Tennessee is in a good place, says two-term District 27 state House Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, although some people may "not realize things are working" as well as they are.
She has the figures that tell the story, though: at or near historical lows in unemployment, 93 of 95 counties with an unemployment rate below 5 percent, almost 3,500 fewer state government employees than in 2011, a rise of nearly $7,000 in per capita income since 2011, a pension funded ratio that is second best in the country, a rare AAA bond rating, and the fastest improving K-12 schools in the country.
Hazlewood wants to be part of a legislature that continues that progress - as well as shores up areas where the state can improve - and we endorse her election to a third term.
"Economic development is a passion for me," she says. "If [the state] were not in such a strong financial position, we would not be able to do for the citizens what we need to do."
The Republican Hazlewood, 68, is opposed by Democrat Dr. Brent Morris, 71, a personable retired pediatrician who has raised and spent no money on his candidacy and has campaigned very little.
He says he believes he has a "skill set that's better [to achieve] the things we want to achieve," such as comprehensive immigration reform, Medicaid expansion, universal comprehensive background checks for gun purchases and a ban on assault weapons.
Hazlewood, as she has in her two previous campaign, stresses the need for workforce development because businesses offering family-wage jobs are unable to find enough employees trained to do the work.
Related to that, she says, is the state's opioid crisis, which keeps many employees away from work or from seeking work. She said the state made a start earlier this year with the passage of two bills to help stem the crisis, but she says next year's General Assembly session may need to "tweak" those.
While Hazlewood says K-12 education has improved "fairly dramatically" under the two terms of Gov. Bill Haslam, graduation from public school must mean what it says.
"We're not being honest or fair if a diploma is not worth the paper is was written on," she says.
To that end, she says, the state must continue to hold its students to high standards, must not continue to change the rules for teachers and cannot tolerate continued process problems with the administration of its comprehensive TNReady tests.
During her most recent term, Hazlewood says she focused on the state's business environment, especially with her support of the Improve Act, which raised the gas tax but lowered taxes on food and the franchise and excise tax, putting Tennessee more on parity with other states.
Morris, a founding member of the Children's Advocacy Center and the creator of a public relations campaign for keeping children safe on the way to school, is of the belief "health care is a human right," and his solutions move out from that frame of reference. However, he sees value in defining areas of agreement, teasing out common answers and sharing resources to meet shared needs.
With gratitude for the doctor's past good works in the community, we believe Hazlewood is the right person for District 27.