NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Fresh off his failed effort to persuade fellow Republicans in the Legislature that he wasn’t peddling “Obamacare,” Gov. Bill Haslam is pivoting to another tough fight over what he describes as the ruined brand of Common Core education standards.
During the last week’s special session on his proposal to extend health insurance to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans, the governor was unable to persuade enough lawmakers that “Insure Tennessee is not Obamacare” to get even a single committee to advance it.
A day after the defeat, the governor said his next challenge will be to keep Tennessee’s rigorous education standards while abandoning the Common Core label despised by groups ranging from teachers to tea partiers.