Archive for the ‘Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13)’ Category

Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) Crash Pre-K Press Conference

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) joined Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey yesterday in crashing a press conference by advocates for pre-K education. Advocates had gathered for a press conference on Capitol Hill to stand up to Republican proposals to cut pre-k funding.

Democrats want funding for pre-k education to be a part of the general budget as recurring funds year after year. Senators Ketron, Tracy and other state Republicans want those funds to remain in non-recurring funds that are voted on by the legislature.

Placing pre-k funding on the annual chopping block is just one of the Republican budget proposals Gov. Bredesen recently called “stupid.” The Republican proposal to keep pre-k funding on the chopping block year after year is part a general state Republican Party agenda of defunding the priorities of working families.

Tennessee ranks in the top half of states that focus on pre-k education. If Tennessee Republicans get their way, Tennessee could find itself knocked off yet another good list of states focused on education.

Tennessee’s Pre-K program met nine out of 10 quality standards benchmarks in the report, The State of Preschool 2008. The state increased enrollment of 4-year-olds to 21 percent, and the $4,465 in per-child state spending earned the state a 13th place ranking on resources.

“Quality Pre-K classrooms are one of the best investments we can make in the education of children in Tennessee,” Governor Bredesen said. “Even in difficult budget times we have been able to maintain our support for these classes and, as this report shows, it’s paying off.”

Another Racist Tennessee Republican Gets National Attention…

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Sen. Diane Black's Racist Email

Sen. Diane Black's Racist Email

A legislative aid for Tennessee Republican Senate Caucus Chair Sen. Diane Black (R-18) has been caught sending a racist email to fellow Republicans. It is another example of Tennessee Republicans dangerously fanning the flames of racism over the past year.

Republican Legislative Aid Sherri Goforth admitted yesterday to sending a photo montage of U.S. Presidents from her state-owned computer and email account with President Barack Obama depicted as a pair of floating eyes in darkness. Sen. Black told the media that a written reprimand is all she and other TN GOP leaders intend to do about the email. Goforth is a 20 year state employee and makes close to $50,000 a year.

Goforth made matters worse yesterday by suggesting she was more sorry about being exposed as a racist than she was at her poor judgment and character.

“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”

The Tennessee Democratic Party has called on Senate Republican leadership to fire Goforth.

“I am calling on Sen. Black to reject this racist smear and fire this staffer who, on state government time, on state government computers, using a state government email account, launched this bigoted attack on our president,” Forrester said. “Keeping her on the staff would send the message that this type of behavior is condoned by the House Republican Caucus.”

The new leadership of the Tennessee Republican Party has refused to comment on the story hoping this latest incident of racism will disappear. Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13)  and Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16) haven’t said a word about their party boss’s decision to keep Goforth employed on the tax payer’s dime.

Since Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey’s backroom budget includes so many firings of state employees, we think he could save at least one working family’s breadwinner from a pink slip by firing this racist staffer. Will Ramsey, Black and the Republican leadership show that kind of integrity? Stay tuned…

Senators Bill Ketron (R-13) and Jim Tracy (R-16) make closed-door deal to kill MTSU Education Building

Friday, June 12th, 2009

jimtracyleftbillketron1Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) and Sen. Jim Tracy (R-16) have made a partisan pledge to Republican leadership not to fund any bonds for a badly needed building project at Middle Tennessee State University. The closed-door pledge is part of a Republican budget plan that makes major cuts in education, jobs and health care.

Rutherford County’s Republican delegation has wasted months on abortion, guns and booze bills, but threw together a last minute budget proposal that abandons the priorities of working families and those seeking to better themselves through education.

In March of 2008, Sen. Tracy went to the media taking credit for millions of dollars in annual bonds for a badly needed College of Education and Behavioral Science building at MTSU.

“The Science Building at MTSU has been on the list to be funded for a number of years,” Tracy added. “The time has come for the state to make a commitment to MTSU and its students. I am optimistic that we can get funding this year for this important project.”

Though Ketron and Tracy are quick to take credit for MTSU building projects they never lifted a finger for (no MTSU building projects have begun during their 2 terms) and claim they are working to fund our hometown university, Ketron and Tracy can’t even figure out where the money is.

State Rep. Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, said Wednesday that money for the project was appropriated two years ago. “I don’t know if they have used that anywhere else,” he said.

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, expressed similar concerns.

“Where did (the money) go? Who authorized them to take the money?” he said.

Ketron and Tracy talk a good game, but now its time to put up or shut up. Will Ketron and Tracy vote to fund MTSU’s Education Building and the jobs it creates? Will they take a stand and fight for MTSU?

TAKE ACTION: Use the form below and ask both Senators Tracy and Ketron to break their pledge with Republicans and fund MTSU’s Education Building.

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Republicans blame media as they move to kill Ethics Commission

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Rep. Curry Todd (R-95) repeated Sen. Bill Ketron’s recent finger pointing at the media for what Republicans are about to do to the one government body that protects us from corrupt politicians.

Rep. Todd made the statement as the state legislature considers Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) bill to scrap the Ethics Commission to save money.

Todd, who seems to enjoy playing the love-hate relationship game with the Capitol press corps, told the House Finance Budget Subcommittee today that the ethics commission in its current form was the media’s fault, not the result of that pesky Operation Tennessee Waltz bribery scandal.

“If you’re going to conduct something illegal, you’re going to do it anyway, regardless of what kind of ethics you’ve got in place,” Todd told House Speaker Kent Williams, R-Elizabethton, when Williams asked about workload of the current ethics commission.

“I think there was a rush in judgment with regards to some of the media outlets that helped drive that in the state. They probably don’t like what I said, but they don’t like a lot of things I say.”

The Editorial Board of the Daily News Journal published a different take yesterday arguing lawmakers need to fully empower the Ethics Commission.

It’s unfortunate that Tennessee needs such a body to keep an eye on legislators, but the record shows that our state lawmakers are no more honest than the general public — and probably less so. And once they arrive in Nashville, many of them don’t know how to say “no” to smooth-talking, big-spending lobbyists.

Party affiliation makes no difference in this Ethics Commission argument. Democrats and Republicans alike can fall prey to temptations on Capitol Hill, and because the nature of politics and power is corrupting, Tennessee needs to maintain independent checks and balances to ensure lobbyists and legislators are playing by the rules.

Rutherford County Republicans vote to pollute Tennessee waterways

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

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:

Rep. Kent Coleman (D-49) stands with voters over liquor lobbyists

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

House Republicans failed to defeat Rep. Kent Coleman’s (D-49) amendment to a booze bill in the House yesterday.

Rep. Coleman’s amendment allows voters to decide if they want liquor stills built in their communities. A Republican led attempt to defeat this amendment failed Wednesday just as it did the week before.

As written, Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) booze bill would have forced any county whose voters approved liquor stores to also allow liquor stills whether they want them or not. Rep. Coleman’s amendment takes that decision away from lawmakers in the back pocket of liquor lobbyists and puts it back in the hands of the voters.

Rep. Carr attempted to kill Rep. Coleman’s amendment on May 14 on behalf of liquor lobbyists but failed to get support from House members. Republicans returned Wednesday with a second attempt to kill Rep. Coleman’s amendment by forcing counties to accept liquor stills whether they want them or not. The Republican effort was withdrawn yesterday after a considerable outcry from House members who wanted their voters to make these decisions for themselves.  Several of Rep. Carr’s own Republican colleagues had filed amendments to exclude their counties from his booze bill.

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13), the Senate bill’s author, stated on WPLN today that he would support the bill and its amendments, but we’ll see about that once the bill goes to committee. If the amendment is stripped by liquor lobbyists, voters could bring lawsuits against the state for retroactively changing what their votes on liquor store referendums meant for their communities.

Another amendment Republicans might try to strip from the bill in committee is an amendment by Rep. Curt Cobb (D-62) that would protect churches. Rep. Cobb’s amendment requires liquor stills to abide by liquor store zoning rules that prevent them from selling liquor next to churches. The amendment is opposed by liquor lobbyists who want the right to sell liquor anywhere they want.

Also read:

Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) Moonshine Bill heads to the House floor next week

Friday, May 8th, 2009

ketroncarrtoon

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.

Two attorneys for IASIS Healthcare in Franklin, TN have asked Republican Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) and Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) to push legislation to allow liquor manufactures across the state of Tennessee.

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.

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) blames media for focusing on his plan to gut ethics commission

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

ketronshockSen. Bill Ketron (R-13) is mad at all the attention he’s getting for trying to gut the ethics commission in the Tennessee Legislature and used up space in today’s Daily News Journal to defend himself.

Sen. Ketron continues to work hard on a plan to gut the very body that investigates corruption on Capitol Hill. It’s a curious move that would ultimately weaken the state legislature’s effort to hold elected officials accountable to the rule of law and the people they represent.

Sen. Ketron says it is important to gut the ethics commission because 98% of his colleagues are good, honest people. Rutherford County knows better than that, and so does Sam Stockard.

It seems more than anything that Ketron and Ramsey want to eliminate employees, including the director, and cut spending by about $330,000. There’s nothing wrong with cutting personnel costs if people are sitting around doing nothing. Otherwise, what is the rationale?

Ketron was quoted in the initial story on this issue as saying the Ethics Commission should focus less on enforcement. He also said 98 percent of legislators are honest folks and he simply wants to “streamline” government.

It’s comforting to know that Ketron can look into the minds and souls of our state’s lawmakers and determine they are honest people. Maybe that’s why he serves on the Senate Ethics Committee. However, cutting people probably means less enforcement, and most Tennesseans agree our lawmakers and lobbyists can’t always be trusted.

Under his proposal, Ketron said the Commission of Ethics and Election Finance would have one director and two deputy directors. Overall, though, three of the Ethics Commission’s nine people would be cut.

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) seeks delay in fair and accurate elections

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) is sponsoring a bill (SB 0872) to delay the implementation of the Tennessee Voter Confidence Act. The law requires all counties to switch to optical scanned paper ballots and will be paid for by $25 million in federal funds from the Help America Vote Act.

What would make Sen. Ketron want to delay implementing fair elections in 2010?

“When the TVCA is implemented, Tennessee’s elections will be more secure, more accurate, and less expensive. There’s no good reason to wait,” said TNDP Chair Chip Forrester.

The TVCA was passed with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by Governor Phil Bredesen on June 5, 2008. The TVCA requires that all Tennessee counties make the switch to paper ballots before the November 2010 election.

Currently, only Hamilton and Pickett counties use paper ballots. The other 93 counties use paperless touch-screen voting machines, also known as Direct Record Electronic (DRE) machines. DREs are expensive to maintain, prone to error, and have no mechanism in place to produce verifiable results or meaningful recounts.

Rutherford County Republicans focus on guns and booze as recession priorities

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Sam Stockard at the Daily News Journal hit the nail on the head. In the middle of one of the worst recessions to hit our nation, Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) and Rep. Joe Carr (R-48) spend most of their time working hard for the liquor industry and making sure people can take their guns to the saloon.

This could be called the Year of Guns and Booze in the state Legislature.

During one of the worst economic years in history, legislators have put their focus anywhere but on the budget. In addition to a load of bills dealing with weapons, including allowing conceal-carry permit holders to take their guns into bars, restaurants and state and local parks, legislation allowing new distilleries and wine in grocery stores is getting notice.

Two local legislators are sponsoring a bill to make it easier for distilleries to open.

Rutherford County deserves leaders in the Senate and House that work hard for our families, not special interests.

More delays for Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) moonshine bill

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

ketroncarr1

It’s been a bad stretch of road for Rep. Joe Carr’s (R-48) bill to bring more whiskey, vodka and other distilled spirits flowing into Tennessee.

Rep. Carr introduced his House version of the bill on April 23. When asked who the bill was written for by his House colleagues, Rep. Carr had no idea, and the embarrassing exchange is all over YouTube. The questions got so tough that Rep. Carr rolled the bill to the next calendar. Rep. Carr also made a startling admission on the floor of the House on what his bill will do for the state of Tennessee.

FINCHER: OK, so they’re is going to be more liquor and more whiskey and more vodka running around out here in our state because of this bill, correct?

CARR: I wouldn’t assume so, I would assume that would, uh, you could assume that. Yes sir.

Did you read that? Rep. Carr said you could safely assume his bill will bring “more liquor and more whiskey and more vodka running around out here in our state.” The Rutherford County Democratic Party commends Rep. Carr for his moment of honesty.

It would have also been easy for Rep. Carr to say his moonshine bill was written for the voters of Lascassas, but Rep. Carr knew that would have been a lie, and he told the truth. The Daily News Journal recently reported who the bill was really for.

Meanwhile, state Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, will ask the House of Representatives to approve the legislation today. Carr said he agreed to sponsor the house version of the bill at the request of Ketron.

Now we know why Rep. Carr was so clueless about a bill he sponsored but knew nothing about. On his second attempt recently, Rep. Carr again rolled the bill for another two weeks.

It’s a shame the people of Lascassas don’t have a Representative who will support whatever they ask for without question. Instead, Rep. Carr is busy working for Sen. Ketron and the liquor industry that funds his campaign while Rep. Carr actively seeks a reduction in unemployment benefits for the growing number of unemployed voters in his district.

The people of Lasscasas deserve a Representative that stands up for them.

DNJ Editorial Board calls Sen. Bill Ketron’s (R-13) actions “perplexing.”

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Today’s DNJ has a nice editorial confronting what a conservative watchdog group described as a misguided attempt by Murfreesboro Republican Sen. Bill Ketron to gut the ethics commission.

The editorial board calls Sen. Ketron’s latest effort a “slap in the face” to those of us seeking  good government.

We’re still waiting for Sen. Ketron to explain why he wants to gut the very body that protects our state from corrupt politicians, but do we really expect Sen Ketron to answer to us?

Sen. Bill Ketron’s legislation to merge the Tennessee Ethics Commission with another body to cut personnel and save money is a slap in the face of Tennesseans who are crying out for good government.

Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, wants to reshape the independent body that oversees legislative ethics, combining it with the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance to create the Commission of Ethics and Election Finance.

Three of nine Ethics Commission staff positions, including the director, would be eliminated, saving the state $338,000 annually in personnel costs. We commend Ketron for seeking savings in state government.

But just three years after the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz sting caught five lawmakers taking bribes to back legislation, the Tennessee Ethics Commission doesn’t need to be watered down and pushed into obscurity.

Quite the opposite, Tennessee needs to maintain an independent body to let lawmakers and elected officials across the state know it is serious about holding down corruption.

Ketron tried to railroad the Ethics Commission from the very beginning, and he’s still working at it, which is perplexing.

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-13) proposes gutting Ethics Commission

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

billketron1Murfreesboro’s Republican Sen. Bill Ketron wants to cut funding to the independent body that holds legislators accountable to ethics rules. Even the conservative watchdog group Tennessee Center for Policy Research (quoted below) finds Sen. Ketron’s effort misguided.

The proposal, sponsored by Murfreesboro Sen. Bill Ketron, would rework the state’s independent body that oversees lawmaker ethics three years after it was put in place. Ketron says the change would save money and make both agencies more effective.

Critics say it would do away with the only agency in the state that can ensure lawmakers carry out the ethics reforms passed in 2006 after five legislators were caught taking bribes in the FBI sting known as Tennessee Waltz.

“If the General Assembly wants to save 100, 200 grand, there’s better ways to save it,” said Clint Brewer, director of government accountability for the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an organization that tracks the state legislature. “There are a lot of other places where you can cut.”

Under Sen. Ketron’s plan, the state will eliminate three of the nine ethics commission staff positions. Sen. Ketron ought to be ashamed of himself, but we’ll settle for a simple explanation.

Why does Sen. Ketron want to cut funds and staff for the very body charged with keeping corruption out of the state legislature? Contact Sen. Ketron and report back here in comments:

Sen. Bill Ketron
13 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, TN 37243-0213
Phone (615) 741-6853
Fax (615) 741-7200
sen.bill.ketron@capitol.tn.gov

Sen. Joe Haynes takes on Sen. Bill Ketron

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

Liberadio reports on an exchange between Sen. Joe Haynes (D-Goodlettsville) and Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) over Ketron’s proposal (SB0150) to limit the right to vote to those with a photo ID.

Senator Haynes: Senator Ketron, I know that what you’re doing is well-meaning, and I respect that. But this is something that bothers me greatly because there are people in the world that don’t have driver’s license, don’t have photo ID. There are people in the world who are 65 and older that have a driver’s license without a photo ID on it. There’s a class of peple who are not indigent but yet don’t have a photo ID. And to those people, your bill excludes them from voting in our state. I consider that enough of a problem that I would challenge you..and we do this a lot when we see there are legitimate questions that we have….we try and take public testimony and we try to study it. There’s not another election until next next year. I don’t see what harm would be done if we took some public testimony. And we studied this to try an see what we could do to improve it and work on it and come back next year and try to adopt a system that’s workable. I think you’ve done a good job of trying to patch this up and I respect you for it..but I’m greatly concerned about people that fall in the categories I just described…because what you are doing is either 1) you’re forcing somebody to lie that says in their affidavit of identity that they have a relgiosu objection or that they are indigent and nobody is going to go out and check if they are indiegent there not going to be any system for that - that would be so burdensome that there would be no way to work it out of an election commission office…I’m going to ask you if you would consider putting this in a study committee so we could look at this properly…would you consider that, Senator Ketron?