Haslam wary of electing state attorney general

NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Haslam says he's concerned that electing Tennessee's attorney general could mean the state's chief legal officer would focus more on advancing his own political career than protecting the state's interests.

"If you look at most states where you have an elected attorney general, most of them end up with [the] thoughts, 'I'll run for attorney general so that I can take the next step,'" Haslam said. "I think that's a concern versus having somebody [who says], 'I'm here to be the attorney general; I'm here to protect the legal interests of the state.'"

Haslam, a Republican, said he "will not oppose" efforts by Republicans in the General Assembly to push for an elected attorney general.

But he noted, "We should have a good discussion about what are the downsides to it — and one of the downsides is an attorney general who might always be thinking about the next office."

Now, Tennessee's attorney general is appointed by the state Supreme Court to an eight-year term.

Haslam spoke with the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Friday at the end of his first week as governor.

In other matters, the former Knoxville mayor:

• Said that while revenue estimates in the current fiscal year are "encouraging news," the "key question" is revenue projections for the 2011-12 budget he will propose to lawmakers in March.

• Sympathized with Tennessee hospital officials' resistance to increasing a 3.52 percent assessment used to shore up TennCare. Hospital officials have indicated they don't object to continuing the fee, but they don't want it boosted to cover an additional $121.5 million shortfall.

"What they [hospitals] intimated to us is, 'We're OK with continuing what we did last year, but please don't count on us as your crutch to expand that to get more revenue," Haslam said. "And I think that's a very fair request."

Elected attorney general

Tennessee's office of attorney general and reporter is created by the state's Constitution. He is the state's chief legal officer, representing it in all civil litigation, advising state officials and prosecuting securities and contract fraud.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, and Sen. Mike Faulk, R-Kingsport, have separate resolutions allowing Tennesseans to decide in 2014 whether to amend the state Constitution and create an elected attorney general.

Conservatives such as Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, don't think the Supreme Court should be choosing the attorney general.

Bell said he is unhappy with current Attorney General Bob Cooper, one-time chief counsel to former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Cooper has resisted Republican calls to join other states' lawsuits against federal health care reform. About half of the nation's attorneys general, many of them Republicans, have challenged the law.

In an advisory opinion last spring, Cooper said the Tennessee Legislature's attempt to nullify the federal health reform act was probably an unconstitutional attempt to pre-empt federal law. He said he could not act as counsel for the state in trying to enforce the pre-emption.

Cooper also has been reluctant to go to court to help Arizona defend its law requiring local police to enforce federal immigration policy.

When Republican lawmakers asked him last summer to get involved in the Arizona case, Cooper said, "We rarely, if ever, use resources to participate in a trial court proceeding in another state."

Bell is upset at the snub.

"I think the Legislature best represents the people of the state, of the three branches of government, and the attorney general for the most part has chosen not to work with us very well when we've asked him," Bell said.

Beavers said 43 states use popular elections to choose attorneys general. In six other states, the governor or legislature appoints the attorney general.

Beavers and Bell say state Supreme Court members who appoint the attorney general are themselves appointed. They don't campaign for election but are subject to retention elections, where voters can choose whether they stay on the bench.

Haslam noted that as Knoxville mayor he got to appoint his legal director and said he "only half-jokingly" thinks the state should do the same.

"It made it a lot easier if the person who was representing the city, or in this case the state, were on the same page — not so much that you could tell them what to do, but so you could use their advice and counsel in every situation."

He quickly added that he doesn't think the Legislature would grant him that power.

Tea party leaders in Tennessee, meanwhile, believe that creating an elected office of "solicitor general" through legislation and assigning it the present attorney general's duties would be easier and quicker than amending the state Constitution.

State budget, TennCare

On the budget, Haslam said Bredesen's budgets projections for 2011-2012 "were too optimistic."

He noted, "I've said all along I think this next budget is going to be more difficult than people think it is."

Asked if failing to expand the hospital assessment for TennCare would result in provider or coverage cuts, Haslam said, "I just don't know enough to answer the question yet."

He said he will be discussing the matter with TennCare officials.

The fee expansion would replace $121.5 million from the federal stimulus program. That attracted an additional $321.23 million in matching funds for the state's health care program for the poor.

Failing to replace the $121.5 million would create a $442.7 million hole in the state's $8.29 billion TennCare program, officials said.

The bulk of the money is now being used to offset the need to slash reimbursements to hospitals, doctors and other health care providers by 6 percent or $366.9 million. More than $100 million of that goes to hospitals.

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