Georgia lawmakers named to panels
Two North Georgia state lawmakers have been named to study committees by House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
In a news release, Ralston said he named Rep. John Deffenbaugh, R-Lookout Mountain, to a joint study committee with other Georgia and Alabama lawmakers. The Legislature voted in April to create the group, which will meet to discuss issues that apply to both Georgia and Alabama. The committee will work off and on through December 2016.
Ralston named Rep. John Meadows, R-Calhoun, to a committee to study preservation of the HOPE scholarship program. That panel also was created by the 2015 General Assembly.
Tax bill named for Tennessee soldier
U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., has introduced a bill to keep families from having to pay taxes on student loans forgiven when the recipients die during military service.
In a news release, DesJarlais said the bill is named for Lance Cpl. Andrew P. Carpenter of Columbia, Tenn., who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. An earlier student loan he had taken out was forgiven by the lender, but the Internal Revenue Servicecounted the loan in the family’s taxable income and demanded $1,000 in extra tax, the release stated.
“Having already sacrificed so much for our country, it is simply wrong to require our military families to pay taxes on loans already forgiven,” DesJarlais said in the release. “This legislation is a fitting way to fix a glaring problem in our tax code while paying tribute to the memory of Lance Corporal Carpenter. His family has experienced the pain of losing a son, husband and father. If passed, I hope this measure will in some way ease their burden.”
If passed, the law would be retroactive to Oct. 7, 2001, the start of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Group calls for special session on health plan
Tennessee Citizen Action echoed a call last week by U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper and Nashville Mayor Karl Dean for a second special legislative session on Gov. Bill Haslam’s plan to provide health insurance for the state’s poor.
The group called on legislative leaders to bring the Insure Tennessee plan to a vote. Andy Spears, executive director of Tennessee Citizen Action, said the estimated 280,000 Tennesseans who would be covered under the plan “can’t wait any longer for access to quality, affordable health care.” He added, “The time to act is now.”
Backers say the plan’s cost is covered by federal funds and a special assessment on hospitals. They say that if the plan isn’t passed, many rural hospitals are at risk of closing.
Opponents have expressed doubt whether the federal money will keep coming and say the program would be too costly for Tennessee taxpayers.
Obama’s Nashville comments touch a nerve
President Barack Obama’s comments on health care and insurance during a Nashville speech last week drew a sharp response from the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance about its process of insurance rate review.
Obama noted that Nashville is a center for the health care and insurance industries and urged state lawmakers and insurers to support expanding the state’s Medicaid program for the poor, known as TennCare.
“TDCI Commissioner Julie Mix McPeak and our seasoned team of insurance regulators are not passively reviewing insurance rates for the coming year as the President suggested,” TDCI officials said in a news release.
“The Commissioner and our team have always taken the job of protecting Tennessee consumers seriously and are unafraid to ask hard questions of the companies we regulate in order to better protect consumers.”
Marion election commissioner honored
Robert McVey, a Marion County election commissioner for 20 years, recently was honored by fellow commissioners and members of the county’s state legislative delegation.
David Riley, Marion County GOP chairman, said in a news release that the Tennessee General Assembly passed a resolution honoring McVey’s service during its session earlier this year.
A copy of the resolution was given to McVey in a ceremony attended by state Rep. David Alexander, state Rep. Billy Spivey, state Sen. Janice Bowling and Election Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Wilson, among others.
Happy birthday, Winfield Dunn
Former Tennessee Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn, whose 1970 election broke state Democrats’ five-decades-old stranglehold on the governor’s mansion, celebrated his 88th birthday on July 1.
As a Memphis dentist, Dunn defeated Democrat John Jay Hooker and served a single four-year term, all that was allowed under a then-state constitutional provision. He remains a popular state GOP elder statesman.
CALENDAR
Monday: Tennessee House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick will speak to the Hamilton County Pachyderms at noon at GOP headquarters, 1428 Chestnut St., Suite E. Parking is in the adjacent Finley Stadium lot.
Wednesday: The Hamilton County Election Commission will hold a regularly scheduled meeting at its office, 700 River Terminal Road, at 8 a.m.
July 14: State Rep. JoAnne Favors will speak to the Greater Chattanooga Democratic Women’s Club at 6 p.m. at I.B.E.W. headquarters, 3922 Volunteer Drive. Light refreshments will be served. For information, call Brenda Nunn at 423-364-3532 or email nunnbre@aol.com.
July 16: Marion County Democrats will hold a barbecue dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. CDT at the Kimball Municipal Building, 649 Main St. Tickets are $12 for adults, and children under 12 are free. Tennessee Democratic Party Chairwoman Mary Mancini has been invited to speak. Please RSVP to county chairman Jim Lewis: telephone 423-942-9445, e-mail jim.lewis.217@gmail.com or at Attend Event Marion County Democratic Party on Facebook.
July 25: The Eastdale Neighborhood Association’s second annual pancake breakfast will raise money for community banners. Tickets are $7 and the fundraising goal is $4,200. Buy tickets at bit.ly/1dEVdys or at the door. The event will be held at Applebee’s, 5605 Brainerd Road, and will start at 7:30 am.