Democrats avoid commenting on Mcnally’s social media controversy
Teacher pay raise bill targets dues collection
Tennessee Democrats on Thursday largely avoided wading into a social media controversy sparked by Republican Lt. Gov. Randy Mcnally.
Mcnally, R-oak Ridge, commented multiple times on a young man’s suggestive Instagram photos, something his staff defended as a byproduct of his “prolific” social media use.
“Well, I probably could have been a little more careful of my selection,” Mcnally said when asked if he now considers anything in the interactions inappropriate.
In a weekly news conference held after floor sessions on Thursday, Democrats spent most of their time discussing the final passage of the bill to slash Nashville’s Metro Council, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law in rapid fashion after Senate passage earlier in the morning.
“The dangerous things coming out of this building right now are not about social media. It’s laws that are getting passed,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-nashville, said when directly asked about the Instagram controversy. “We have passed some of the most disturbing, antagonistic, and hostile anti-lgbt legislation in the country.
“I think it’s absolutely critical that everybody who lives in this state feels safe to live in this state and, right now, the legislature is failing them on that count.”
Proposal to increase teacher pay comes with clause targeting dues
A proposal to increase minimum salaries for Tennessee teachers to $50,000 also includes a clause to kill the practice of teacher payroll-deducted dues to employee organizations.
The legislation, sponsored by Senate Majority Jack Johnson, R-franklin, and Rep. William Lamberth, Rportland, proposes gradually increasing the salary schedule to $42,000, $44,500, $47,000, and finally $50,000 for the 2026-27 school year.
Senate Bill 281 would end the practice of local school districts of providing “unions with a free benefit of collecting dues on their behalf,” Sen. Bill Powers, R-clarksville, said while presenting the bill to the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.
“Taxpayer resources in K-12 education should not be used to support these activities,” Powers said.
Jim Wrye, an assistant executive director for the Tennessee Education Association, which represents thousands of Tennessee teachers, called the raises “outstanding,” but criticized the dues clause as unfair.
Funding for the teacher raises, a signature of Lee’s State of the State address this year, is expected to total about $1 billion in recurring funds.
Earlier this month, Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn previewed the salary increases by describing an eventual $900 million in recurring state funds for teacher salary increases through a direct allocation section of the new K-12 funding formula.
Asked Wednesday to clarify the funding plan, Lee’s office pointed to the statement from the TDOE saying the funding would come through existing and expected new investments “which are projected to be sufficient to cover the increase of minimum salaries in nearly all districts.”
The estimated costs are based on the total number of teachers in the state and the $9,000 increase from the current minimum salary of $41,000 to $50,000. It is unclear what the total costs would be to districts to include indirect costs related to salaries like retirement and pensions.
Its fiscal note shows projected local costs of $1.6 million in the final school year, stating that otherwise new funding formula investments would be enough to cover local costs of raising salaries.
“Because the fiscal note outlines the cost to implement the legislation at the local level, should it be passed, and fiscal notes do not limit the governor and Tennessee General Assembly in what they could do in the future, additional funding could be allocated in the future to cover any potential differences,” TDOE said in a statement to The Commercial Appeal on Wednesday.
New state Supreme Court justice confirmed
A joint session of the Tennessee General Assembly on Thursday confirmed Lee’s latest appointment to the state Supreme Court.
The legislature confirmed Knoxville attorney Dwight E. Tarwater to fill a seat on the court later this year. He will fill the vacancy left by Justice Sharon Lee, who last year announced plans to retire at the end of August 2023. She is the last justice on the court appointed by a Democratic governor.
In Tennessee, a governor makes appointments to the state Supreme Court. But under a 2014 amendment to the state Constitution, the appointment requires legislative approval. Justices then face retention elections every eight years.
Tarwater previously served as Gov. Bill Haslam’s general counsel and is currently a partner at Paine, Tarwater, Bickers, LLP in Knoxville.
Lawmakers reject Piercey nomination
Former Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey has faced her share of scrutiny from lawmakers. Among the controversies she faced was the department’s vaccination outreach efforts among minors.
But she may not have expected what happened in House and Senate committees.
Piercey was nominated to the board of East Tennessee State University, a public institution in Johnson City. She is a graduate of the ETSU’S medical school and did her residency there.
“I have a long history in my family with ETSU,” she told the House Education Administration Committee.
She did not face any difficult questions from Republican or Democratic members of the committee. Still, the committee voted 12-6 to reject her nomination.
Among those the committee did approve for the ETSU board? Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican.
The week ahead
h A Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday afternoon may determine the fate of an abortion exceptions push in the General Assembly. The committee is set to hear the slate of bills after pushing them off in February.
h HB 1176, the bill to scrap the current Nashville airport board and install appointments handpicked by the General Assembly and the governor, is up for a vote in House Government Operations on Tuesday.
h SB 269, an effort to official designate Juneteenth as a state holiday, which failed last year despite Lee including it in his budget, is up for a vote in Senate Financial, Ways and Means
h The Senate and House will hold Monday evening floor sessions, but agendas have not yet been released
Got a question for us?
Got a question about state politics you would like us to tackle? Let us know. Email us at mabrown@tennessean.com or statehouse@tennessean.com.
Commercial Appeal reporter Laura Testino contributed to this report.