Governor addresses joint session to start 106th General Assembly

By Christine Anne Piesyk | February 17, 2009 |

Committees begin adjustment to new bipartisan makeup

NASHVILLE – On Monday, State Representative Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville) and members of the House and Senate were presented with Governor Phil Bredesen’s seventh State of the State Address.

“These economic times are tough on everyone, especially working families,” said Pitts (D-Clarksville). “Governor Bredesen made it clear in his speech that while we need to make some tough cuts to our budget, laying off workers and cutting education funding is not the way to bring us through this financial crisis.”

During his speech, Governor Bredesen announced his desire to maintain our education funding for K-12 and Pre-K classrooms, as well as challenged the Board of Regents, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to “step outside the box” in trying to find ways to make higher education more affordable.

“Now, more than ever, is the time that Tennesseans need to be able to afford a college education, said Pitts. “When the economy begins to turn around, our citizens need to have the skills and resources necessary to earn those new jobs that will be created.”

Finally, the governor spoke about working to make Tennessee the home of green technology research, specifically in the area of solar energy. With the recent announcement of Hemlock Semiconductor investing over $1.2 billion into a new solar panel plant in Clarksville, as well as the continuing development of cellulosic ethanol plants throughout the state, Tennessee has the potential to become the national leader in green technology.

“Like Michigan and the automobile industry in the early 20th Century, Tennessee could become the home for green technology manufacturing in the United States for the 21st Century,” said Pitts.

Governor Bredesen will again come before a joint session of the House and Senate later next month to present his budget.

House Members Begin Adjustment to New Bipartisan Committees

This week House Democrats and Republicans met for the first time to begin committee meetings under the new leadership announced by Speaker Kent Williams.

“As with any new experience, these split committees will take some getting used to,” said Pitts (pictured at right). “However, I am confident that we can put the people of Tennessee first and leave the partisan politics at the door.”

Of the thirteen standing committees, seven have Republican chairs while six are Democrats and all but two committees have evenly split memberships. The Government Operations Committee has a one-vote majority for the Democrats, and the Calendar Committee has the same split for the Republicans.

“These new bipartisan committees will give us the chance to really hone our skills as legislators and find ways to compromise and cooperate with each other so that we can do what’s best for Tennesseans,” said Pitts.

The schedules for all committee meetings and floor sessions can be found on the Tennessee Legislature’s website at www.capitol.tn.gov.

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