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Daily Dose for July 03, 2008

Ford Trial Starts, Bredesen to Testify Today -- Former State Sen. John Ford's trial for public corruption begins today. Ford is accused of accepting money from TennCare contractors while representing their interests as a lawmaker. Yesterday, the defense outlined their strategy of attacking OmniCare and Doral Dental executives who made the deal with Ford. Today's action will feature Gov. Phil Bredesen. Gov. Bredesen, who was subpoenaed by the government, has said he was asked by Ford in 2003 to help direct more business to OmniCare, a TennCare provider who was paying Ford.

Alexander Still Far Outpaces Dems -- Sen. Lamar Alexander still far outpaces his potential Democratic primary opponents. Alexander has raised more than $600,000 for the quarter and has over $3M on hand, according to Tom Ingram. That is triple what Bob Tuke raised same time period and outpaces Mike Padgett, who has not yet released his numbers. Nashvillian Kenneth Eaton says he has written a $275,000 - taking away the thunder of the Tuke fundraising release from earlier this week.

Bluff City Looking for Recall -- Seems like Buff City government just can't get it together. Earlier this year, Robert Thomas resigned as Mayor of the City and immediately a group of town residents launched a recall effort aimed at three members of the Bluff City Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Now, another Mayor has resigned and a recall effort has been relaunched, this time targeting four members. it will be at least November before recall questions would go before Bluff City voters. The earlier recall effort made it to the signature phase, but completed petitions were not filed by the deadline for the August ballot.

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Daily Dose for July 02, 2008

Bredesen Says Piggyback Tax-Breaks Could Attract Major Industry -- Gov. Bredesen has said that a major economic incentive program could help lure big investments to Tennessee. The change allows state recruiters to grant enhanced job-tax credits to suppliers locating near and providing parts solely to a manufacturer making a $1B or greater investment in Tennessee. Volkswagen is expected to meet that investment requisite if they choose to build an auto assembly plant in Chattanooga. Bredesen says while the plant is important, the smaller industries that pop up to service the larger plant could be just as valuable - and the new economic incentive allows these smaller businesses to piggy-back on the larger investment for tax breaks. State Revenue Commissioner Reagan Farr said the new incentive allows a company investing $1B to designate “integrated” suppliers locating near the firm’s new plant to qualify for the same credit for creating new jobs. Bredesen: "If we’re successful in getting another major auto manufacturer in the state, I also want to make sure we’re then reaching out. The next step of that is to get lots of suppliers to supply, to locate in the state as well."

AT&T Putting $400M in Statewide Cable Franchise -- The day the bill authorizing a statewide cable franchise was put into place, AT&T applied for the franchise and said it plans on investing $400M to offer its television services to 56 cities and unincorporated areas in 29 counties within two years. That includes all the major metros. The new law includes a build-out requirement that seeks to prevent companies from only serving the wealthiest areas. Under the new law, AT&T will have 3 1/2 years to make service available to at least 30% of the households in their franchise area - and 25% of those have to be low-income.

Campaign Heats Up for Briley's Seat -- Mike Stewart has out raised his primary competitor Eric Stansell for State Rep. Rob Briley's contested seat by almost six-times. Stewart received $65,643, 40% of which was from fellow attorneys at his law firm. His opponent, Eric Stansell, has raised just $11,595, including an $8,100 loan from himself. Stewart has spent $14,356.42 so far on his campaign, compared with Stansell, who has spent $6,317.62. The campaign wraps up following the Democratic primary, because no Republican qualified for the race.

TDOT: No Construction on 4th -- Tennessee Department of Transportation said it is halting all road construction at 6 a.m. Thursday and it won’t resume until after midnight July 6 to clear the roads for the holiday. Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely said officials don’t want travelers sitting in work zones with gasoline cost at a record high.

Ragsdale Ouster Lawsuit Mulled -- Two County Commissioners are still mulling whether they have enough envidence to proceed with a lawsuit to ouster Knox Co. Mayor Mike Ragsdale. The lawsuit was turned over to William Bright, a Memphis lawyer called into review Ragsdale's p-card spending. Bright and a team of experts on the issues will be established to determine if there are charter violations or criminal acts which would result in an ouster. The State Comproller has also been called to be involved in the investigation. Dwight Van de Vate, spokesman for the Mayor, said he was glad outside parties were involved and confident in the State Comptroller.

Former Hamilton Co. Sheriff Asks for Reduced Sentence -- Former Hamilton Co. Sheriff Billy Long asked for a reduced sentence under the minimum of 10-years he is facing for his role on federal extortion charges. Attorneys for Long argued that he has no criminal record, there was no violence or threat used, he was not a leader in a criminal conspiracy, and the only weapon involved was his service revolver and it was kept in his truck.

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Daily Dose for July 01, 2008

VW Announcement One Week Away -- Volkswagen will announce where they will locate their new US automotive plant on July 8, according to the Chattanoogan. The $788M plant will then be finalized by a board vote on July 15. Chattanooga is considered a leading contender for the plant - and recent activity at the Chattanooga industrial megasite has led to speculation that the deal will come through. Sen. Bob Corker recently hosted VW officials and state economic development officials at his home following a tour of the Chattanooga site.

War Funding May Have Saved DCS Workers -- A war funding bill signed by President Bush may have saved the jobs of some of TN's Department of Childrens Services. The bill also imposed a temporary moratorium on six Medicaid rule changes. One of those changes had caused Tennessee to lose $73M for DCS’ targeted case managers, or social workers. To keep services going, Gov. Phil Bredesen used TennCare reserve dollars to plug the funding gap until the end of the fiscal year. But unless Congress acted, Bredesen had said he would be forced to layoff about 160 DCS administrative employees starting today, the beginning of the state’s financial year. Now it looks like the jobs will be saved as long as the Medicaid rule remains in moratorium.

Memphis Gets New Schools Super -- Dr. Kriner Cash officially became the next superintendent of Memphis City Schools in a special meeting of the Memphis Board of Education Monday night. Among the first items on Cash's agenda is what to do about the Memphis City Council removing $66M from the schools' operating budget. That will likely mean staff cuts while the district considers a lawsuit to restore the money.

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Daily Dose for June 30, 2008

TN Dems Lead Cash on Hand -- According to an analysis by Clint Brewer, the state Democrats lead cash on hand for this election cycle, although state Republicans have outpaced them in fundraising. GOP fundraising, according to Brewer, is at $3.3M since the beginning of 2007, compared to $2.4M for the Democrats. However, Democrats appear to actually have spent less and are entering the summer campaign season with significantly more cash on hand than the GOP. The combined Democrat accounts have about $1.1M while the GOP is sitting on only $539,000. The other wildcard in the money race is the campaign account of Gov. Bredesen, which could be used to benefit state Democrats. Bredesen still has a $1.6M war chest.

Laws Taking Effect -- Several key laws passed during the last General Assembly session officially take effect July 1. Those include a measure to offer Tennessee's elderly more home-based care options and another that seeks to create statewide TV cable franchising. Other bills taking effect - legalization of mixed martial arts in TN, new charges for reckless drivers who avoid flood warnings, restrictions on credit card soliciations on college campuses and authorization for the state Department of Education to develop a curriculum for an academic study of the Bible.

Colleges Required to Report Underage Drinking -- Gov. Bredesen has signed a law that would require public universities to notify parents if a student under the age of 21 is found with drugs or alcohol. The law is the first of its kind in the country and takes advantage of a 1998 amendment to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA prohibits the university from releasing student information, but there is an exception for involvement with drugs and alcohol. State Universities originally had concerns about the legislation, but did not actively oppose it, even though it takes away the university's discretion not to notify parents in some situations.

Campfield / Niceley Among Most Ineffective -- Two state lawmakers from Knox Co., Stacey Campfield and Frank Niceley, were among the most ineffective lawmakers in getting their bills passed, according to an analysis by the Knoxville News-Sentinel. Two other lawmakers passed no bills - State Rep. Parkey Strader, who was absent much of the session with health problems and State Sen. Beverly Marrero, who passed no bills as a House member, but did pass some when moving to the Senate. Campfield blames his lack of legislative success on the partisan environment in the State House and questions whether an effective lawmaker should be measured by the bills he passes. Meanwhile, another Knox Co. lawmaker State Sen. Tim Burchett was among the most effective at getting his laws passed.

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Daily Dose for June 27, 2008

The Bredesen AT&T Link Gets Deeper -- A few weeks ago, top Bredesen official and Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz was being criticized for opening and closing a no-bid 10-year contract worth $600M to AT&T to provide a statewide government telecommunications network. It was noted at the time that former Bredesen officials Bob Corney and Dept. Gov. Dave Cooley now both work for AT&T, the former as AT&T's spokesman and the later as a consultant. Now, another Bredesen link to AT&T is unveiled, as national healthcare information providers say Bredesen brokered a deal which could get AT&T into the healthcare information sharing business in a big way. ZDNet reports Bredesen "midwifed" a deal between AT&T and Microsoft's HealthVault division. The platform opens a market for AT&T to offer network-based VPNs to healthcare providers across the country. ZDNet speculates: "[The deal] sets up Bredesen, who is term limited after 2010, in position for either a sweet job in private industry, the Obama Administration or (dare we think it) a run for the U.S. Senate in 2012?"

Co-op Accuses Cooper of Illegally Accessing Web site -- The head of a national trade group representing electricity cooperatives said Thursday that Congressman Jim Cooper was being investigated by the FBI for logging into the group's internal Web site. Glenn English, chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, made the claim at the end of a contentious hearing called by the Nashville Democrat to look at the operation of electricity cooperatives. Cooper said he had been given a password to gain access to the site, and denied any wrongdoing and said he has not been questioned by the FBI. Cooper: "He did not want people to know that his clients had stolen millions of dollars from their customers. So instead he made a false accusation against me."

Lt. Gov. Ramsey Selected to Head GOP Delegation -- Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey was elected to lead the GOP delegation to the Republican National Convention. The 55 delegates met in Legislative Plaza in Nashville for the vote. Ramsey: "I am delighted to receive this honor from delegates across the state of Tennessee ... I appreciate the confidence they have placed in me and I look forward to putting Tennessee in Sen. McCain’s column by an overwhelming margin."

Kurita Gets Top Rating from TCV -- Senator Rosalind Kurita has been awarded the top rating from Tennessee Conservation Voters’ legislative scorecard. TCV is a statewide non-profit non-partisan organization dedicated to the protection of Tennessee’s environment. Kurita: "I am very pleased to receive this honor from the Tennessee Conservation Voters ... I share their goal of protecting the environment through legislative action, education and advocacy."

Herenton: They're All Out to Get Me -- Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton charged Thursday that a powerful alliance of federal prosecutors, business interests and the news media is engaged in an all-out campaign to drive him from office. Herenton: "It is abundantly clear to me that there is a very serious effort that is ongoing to remove Willie Herenton as mayor by any means necessary." The FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating Herenton ally Elvin W. Moon. Herenton said he has not been interviewed by investigators or called before a grand jury and he criticized the government and media for scrutinizing city deals with minority businesses.

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Daily Dose for June 26, 2008

UT President Gets Failing Marks on Financial Disclosure -- The Tennessee Ethics Commission fined UT President John Peterson last week for missing an earlier filing deadline and asked him to explain why he listed no investments, even though he earns more than $400,000 a year. Peterson then added a First Tennessee Brokerage account held in his wife's name, but now the Commission wants to know why he didn't report that as a source of income. Ethics Commission Director Bruce Androphy said filers are required to list under the income category any capital gains or dividends above $1,000 from investment accounts. More here.

Study Finds TN Business Friendly -- Tennessee is the most business-friendly state when it comes to litigation, according to a new study. The American Justice Partnership Foundation listed Tennessee as the state with the lowest risks of lawsuits against business. Sen. Mark Norris who sponsored a bill that limits medical malpractice filings this year says, “We’re moving in the right direction.” The state’s trial lawyers, however, said Tennessee’s favorable ranking in the business litigation climate proves that the state’s existing laws don’t need to change. Daniel L. Clayton, a Nashville attorney who is chairman of the Tennessee Association for Justice: "I think this study supports the fact that Tennessee doesn’t need any other type of reform to its judicial system and should reject efforts to put artificial limits on what citizen juries can decide."

Knox Accountability Still Needs Signatures for Ballot Iniatives -- The MetroPulse outlines the effort in Knox Co. to get two charter amendments on the ballot that would make changes to the structure of Knox Co. government. The "white petition" would make changes to the County Commission, including a nepotism policy, while the "orange petition" would make changes to the County Mayor's office. The group has just 75 days to get those 80,000 signatures - 40,000 for each petition - at an average rate of 1,066.66 per day. According organizer Gary Drinnen, no one has ever accomplished that task since state law was changed to require petitions drives to collect a percentage of registered voters, instead of those actually voting. Meanwhile, some are criticizing the Knoxville News-Sentinel for printing the petitions within their pages for distribution.

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Daily Dose for June 25, 2008

Lobbyists Picked for Random Audit -- Nineteen lobbyists were picked for the annual random audit by the state Ethics Commission. The 19 lobbyists represent about 4 percent of all 499 registered lobbyists. The audits are expected to be completed between July and September. In a recent meeting the Ethics Commission also doled out fine to 23 organizations that missed a deadline to file reports on what they spent for lobbying efforts.

Purcell Heads to Harvard -- Former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell has been named the director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics. The two-term mayor and former majority leader in the Tennessee House of Representatives had served as Dean of Urban Studies at Tennessee State since January. Accepting the position is a long term commitment for Purcell, which means his name can be removed from speculation on running for Governor in 2010. More here.

Chattanooga Authorizes Road to Megasite -- In the hope of adding more incentive for Volkswagon to locate a automotive production plant in it's TVA-certified megasite at Enterprise South, the Chattanooga City Council approved a road linking a new Interstate 75 freeway interchange to the industrial park. Chattanooga and Huntsville, Ala., are considered finalists for the $1 billion plant, which will be announced in July.

C-SPAN Bus Visits Chattanooga -- Around 60 students visited the C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus, while it made a stop at the Chattanooga African American Museum, one of several stops it made in Chattanooga before it rolls on to Birmingham, Ala., Lafayette, La., and San Antonio, Texas. Two C-SPAN Campaign buses tour the country year-round, serving as mobile production studios for political coverage and as bases for educational sessions such as the one in Chattanooga.

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Daily Dose for June 24, 2008

Memphis Mayor Under FBI Probe -- There are signs that an FBI probe into a city contractor with links to Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton, is expanding. In recent months, a federal grand jury and the FBI have seized records detailing how a friend of the mayor, Elvin W. Moon, won a no-bid city road design contracts and another contract at Memphis Area Transit Authority. Now the feds are looking at Lee's Landing Garage, an $8 million, six-story parking garage strategically nestled on city land between Beale and the posh Westin Hotel. Construction of the garage, though private, required the mayor's authorization. It's unknown what federal investigators are looking for but Herenton maintains they'll find only innocent circumstances. Herenton called the investigation "crazy."

US Supremes Take Up TN Case -- The U.S. Supreme Court will take up the case of Edward Jerome Harbison from Tennessee and consider if poor death row inmates seeking mercy from state officials have a right to lawyers paid for by federal taxpayers. Federal appeals courts have taken different positions on the issue, making the case a good one for the court to resolve. The Bush administration wants the justices to decide that federal law for indigent capital defendants does not extend taxpayer support to inmates' efforts to win clemency. Harbison's execution, like other executions scheduled in TN, is on hold pending an appeal by the state.

Bredesen Cites More Buyouts to Faulty Math -- Gov. Phil Bredesen says the state needs to buy-out 2,277 workers now instead of the 2,011determined at the time of budget talks, because calculations on the number of buyouts were based on salary averages instead of actual salaries. Bredesen: "When they got down and did the detailed work on the thing, they had a slightly higher number presumably because some of the state salaries were on the average lower." Bredesen also said some of the calculation discrepency could be because of federal funds being mixed in for some salaries.

Bredesen Will Testify in Ford's Trial -- It's another trial for former State Sen. John Ford. This one over Ford's questionable lobbying work with TennCare subcontractors while he served on a TennCare oversight committee. This time, however, a prosecution witness with be Gov. Bredesen. Bredesen will testify that Ford lobbied him to get more TennCare patients assigned to OmniCare, an HMO that had hired Ford as a consultant. At the time Bredesen thought Ford was lobbying him for the benefit of a constituent, not as a paid consultant. Ford's trial is expected to last as long as three weeks. More here and here.

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