State Issues

Business:

• Support Right-to-Work Laws/Employment at Will - Tennessee is known as an "Employment at Will" state.  Generally, this means that an employer may legally hire, suspend, or discipline any employee at any time and for any reason.  However, employers's may not discriminate against any employee on the basis of rae, sex, age, relition, color, national origin, or disability.
• Oppose Unfunded Health Care Mandates - Oppose bills that mandate employers to spend a set amount on health care benefits.
• Delay implementation of the Streamlined Sales Tax - Delay implementation until Congressional action is taken on corresponding federal legislation.
• Support High Tech Incentives for new-economy, research and development, and technology companies - (Also Regional Issue) Allow for additional and enhanced support of small or start-up high-tech (agricultural science, materials science, media technology, nanottechnology, renewable energy, and research and development ) businesses.  Reasonable thresholds on business investment, number of jobs, and salaries should be requirements of qualification for the incentives.

Education:

• Support continued implementation of state educational standards described in the Tennessee Diploma Project, defining of proficiency in a manner consistent with NAEP, and establishment of "cut scores" calibrated to those standards. (Also Regional Issue)
• Oppose elected School Superintendents. (Also Regional Issue) (More details in local issues)
• Oppose mandatory merger of school systems within Tennessee Counties. (Also Regional Issue)
• Oppose BEP 2.0. (More details in local issues)
• Reject mandatory school start dates.  (Also Regional Issue) Setting the academic calendar for the school year should be a local decision, made by informed shcool board members and educators.
• Restore base funding for public community colleges and universities as soon as economically possible. (Also Regional Issue)

Transportation:

• Request TDOT to complete the EIS as expeditiously as possible and also develop and implementation plan that will allow for the final link of Pellissippi Parkway to be open to traffic. (Also Regional Issue)
• TDOT  should develop an implementation plan with major milestones identtified to enable the Knoxville Parkway to be open to traffic in the year 2020. (Also Regional Issue)
• Widen SR 170 from SR 62 (Pellissippi Parkway) to 1-75.  (Also Regional Issue)
• Support completion of Alcoa Highway.  (see local issues for more details)

Worker's Compensation:

• Worker's Compensation - Maintaining business friendly conditions for TN employer's by correcting "bad case law" and making needed administrative changes. (Also Regional Issue)
• Implement a more complete correction of the problems caused by the Overstreet v. TRW decision. The "fix" from the legislature last year stopped short of returning to the pre-decision state in handling communication with treating physicians.Revisit the issues that arose from the Wait v. Traveler's case as of likely to be increasing use of telecommunuting and other alternative work arrangements will likely increase in the future.Changes to Sec. 50-6-102 including the definitions of "injury by accident" and "arising out of and in the course of employment." Many practitioners in the WC arena believe that too many cases of personal, pre-existing conditions are finding their way into the WC system.  This has an adverse cost impact to many employers and contributes to unfair financial advantage of many claimants.  We need to refocus and reign in the scope of coverage under this system.