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Daily Dose for March 05, 2008
Law-making Round-up
Law-making Round-up -- State lawmakers have stayed busy in a session that may be concluding soon. Here are some bills making the rounds:
- A bill that would require adding a bittering agent to antifreeze is advancing in the State House, despite industry concern that antifreeze companies could be held responsible for a bittering agent that is created by a third-party.
- A bill that would strip drivers licenses from those pulled over for DUIs passed the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill would allow drivers a 30-day temporary license while the state evaluated whether or not to strip driving rights in DUI cases.
- A bill to create a registry of persons who have two or more DUI convictions with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also passed.
- State Rep. Stacey Campfield's bill to ban discussions of homosexuality in primary schools was killed - with the request that the state Department of Education investigate whether homosexuality is being discussed now in schools.
- The Tennessee Titans want a new tax added to their football tickets which would cover capital improvements to LP Field. The tax will add between $1 and $3 per ticket. Other events at LP Field such as concerts and TSU football games could also be subject to the tax.
- The State Attorney General said that some restrictions on abortion could probably pass state constitutional muster, although there are still constitutional questions. A ban on partial birth abortion would probably fail according to the State Attorney General unless it contained an exception for the health of the mother, while some abortion restrictions such as parental consent could probably happen without a state constitutional amendment allowing restrictions on abortions. State Sen. Diane Black, who sponsored a constitutional amendment prohibiting abortions to open up legal avenues to some regulation on abortion maintains a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling prohibits additional restrictions on abortion and thus an amendment is needed to override the Court's decision.
TN Lobs at Georgia -- Tennessee state lawmakers have pushed for a more serious condemnation of Georgia's plan to move its state border with TN 1 mile to the north. A resolution rejecting Georgia's call for changing the border was unanimously approved by a House committee Tuesday. Still State Rep. Vince Dean says he is concerned about the tone of the resolution, which is tongue-in-cheek and say the legislature should get more serious about rejecting Georgia's claim.
Geduldig Joins Corker Staff -- Courtney Geduldig will join Sen. Bob Corker's staff as a Chief Financial Counsel. Geduldig, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Treasury, will be handling banking, tax and finance issues. The hire beefs up Corker's credentials on the important Banking Committee.
