CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL5 Political Analyst
September 22, 2023
IT’S TIME FOR THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE TO PUT THINGS RIGHT; FINGER POINTING; GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMS EVER LIKELY AS FUNDING CHAOS REIGNS IN THE U.S. HOUSE; SOME FURTHER UPDATES AND REFLECTIONS ON NASHVILLE’S RUNOFF ELECTION; CHARLES FENTRESS; INSIDE POLITICS LOOKS IN DEPTH AT THE WAR IN UKRAINE 19 MONTHS IN
IT’S TIME FOR THE TENNESSEE LEGISLATURE TO PUT THINGS RIGHT
For decades, officials at predominantly black Tennessee State University in Nashville have complained they have been significantly short-changed in their funding.
Specifically, TSU is a land grant college and should be receiving a certain amount of annual funding, due to an 1890 law passed by Congress.
Indeed, the University of Tennessee, also a land grant college, has received a much larger annual appropriation. But not Tennessee State.
Now the federal government and the Biden administration have released a study confirming that over the past three decades, TSU is owed 2.1 billion dollars by the state! Yes, that billions with a B!
So far, in response, Governor Bill Lee says he wants to help all of the state’s higher education schools. The General Assembly did make a one-time $250 million appropriation for capital projects for TSU. But that came after a legislative committee found TSU was owed at least half a billion dollars.
This funding disparity is a vestige of Jim Crow days when “separate but equal” was never that. Now the matter needs to be addressed ASAP. This funding shortage dates back so far, it should not be a partisan issue. Both Republicans and Democrats have controlled state government in the past 30 years.
This could be an opportunity for the present-day Republican Super Majority that runs Tennessee’s Capitol Hill. They have come under increasing criticism that they are racist in their policies and actions. Changing TSU’s funding could be a step towards changing that. Yes, $2.1 billion is a lot of money but with the state’s huge rainy-day fund, it could be handled if spread out over some years.
But I wouldn’t suggest anyone hold their breath until that happens.
FINGER POINTING
It has been over a month since the General Assembly ended Governor Bill Lee’s special session on public safety with no significant action on gun reform.
Instead, the session ended with general dissatisfaction, frustration, and even anger. The session also ended with pushing and shoving on the floor of the House. You might think with a few weeks to cool off, things might be calming down. But the finger-pointing on both sides and along racial lines, continues. It is leading even one long-time lawmaker to openly wonder why our elected leaders can’t even be civil to each other.
The next clue on this ongoing disconnect may come when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Right now, the prospects for better relations don’t look at all promising.
In a matter that could open a real political Pandora’s Box, the Clarksville City Council has passed a resolution asking the state to remove them from having to follow Tennessee’s Sunshine Law.
Yes, you read that right. They want permission to meet in private just like the Legislature does from time to time. Council members say the current law is ‘stifling.” And that Sunshine Law, as written, stifles both communication and collaboration. Makes you wonder how they view and define the word democracy.
Already local pushback is emerging to the no Sunshine Law for local legislators.
The local newspaper in Clarksville is speaking out too.
Next door in Franklin, the controversy over one of its mayoral candidates continues to grow as NEWSCHANNEL5’s Chief Investigative Reporter Phil Williams remains on the job. Now he’s learning and reporting about some past charges of prostitution.
GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN LOOMS EVER MORE LIKELY AS FUNDING CHAOS REIGNS IN THE U.S. HOUSE
It’s been another chaotic week in the House of Representatives in Washington as GOP leaders have all but abandoned efforts to pass the multiple appropriation bills to keep the government open and operating after September 30. If a shutdown happens, it would be the sixth full or partial shutdown since 1994.
At the beginning of this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled a single continuing resolution to do the job. But even with spending cuts to non-essential government programs and language to complete the southern border wall and further limit immigration, right-wing hardliners in the GOP Caucus are still opposed, sinking the Speaker’s proposal before it got started.
While McCarthy says there is still time, both Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate are looking for a Plan B.
Wednesday saw reported progress by Speaker McCarthy on a revised one-month continuing resolution. But it remains unclear if there are enough votes to pass. It also seems doubtful any such continuing resolution can pass the Senate, where Democrats are in control. Then on Thursday, the House was thrown into even further disarray, as for the second time this week, the House failed to pass a Defense Appropriations, a bill that usually has the highest level of support in Congress.
In the House, two Tennessee Republican congressmen, Nashville representative Andy Ogles and Knoxville’s Tim Burchett have been among the no votes. Ogles has now issued his own commentary outlining what he wants in any continuing resolution he will support.
Meanwhile, Ogles faces his own questions and looming deadlines from the Federal Election Commission about his campaign finances.
By Thursday, one Plan B proposal emerged for a short-term spending fix. It is from the bi-partisan Problem Solvers Caucus. It remains to be seen if the plan will live up to the group’s name. In fact, some Republican Senators are predicting that Speaker McCarthy will ultimately be forced to seek votes from Democrats to pass any spending bill. But would that mark the end of his Speakership?
The U.S. economy already faces major challenges with the increasing likelihood the UAW strike against the Big 3 automakers will spread to more plants today (Friday). However, that will again not include the GM Plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
This week, the Federal Reserve put a pause on another hike in interest rates (but still says it may do another increase before the end of the year), meanwhile the White House has issued a stark warning of how serious a government shutdown will be.
With the House gone home in disarray for the weekend, now Senate Democrats are trying to take the lead to find a path to pass the funding needed a avoid a government shutdown.
SOME FURTHER UPDATES AND REFLECTIONS ON NASHVILLE’S RUNOFF ELECTION
Mayor-Elect Freddie O’Connell has begun Metro’s very short transition sprint to take the oath of office in the next few days now that election results have been certified. He is already facing issues left over from the administration of outgoing Mayor John Cooper and he has major appointments to be made to choose his Finance and Legal Directors.
The schedule for swearing in the new mayor and Council has been announced. It will begin next Monday morning (September 25) for Mayor-Elect O’Connell with a private swearing-in ceremony at the Courthouse.
The new Council will be sworn in Monday at 3:00 PM on the steps of the Courthouse with a larger public inauguration ceremony and celebration for both the Mayor and Council set for Saturday, September 30, at Public Square Park in front of the Courthouse.
As for this transition, for the first time I can remember, there is a focus on three transition committees looking at policy issues, specifically to be ready to get things done on Day 1 and get a head start on accomplishments in the first 100 days in office and all 4 years of his first term in office. The committees are focused on how Nashville works, how it grows, and how it moves.
Of course, one of the big challenges facing the new administration is more affordable housing. In that regard, the Amazon corporation has announced an effort to invest $40 million focused on increasing home ownership in Nashville, Seattle, and Arlington, Virginia — three cities that house its headquarters campuses. Families of four with incomes of $120,000 or less can qualify. Getting more involvement from the private sector is likely to be a more prominent component of the push for more affordable housing, and the Amazon program is definitely a significant step in that direction.
Another issue for the new Mayor to handle is the still skyrocketing number of guns being stolen, particularly taken out of cars. Turns out it is a big issue statewide.
The question is: If Metro takes action, what will the state do? We know Tennessee Republican lawmakers are opposed to doing anything that limits the absolute right of gun owners to do whatever they want with their firearms. Might they nullify anything the city does, creating yet another area of dispute between Metro and the state?
One of the 15 items the Mayor-Elect also wants to start working on immediately is a later daily starting time for Metro public high schools. It’s a proposal that has long been discussed, but it will be expensive, with more buses needed, and the ultimate decision is up to Metro School Board.
As for Mayor-Elect Freddie O’Connell’s landslide victory (64% to 36%) over Alice Rolli, it was supposed to be a non-partisan election, except it wasn’t. Instead, the results look a lot like the 2020 Presidential race in Davidson County. The photo graphics of this story show what happened very well as it remains clear Nashville remains a very blue county.
One other question I want to raise is…what happened to voter turnout on Election Day September 14?
With about 68,000 early votes already waiting to be counted (more than the 57,000 in the August election) it appeared for the world the total vote would be well over 100,000. The weather was perfect on September 14, not like August when it rained from 8:00 A.M. until 2:00 P.M.
What happens: The total September 14 vote was barely over 114,000. We voted just over 46,000 people countywide from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. So the early vote at 68,000 was way more than 50% of the total. All the races, especially for mayor, were basically over as soon as the early vote was announced.
And why is voter turnout so small AGAIN for our local elections? Referencing the 2020 presidential election in Davidson County, more than 250,000 voters came out to the polls, which is well over twice the number of how many voted on September 14th. If it is any comfort, this is a nationwide issue, and I found this article about it that was written almost a decade ago in 2016.
I have one correction to make on my part. The new Metro Council, about to be sworn in on the Courthouse steps at 3:00 PM on Monday, will for the first time, be a majority female 40-member body. That includes, again for the first time, all 5 At-Large members, elected countywide, being women.
The total number of females in the new Council is 22, not 23 as I reported last week. That number is 23 if you include the new Vice Mayor Angie Henderson. My apologies.
But remember when I first began covering the Council in the early 1970s, there was only one woman in the body for several terms. I guess sometimes major change dulls even the simplest math skills.
Finally, as the new Mayor and Council take over, outgoing Mayor John Cooper has put in the mail a final “report back to Nashville” on his accomplishments over the last four years. The 8-page color mailer arrived in my mailbox Thursday. It reminds voters that he delivered on 47 of the 51 campaign commitments he made as a candidate in 2019.
It is an impressive piece in terms of its numbers, the breadth of his efforts, and strong graphics used to outline it. Usually, one-term mayors are considered failures. But I think history will judge Mayor Cooper much more kindly, as he led the city through unprecedented challenges, both when he came into office and from the pandemic and the numerous tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters and even a riot and a bombing downtown during his term and much of it in 2020, his first year in office.
CHARLES FENTRESS
With a new Metro Council about to take office in a few days, a former major Council leader for nearly a quarter of a century has passed.
Charles Fentress served from 1975-1999, leaving office because term limits prohibited him from seeking re-election after 6 terms.
Charlie was Chair of the Council’s prestigious Budget & Finance Committee several times and represented his constituents in District 34 very well. Once during a budget debate, Councilman Fentress spoke out against the size of a proposed pay raise for city workers. That didn’t sit well with a few city employees and they took their Cain-Sloan Department Store credit card, cut them into, and mailed it to the president of the company. That didn’t change Charlie Fentress’ mind and his employer at Cain-Sloan did nothing to muzzle him in any way.
Here is Charles Fentress’ obituary filled with 93 years of good work and service to his community.
God bless, and may you rest in peace, Charlie.
INSIDE POLITICS LOOKS IN DEPTH AT THE WAR IN UKRAINE 19 MONTHS IN
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been raging for over a year and a half now. In fact, this week the conflict marked 19 bloody months.
Is this largest land war in Europe since World War II, showing any signs of ending or of a negotiated settlement? Is either country winning? Is the support of the U.S., NATO, and the European Union staying strong for Ukraine? Is Russia finding any new allies to help them such as North Korea?
As he has throughout this conflict, Dr. Thomas Schwartz, the Distinguished Professor of History and Political Science at Vanderbilt University is our guest on INSIDE POLITICS.
We thank Dr. Schwartz for again sharing his insights and wisdom with our audience.
Our conversation will air on the regular weekend schedule for INSIDE POLITICS on NEWSCHANNEL PLUS.
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