Capitol Hill Week: Firearms “carry” law tops agenda
March 20, 2009
Pace quickens on Capitol Hill with approval of wide variety of bills. Second Amendment Rights legislation begins to move in Senate Judiciary’s Firearms and Ammunition Subcommittee
NASHVILLE, TN: The pace quickened on Capitol Hill this week as the State Senate acted on a wide variety of bills, including key environmental legislation and several bills protecting our citizens’ second amendment rights. Meanwhile, the General Assembly awaits details of the governor’s budget, which will be presented to a joint session of the House and Senate on Monday night.
The governor is expected to take a four-year approach to the state budget, which will include his plans for spending over $4.5 billion in federal stimulus money that will flow into Tennessee over the next two years. The governor plans to cut approximately $1 billion from the budget adopted by the General Assembly last year. However, his speech Monday will not likely include plans to make the massive layoffs in state employees that were once feared. [Read more]
Republican Caucus presents weekly “wrap”
February 20, 2009
Each Friday Clarksville Online will publish the House Republican Caucus Weekly Wrap as a service to the community. This week’s topics include:
- Tennessee to receive $3.7 billion in federal money
- Environment and Conservation Committees hear testimony on TVA coal ash spill
- General Assembly website receives makeover, features improved bill tracking
Legislators were updated this week on the estimates from the bailout package passed by Congress and signed by the President earlier this week, learning that Tennessee stands to receive anywhere from $3.7 to $4.3 billion over roughly two years. Most of the money is already allocated by the federal government to specific purposes, with only $171 million left for “general purpose.”
TennCare will receive the largest sum of money, with $1.1 billion allocate specifically for the program. Other health-related programs that will receive money are foster care and adoption assistance services, immunization programs, elderly nutrition programs, and child care, which together total approximately $70 million. [Read more]
