Immigrants swelling numbers
Like so many other pieces of legislation introduced by a party not in power, or when there is divided government, we don’t expect this one to go very far. But U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, and Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee, have introduced a bill that makes sense to us — one that requires only legal citizens be counted in the determination of congressional districts and the Electoral College.
Currently, census numbers — including the illegal immigrants that can be found and counted — are used both in the determination of the number of congressional districts a state gets after every decennial census and the number of Electoral College votes a state gets.
So, for instance, California, which has been losing more citizens than any other state due to one-way moves, maintains a relatively steady population by being a magnet for illegal immigrants.
Blackburn and Hagerty filed their legislation, the Equal Representation Act, after a New York congresswoman was revealed in a video saying she “needs more people in her district for redistricting purposes.” Among the bill’s tenets are a citizenship question on any future census to provide a greater understanding of the U.S. population and a delineation between citizens and non-citizens for apportionment purposes.
“It is unconscionable that illegal immigrants and noncitizens are counted toward congressional district apportionment and our electoral map,” said Hagerty. “While people continue to flee Democrat-run cities, desperate Democrats are back-filling the mass exodus with illegal immigrants … hence artificially boosting their political power and in turn diluting the power of other Americans’ votes.”
No place like home
A new study by Construction Coverage shows that Chattanooga has the 15th highest percentage of working-age homeowners in the top mid-size metro areas of the nation who have paid off their homes.
According to the study by the organization that specializes in researching construction software, insurance and related services, the city area has a 31.7% rate of paid-off homes by working homeowners. No other Tennessee city is in the top 15 of either the large or mid-size metro area lists of such homeowners.
However, among small metros, Johnson City, Tennessee, is fifth, Morristown is seventh and Cleveland is 13th.
Among states, Tennessee scores higher than the national average with 30.1% of its working-age homeowners having paid off their homes. The national average is 27.7%.
“Americans who own their homes outright are less vulnerable during recessions compared to those households with large mortgages,” the report said.
Reaching out
Social media has made it easier for state legislators to reach out to their constituents to update them on what is happening in Nashville, to apprise them on the bills they have filed, and to solicit suggestions and comments.
In this week’s emailed video update by state Rep. Greg Martin, R-Hixson, for instance, he told viewers:
› The state’s 10-year transportation plan has $453 million of work planned for the Chattanooga area.
› He has introduced a House bill that increases the penalty from a Class C to a Class B misdemeanor for a student’s parent, guardian or legal custodian for failing to report to the principal upon enrollment the adjudication that a student has committed certain delinquent acts. The idea, he said, is that with the knowledge, the school, parents and student are able to prepare a plan to deal with the situation going forward.
› He is offering anyone who wants to attend a session of the legislature a ticket if they contact him prior to going to Nashville. You’ll recall that the legislature recently instituted a ticket policy for part of its gallery that gives each legislator one ticket per session to distribute.
Other legislators use Facebook, Twitter and email text to offer similar updates.
Ow, my aching …
Most of us are guilty of going online to diagnose our symptoms, pains and illnesses before we ever call a doctor, and now an injury law firm has analyzed Google data to determine which ailments Tennesseans search for most.
The study by hutzlerlaw.com of Phoenix showed that, of 102 maladies across the country, Volunteer State residents Googled bursitis the most. The joint pain ailment drew 4,267 searches per month on average.
It was followed by shin splints, carpal tunnel syndrome, nasal septum deviation and concussion.
For the country as a whole, shin splints took the No. 1 spot (and was tops in 33 states), followed by bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, nasal septum deviation and concussion.
Stay well out there.