CAPITOL VIEW
By Pat Nolan, NEWSCHANNEL5 Political Analyst
November 10, 2023
MORE INSANITY IN OUR TENNESSEE GUN CULTURE; NASHVILLE STATE REPRESENTATIVE DARREN JERNIGAN ON INSIDE POLITICS; THE OFF-OFF YEAR ELECTIONS SEE AN ADVANTAGE FOR DEMOCRATS; TENNESSEE TAX REVENUES PROJECTED TO TIGHTEN WHILE LAWMAKERS EXPLORE TELLING WASHINGTON IT DOESN’T WANT $1 BILLION A YEAR IN EDUCATION FUNDS; HERE WE GO AGAIN
MORE INSANITY IN OUR TENNESSEE GUN CULTURE
The Covenant School mass shooting in late March has been one of the most tumultuous events in Nashville history. State lawmakers have stonewalled taking any action to reform our laws to make it more difficult or illegal for people with mental illness or other impairments to buy or possess firearms.
There has been a month’s long legal battle over releasing the Covenant shooter’s writings. This week a few pages from the at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir left behind, were leaked to the media, rekindling the controversy. Especially for the Covenant families, and for many others in Nashville, this new development has been like ripping the scab off a wound that hasn’t healed!
Mayor Freddie O’Connell has ordered city legal officials to conduct a full investigation of how this information got into the hands of an on-line talk show host.
The Metro Legal Department says no Covenant related documents have been released through them. Metro Police at first released a statement that the seemingly confirmed the leaked materials were authentic. Police added the documents were not part of their crime scene investigation. Then on Wednesday, although they are not accused of anything, been placed on suspension or lost their police powers, seven Metro officers involved in the Covenant case have been placed on administrative assignment.
While this Covenant matter continues to simmer, on Tuesday there was another new shooting that rocked Nashville. A Belmont University freshman was shot in the head by a stray bullet while she was walking in a park near the school. Jillian Ludwig, from New Jersey, died overnight Wednesday, and her passing was announced Thursday morning.
The person taken into custody in the shooting, has a lengthy criminal record, including a case where he was found not competent to stand trial because he has an intellectual disability and a language impairment. But Shaquille Taylor was also not required to undergo treatment in the earlier case. And he also was not prohibited from buying or possessing firearms!
While some may wonder how such a senseless tragedy can occur, there have recently been a number of local cases involving stray bullets.
There was yet another innocent bystander shooting overnight Thursday into Friday.
The pervasive nature of Tennessee’s gun culture can seem almost omnipresent these days.
NASHVILLE STATE REPRESENTATIVE DARREN JERNIGAN ON INSIDE POLITICS
Believe it or not, the 113th Tennessee General Assembly comes back to Nashville in less than two months.
Lawmakers were last here in August for a controversial special session on public safety.
Many of those issues, in particular gun reforms, remain before our elected representatives, along with many other high-profile, hot-button proposals.
Our guest on INSIDE POLITICS this week, to discuss the upcoming session, is Nashville Democratic Representative Darren Jernigan who also has a new job this year, guiding the mayor's office of legislative affairs.
We welcome Representative Jernigan back to the program!
Our conversation will air on the regular weekend schedule for INSIDE POLITICS on NEWSCHANNEL PLUS.
Those times include:
7:00 p.m. Friday.
5:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
1:30 a.m. & 5:00 a.m. on Sunday.
THE PLUS is on Comcast Cable channel 250, Charter Cable channel 182 and on NEWSCHANNEL5’s over-the-air digital channel 5.2. We are also on DISH TV with the rest of the NEWSCHANNEL5 NETWORK.
One option for those who cannot see the show locally, or who are out of town, you can watch it live with streaming video on NEWSCHANNEL5.com. Just use your TiVo or DVR, if those live times don't work for you.
This week’s show and previous INSIDE POLITICS interviews are also posted on the NEWSCHANNEL5 website for your viewing under the NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS section. A link to the show is posted as well on the Facebook page of NEWSCHANNEL5 PLUS. Each new show and link are posted early in the week after the program airs. I am also posting a link to the show each week on my Facebook page.
THE OFF-OFF YEAR ELECTIONS SEE AN ADVANTAGE FOR DEMOCRATS
With the 2024 Presidential election now less than a year away, the off-off-year elections held in several states this week yielded results that favor Democrats in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The vote tallies are sounding alarms among Republicans in the U.S. Senate where several key seats are up for grabs next year.
The vote in Ohio, to place reproductive rights in the state constitution, marks the seventh time in seven elections, held since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its Roe v. Wade abortion decision, that pro-choice measures have been approved.
But will the abortion backlash help overcome the continued slump in the polls for Democratic President Joe Biden who is still highly likely to be his party’s nominee for re-election next year?
In a potential blow to Democrats holding a majority in the U.S. Senate next term, on Thursday ,maverick Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced he is not seeking re-election in 2024. Instead, he says he plans to travel the country and test support for him running as a third- party presidential candidate.
A third- party candidate from 2016, Jill Stein she plans to run again for president on the Green Party label.
No third -party candidate has carried a state since George Wallace in 1968. But with the 2024 race looking very close, a third party candidate might tip a battleground state to one candidate or another.
TENNESSEE TAX REVENUES PROJECTED TO TIGHTEN WHILE LAWMAKERS EXPLORE TELLING WASHINGTON IT DOESN’T WANT $1 BILLION A YEAR IN EDUCATION FUNDS
In recent years, state tax revenues have grown like topsy. Things have been so good it’s been over 2 DECADES (2002) since the state raised its sales tax rate.
But with budget hearings underway for Governor Bill Lee’s administration for the next fiscal year beginning in July 2024, there are warnings the revenue outlook might not be quite so rosy in the near future.
While nobody’s even whispering tax hike, why are Republican state legislative leaders continuing to explore a plan to tell Washington that Tennessee doesn’t want to receive the $1 billion we receive every year in education funding?
They complain there are too many “strings” attached to the monies, but after a week of hearings on the Hill by a special House/ Senate committee exploring the issue, no stunning revelations about strings have emerged. In fact, those testifying before the panel say they need these funds and more to help special needs students and those who live in low-income areas. As for “strings” they say they are largely routine requirements that the state requires for its own oversight of funding.
Federal education officials did not appear to testify before the legislative panel. They say they will be glad to answer any questions submitted to them. The special committee has two more days of hearings next week. It appears the panel may not complete its work by the end of year, but legislation to forgo this federal education funding appears likely to be filed during the 2024 legislative session.
By the way, no state has ever rejected this kind of annual funding from the federal government.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
The Chaos Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives is at again!
We are one week away from the deadline to shut down the federal government (again) if a new spending plan isn’t passed by both houses of Congress.
When former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy negotiated a last-minute deal a few months ago to forestall an earlier shutdown, he did so by negotiating with Democrats in the House, the Senate and President Biden.
That infuriated the arch conservative members in the House GOP Caucus, and that resulted in McCarthy being fired from his leadership post. It also led to three weeks of gridlock in the House as Republicans couldn’t decide who would be the next Speaker.
Finally, Representative Mike Johnson was chosen Speaker, in a rare instance of House GOP unity to elect him. Now, just a few weeks into his new job, Johnson faces the same challenge his predecessor did. He can’t get his Republican members to unite behind spending bills or an omnibus package. And if he opens negotiations with Democrats he could face being bounced from his post and become a former Speaker McCarthy.
Yes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.
Further complicating the matter, are other pending spending plans to aid Ukraine and Israel in their wars against Russia and Hamas, along with aid for disaster relief efforts in this country.
Being the leader of free world is never easy. But these recurring threats of shutdowns are getting downright embarrassing!
