Category — Politics

The Democrat leaders of the State House and Senate proposed a bill that would require “model legislation” to be designated and posted on the General Assembly’s website.

The text of the bill reads:

Any bill filed by a member of the general assembly that is a model bill or is substantially similar to model legislation from an established and recognized organization of elected or appointed state government officials, staff of state government officials or both officials and staff, or any other established and recognized organization that is an umbrella organization for such officials, staff, or both officials and staff shall be accompanied by a form created by the chief clerk of each house that designates that such bill is a model bill or is substantially similar to model legislation and shall designate the name of the organization. Any form completed pursuant to this subsection (a) shall  be available on the general assembly’s web site by clicking on a link on the page of the bill description.

Without mentioning the organization, this bill targets the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative policy organization that helps share legislative ideas from state legislature to state legislature.

Suppose a State Senator in Arizona devises legislation to curb illegal immigration, and a Senator in Tennessee wants to sponsor a similar bill? ALEC works with these legislators to adapt the legislation to work in the different states.

My question is, Why re-invent the wheel? If something works in one state, shouldn’t legislators in another state be allowed to adapt the legislation to work for their constituents? And further, why not create a clearing house for these ideas?

But ALEC has become a target of the left, and Democrat legislators are convinced evil corporations are writing bills for state legislators.

Full Disclosure: I know people at ALEC. They’re policy nerds. They spend their days researching statistics and data in order to make sure legislation is legally sound.

The bill died in the House State & Local Government subcommittee by a voice vote. The Chattanooga Times Free Press made sure to let readers know the State Representative who spoke out was a member of ALEC’s board.

If Democrats want to make the system transparent, why not require EVERY bill to cite where the idea came from? Be in a teachers’ union, or the NCSL, or any number of lobbyists…

Here’s a couple links directing folks to anti-ALEC sites, including a blog post by a lefty group in Tennessee about the evils of Koch-funded ALEC.

Republican State Leadership Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie penned an op/ed in the Washington Examiner today about the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It’s a terrible idea that has wide bipartisan support.

Gillespie writes:

The NPV would allow state legislatures to cast their state’s Electoral College votes for the winner of the national popular vote, regardless of how their states voted. In August, California joined the compact, giving it 49 percent of the 270 electoral votes it needs to take effect.

[Read more →]

Oh, the tolerance of the Left…

Late yesterday evening, a Knoxville restaurant cryptically suggested that it denied service to conservative State Senator Stacey Campfield, allegedly for remarks he’s made about the gay community and his fervent opposition to LGBT rights in the Legislature.

[Read more →]

Joe Lance over at Tennessee Ticket opined briefly yesterday about former Democrat State Senator Rosalind Kurita’s court battle against the State Primary Board and the Tennessee Democratic Party, asking “Is a primary election an election?”

A hearing was held last Tuesday in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on the federal lawsuit brought by former Sen. Rosalind Kurita over her 2008 removal from the ballot by the Executive Committee of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

[Read more →]