educational priorities, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) crashed a press conference yesterday and cried out against providing recurring funds to pre-k education. The budget that finally passed rejected their efforts in favor of the common-sense plan promoted by Democrats.
In the House, Rep. Donna Rowland (R-34) went out of her way to make sure her voice vote against MTSU funding was reflected in the official record. Duly noted.
Another defeat to the budget plan promoted by Republicans Ramsey, Ketron and Tracy came when the House approved a compromise budget that included bonds for MTSU’s approved Education Building. Senators Ketron and Tracy had made a back-door deal with Lt. Gov. Ramsey to scuttle the funding, but Democrats raised enough hell through emails and phone calls that Republicans caved.
None of this would have been possible without you standing up for the priorities that matter to your family and Rutherford County. Because Democrats took a stand for the priorities of working families, the Republican plan to cut funding to pre-k education and construction bonds for MTSU and other state universities failed miserably.
Despite their defeated budget proposals to defund education priorities of working families, Senators Ketron and Tracy will welcome Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey to Rutherford County in the coming months to gleefully take credit for the Democratic investments in education. You can count on us making sure the voters are reminded of the truth.
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.
Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) ran to the media to take credit for funding a needed building project at MTSU, but behind closed doors they’ve pledged allegiance to the Republican Party to defund it.
The Rutherford County Republicans have pledged to pull the plug on construction jobs at MTSU and the on site progress for a new education building for the state’s largest university.
According to David Gregory, vice chancellor for administration and facilities with the Tennessee Board of Regents, the $29.8 million project was funded in the 2007-2008 budget year as a Board of Regents capital outlay project, with a funding structure consisting of $17.3 million in cash and $12.5 million or in bonds.
Of that, $1.7 million has already been allocated in design fees and programming fees to the new building near Cummings Hall and the new roundabout on the MTSU campus. In addition, another $260,000 plus in construction management and site utility construction has been obligated.
Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and Senators Ketron and Tracy are united in their opposition to improvements in education, health care and jobs. All three Republicans have opposed federal stimulus funds in all three areas, oppose recurring funds for pre-k education and now want to make major cuts in promised funds to MTSU.
Friday, the Senate Finance Committee passed Republican revisions to the governor’s budget plan eliminating the authorization of bonds for several higher education construction projects, including the MTSU project.
Some hope that will be changed on Tuesday, when the full Senate takes up the budget.
“I would say to you, we don’t build those buildings now, we will be unable to build them for some years to come because of the state finances,” said Democratic Sen. Jim Kyle.
MTSU was founded 98 years ago as a teachers college. University officials hope to mark the 100th anniversary by opening a building devoted to education teachers.
Senators Ketron and Tracy have spent months pushing a Republican agenda focused on abortion, guns and booze. When it comes time for leadership on issues that matter to working families of Rutherford County, they both choose cuts in education, health care and jobs instead of the hard work it takes to improve the quality of our lives.
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said the legislative record of state Sen. Bill Ketron indicates that the Murfreesboro lawmaker is simply a “yes” man for fellow Republican senator and gubernatorial candidate Ron Ramsey, the state’s lieutenant governor.
Here’s how Rutherford County’s delegation voted when it came to tying teachers’ jobs to factors 
Republican Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro is an insurance salesman. He has taken in over $20,000 in campaign cash from big insurance and large homebuilding special interests. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he sponsored a new state law to force small contractors and subconstractors to spend their hard-earned profits with him and his insurance buddies instead of spending it on their families in tough economic times.
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 
Last night, the House voted 73 - 20 to postpone fair and accurate elections in the state of Tennessee until 2012. Republican Representatives 
