CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL5 Political Analyst
June 30, 2023
AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE; A WEEEK OF ENDORSEMENTS AND NEW MAYORAL CANDIDATES ON TV; STATEWIDE SCHOOL TEST SCORES RISE SLIGHTLY; U.S. SUPREME COURT ENDS ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL SESSION; INSIDE POLITICS TAKES ANOTHER LOOK AT THE WAR IN UKRAINE IN THE WAKE OF FAILED COUP IN RUSSIA AGAINST VLADMIR PUTIN
AT TAXPAYERS EXPENSE
Tennessee state lawmakers have been home for weeks.
Yet the legal bills they are racking up, over the lawsuits they created from passing conservative hot-button legislation, just keeps mounting.
The latest example is a federal judge issuing an injunction this week to, at least temporarily, stop a ban on gender-affirming care for teens. The judge says he is making this move because, from what he’s heard from the state in defending the case, the law, set to take effect on Saturday (July 1), is likely unconstitutional. State officials say they will appeal the decision.
Tennessee was one of the first states in the nation to pass such a law aimed at trans youth. Now we join several other states in having their bans on gender care or other restrictions on care for trans blocked in the courts.
However, the same federal judge who issued the ruling in Tennessee this week, upheld another state law last week preventing transgender people from correcting the gender marker on their birth certificates.
There is also a raft of lawsuits that continue to be filed resulting from the ongoing political feud between the Republican Super Majority, Governor Bill Lee and Metro Nashville’s government.
This week, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a letter, saying that, until the courts decide, the agency still recognizes, as the governing authority the current Metro Airport Authority, nominated by Mayor John Cooper and confirmed by the Metro Council, not the Airport Board set up in a new state law that has a majority of appointments made by Governor Lee and the Speakers of the Tennessee House and Senate.
As if there is not enough confusion for the traveling public with the 4th of July holiday weekend looming. Thank goodness these feuding folks don’t actually fly or land the planes. But it would be nice to know who is actually in overall charge of operating one of our city’s major economic hubs, one which the state contributes very few dollars, by the way.
Then there’s the new state law that lessens the power of the Metro Council in approving proposed major renovations at the historic Nashville Speedway at the Fairgrounds. Nashville voters, a few years ago, amended the city’s charter to require a two-thirds or 27 votes from the Council to approve any major changes at the Fairgrounds. But a new state law passed this spring by the GOP Super Majority and signed into law by Governor Bill Lee, mandates only 21 votes is needed.
A major renovation of the Speedway is now pending before the Metro Council. With an avalanche of lawsuits having been filed in recent weeks challenging the vote requirements (from Metro and Mayor Cooper, Metro councilmembers, and now surrounding neighbors), it is anyone’s guess how the current Council, now in the final two months of its term, can figure out what votes are needed to approve or defeat this proposal. Maybe whoever gets the first court injunction? Frankly, getting even get 21 votes for the plan in the Council look challenging right now, with the bill finally set for first reading at the next Council meeting on July 6.
It should be noted that the state has agreed to put funding into the Speedway project, headed up by the Bristol Motor Speedway group. Their hope is the renovations will bring NASCAR racing back to Nashville. It is believed that Bristol was the major driver behind the new state law.
But what a mess has been created by all these new laws and lawsuits, along with full employment for the lawyers. And taxpayers are likely to be paying for it!
A WEEEK OF ENDORSEMENTS AND NEW MAYORAL CANDIDATES ON TV
Nashville’s August 3rd mayoral race saw a week of interesting endorsements and new candidates getting on TV.
For weeks the only two candidates running spots have been former Metro housing and economic development official Matt Wiltshire and retired businessman Jim Gingrich.
This week two other candidates, with the potential to make the September 14 mayoral runoff, State Senator Jeff Yarbro and Metro Councilman Freddie O’Connell, debuted their first TV ads.
The focus of the Yarbro ad on curbing gun violence dovetails with a mailing that landed in my mailbox this week. It came from Yarbro’s state legislative mail account. It never mentions the word mayor and his campaign. What does seek to do is encourage people to stay involved in the campaign for common gun laws. Yarbro is right that stopping gun violence is the number one topic on Nashvillians mind this summer. Just look at all the mailboxes and front doors in so many neighborhoods still adorned with the Covenant School colors in memory of the mass shooting there. There are likely more of those across Nashville than all the campaign yard signs.
The Yarbro ad doesn’t talk about it, but like another candidate getting a cute young daughter to school (ala Matt Wiltshire), it would seem to show his commitment to public education, an issue I would guess he will focus more on in another TV ad to come?
Freddie O’Connell has been the surprise candidate in this mayoral race. I wasn’t sure he could build enough name recognition or raise enough money to run TV ads. But he has, and he is pushing hard in his first ad, on what he thinks make him different, more specifically that he is the only candidate who voted against the new Titans stadium. He also pushes on another theme that the city is too focused on tourists and outsiders and not enough on what Nashville needs (more childcare, affordable housing and transit).
While Wiltshire continues his education ad (with his wife and cute young daughter) that has been on for several weeks, Gingrich has been using his family (first, his mom’s tragic death as an introduction to who he is and handled her loss when he was young). Gingrich’s latest ad highlights his 90-year-plus father doing a campaign powerpoint that links the Nashville Speedway expansion project to being a bad deal for Nashville like the Titans stadium.
But then ad seems to take humorous turn at the end when the power point says Jim Gingrich is not related to former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. But this was not mentioned in the ad just for humor. It may be a sign that as Jim Gingrich’s name recognition rises and he runs more TV, voters, in this deep blue county are remembering his name and wonder if he is related fo the outspoken, controversial former GOP speaker.
If Jim was related to Newt, it would likely hurt him in Democratic Nashville. Just ask Nashville Judge Mellissa Blackburn. Every time she runs office, she has explained she is not related to former Tennessee Congresswoman and now Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn.
One last question about mayoral candidates on TV. When will we start seeing ads for State Senator Heidi Campbell?
This past week on the mayoral campaign trail also saw some interesting endorsements. The Fraternal Order of Police threw its support behind Matt Wiltshire. That was something of a surprise since businesswoman and Republican activist Alice Rolli has been pushing “a tougher crime” stance than the others.
Rolli this week did receive the endorsement of the national anti-tax group, Americans for Tax Reform and its leader, Grover Norquist.
Other interesting mayoral endorsements this week include two for Metro Council Lady At Large Sharon Hurt. She now has the backing of “the Two Brendas”, Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn and former State Senator and Metro Council member Brenda Gilmore.
The backing of these two well-known, long time public officials could help Hurt break out from the pack, including from the four other African American women running for mayor. That includes Davidson County Assessor of Property Vivian Wilhoite. Whether it will propel Hurt to be the first African American to make the mayoral runoff election remains to be seen.
Here is a roundup of the other mayoral endorsements so far.
We may get a better picture of where this late, and still developing, race stands next week. That’s when the campaigns release their latest financial numbers as of June 30 (today). Those figures will show how much money they raised (and from who), what loans they’ve made, and how they are spending their funds.
STATEWIDE SCHOOL TEST SCORES RISE SLIGHTLY
All the state’s TCAP test scores are out.
The good news is that Tennessee’s students did better this year in all the areas tested.
The bad news is we are still below 50% proficiency for students statewide in their scores in any category.
U.S. SUPREME COURT ENDS ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL SESSION
Every year at the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court ends its session and issues rulings on its most controversial cases.
This year, that includes striking down affirmative action in college and university admissions. The ruling came after previous High Courts had upheld such admission policies for 49 years.
President Joe Biden responded by saying this court is not “a normal court”
Exactly how colleges and universities will react in the wake of the decision, is unclear. However, already concern is being expressed that, much like in states such as Michigan and California, where race-based admissions have previously been banned, there will be a sharp drop in qualified applicants and diversity in student bodies.
Republicans, especially their 2024 presidential candidates, are strongly supportive of the 6-3 High Court ruling. Senate Minority Leader Mich McConnell says the action is “long overdue.” And there are other signs the decision will be popular.
On Friday, the Court issued its last decisions of this term. One concerns President Biden’s student debt relief efforts. Again, by a 6-3 decision, the High Court struck down the President’s program.
On the final day, the Court also ruled in favor of a Christian designer who refused to design a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The ruling brought a sharp retort from one of the liberal justices, who voted in the minority.
Early in the week, the Justices seemed to issue a third ruling this session that state legislatures are not dominant over state courts in redistricting. The last ruling went even further to end the ideas of state legislative supremacy in federal elections.
Finally, the Court ends this term with its lowest public approval ratings ever. That comes amidst several reports that Justices have accepted lavish gifts and expensive trips from rich citizens who may have had interests in cases heard by the Court.
INSIDE POLITICS TAKES ANOTHER LOOK AT THE WAR IN UKRAINE IN THE WAKE OF FAILED COUP IN RUSSIA AGAINST VLADMIR PUTIN
Ever since it began the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had its unexpected twists and turns.
First, there’s the continuing failure of the powerful Russians to conquer a much smaller country.
Now this past weekend, there was a brief coup on Russian soil against the long- time tyrannical Russian dictator Vladmir Putin.
Throughout this war, we have been fortunate to have Dr. Thomas Schwartz, Distinguished Professor of History and Political Science at Vanderbilt University to bring his wisdom and insights to this program.
Dr. Schwartz joins us again on INSIDE POLITICS this week.
We welcome him to the program.
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