Legislature considers bills potpourri

KnoxNews
By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press
February 23, 2006

NASHVILLE — Legislation the Tennessee General Assembly will consider this session ranges from the unconventional — construction of a Jack Daniel’s tourist attraction in downtown Nashville — to the more predictable — expansion of the governor’s preschool initiative.

Lawmakers in the House scrambled to file their bills before the cutoff Thursday. The Senate has until next Wednesday. Legislators have said the bills should start moving through committees as early as next week.

One measure by Sen. Jim Tracy, whose district includes the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg, would clear the way for the liquor maker to offer tastings and sell commemorative bottles 65 miles away in Nashville’s tourist district.

An establishment normally has to get a permit to sell or serve liquor downtown, but Tracy said his bill would provide an exemption to that regulation.

"We want to make it so they don’t have to have a special license," he said.

As it did last year, education is again getting lawmakers’ attention because Gov. Phil Bredesen said in his budget address earlier this month that he wants nearly $233 million for improvements.

That total includes $20 million to add pre-kindergarten classes and another $20 million for students learning to speak English.

Last year, Bredesen signed a law allowing lottery funds to be used to create about 300 new pre-K classrooms for some 6,000 poor or at-risk 4-year-olds.

This year, he is proposing combining $20 million from taxpayer funds with the existing $25 million in lottery funds to add 250 more preschool classrooms — bringing the total enrollment of 4-year-olds to about 14,000.

"We believe it’s very important that we continue to focus on education," House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, said Thursday of the bills she’s sponsoring. "We are excited about continuing to expand on the pre-K program."

As of Thursday, lawmakers in both chambers had filed nearly 2,200 bills. About 80 relate to education.

Meanwhile, one lawmaker is turning her attention to Tennessee cargo after recent news reports that the Bush administration allowed a United Arab Emirates company to take over significant operations at a half-dozen U.S. seaports.

One of the bills proposed by Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, would give state law enforcement agencies the authority and tools needed to randomly inspect cargo passing through Tennessee.

"What we’re saying is, if the ports are not owned or controlled by the United States, then Tennessee will have the right to inspect those pieces of cargo as they come into the state as we deem necessary," Jones said. "You never know when you might have some sort of Trojan horse incident."

Ron Snell, division director of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said he doesn’t know of any other states proposing such legislation but believes it will be tough to pass.

"I think a state would have trouble because the federal government has control of interstate commerce," Snell said. "It’s really a federal matter."

State Sen. Mark Norris, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he hasn’t seen Jones’ legislation, but supports enhanced security. However, he said the question is whether the state government will be able to provide the money to do so.

"We need to look at the staffing and the funding to make sure that it’s adequate," said Norris, R-Collierville. "If this legislation will help do that, then I’m all for it."

Other issues that have received numerous bill filings include sunset provisions for existing laws, sales taxes, eminent domain and election laws.