You Get The Next One: Secretary Of State Offers To Pick Up The Tab For SJR 127 Notification
Posted on April 8, 2009 at 3:57 pmSecretary of State Tre Hargett has apparently stepped in and removed a potential roadblock to the passage of SJR127, the constitutional amendment which would allow the legislature more power to regulate abortions in Tennessee.
In a memo obtained by NashvillePost.com addressed to leaders in both parties and both chambers of the legislature, Secretary of State Tre Hargett states that his office will fund the constitutionally mandated printed public notification required of all constitutional amendments (at an estimated cost of $20,000) regardless of whether a traditional appropriation is provided for in the budget.
“[B]ecause the Department of State is obligated by the constitution to publish a proposed amendment to the constitution, we will do so even without the appropriation of additional funds,” states Hargett in the memo.
If the Department of State does have to “front” the funds needed for the publication of the notifications, however, it will be a one time-only type deal.
“The ability to absorb publication expense is not without limit. After the publication of SJR127, the publication of any additional amendments would be subject to having adequate funding,” warns the Secretary of State.
This action is not without precedent.
In 2004, in a time of similar budgetary constraints, then-Secretary of State Riley Darnell picked up the tab for the notification for two proposed constitutional amendments, one banning gay marriage and other providing a property tax break for elderly homeowners.
The Secretary’s memo gives SJR127 the wide berth conservatives had been hoping for. While $20,000 fiscal note attached to SJR127 had been jettisoned in favor of a provision to publish notification online, some legislators balked at the notion of an internet-only notification in deference to constituents without convenient and reliable internet access.
An amendment to ban a state income tax was “put behind the budget” and effectively killed in the House Budget Subcommittee last week over similar internet-only notification concerns.
Your New Secretary Of State Is The Honorable Tre Hargett
Posted on January 15, 2009 at 10:45 amA joint convention of the General Assembly has voted 70-61 to replace current Secretary of State Riley Darnell with former House Minority Leader and head of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority Tre Hargett. Speaker Williams votes with GOP as does Democrat Rep. Ferguson.
Further coverage of the constitutional officer elections available here.
UPDATE 11:20PM: That was fast.
The Republican Joint Caucus Constitutional Officer Nominees
Posted on January 12, 2009 at 2:55 pmThe Chosen (all first ballot):
State Treasurer: David Lillard
Secretary of State: Tre Hargett
Comptroller: Justin Wilson
More from Ken Whitehouse at NashvillePost.com .
SEE ALSO:
Tom Humphrey
Woods
Matthew Hurtt
Vandy Right
Oversight Committee
Posted on December 18, 2008 at 11:19 amMick Wright thinks the Republicans in the legislature may need a new censor.
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Big Jim Wants To Have A Word With You
Posted on at 9:16 amAnd then he wants you to have a word with Senator Mark Norris. In an email to supporters, former Sen. Jim Bryson notes that Republicans are accepting public comment in the constitutional officers races and wants his folks to make sure that Norris knows that Bryson would make a fabulous Secretary of State:
The Republican legislative leadership is asking for public comment on the candidates. Senator Mark Norris’ office is collecting those comments and recommendations via email, fax, and phone calls regarding the constitutional offices. Please take time to send your thoughts regarding who you would like to see serving as your next Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer.
Senator Mark Norris’ Email: sen.mark.norris@legislature.state.tn.us
Senator Mark Norris’ Fax: (615) 253-0194
Senator Mark Norris’ Office Phone: (615) 741-1967
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Talk Radio May Have Inadvertently Wasted Everybody’s Time
Posted on December 17, 2008 at 1:03 pmGordon Belt on some interesting revelations during the Secretary of State interviews down at the legislature.
Rollins actually admitted during the interview that he applied for the position after hearing about the opening on talk radio the day before the application deadline. He owns a Maaco auto body shop in Nashville, is working on an online Master’s degree, and had absolutely no political experience before applying for the Secretary of State position. I’m sure Mr. Rollins is a nice fellow, but I think he applied for the wrong job. I’d be very surprised if he made the final cut.
Forget The Politics For A Moment
Posted on at 7:40 amGordon Belt wants to know how the candidates for Secretary of State will manage Tennessee’s State Library and Archives.
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Better Than The Anti-Bryson: Secretary Of State Candidate Denies Responsibility For Website
Posted on November 19, 2008 at 2:51 pmFormer gubernatorial candidate and state senator Jim Bryson makes clear in a conversation with Post Politics that he had nothing to do with a website touting his candidacy for the constitutional position of Secretary of State.
“I’m in the same position you are,” Bryson stated. “I’m trying to figure out exactly who this is and what it’s about. It’s professionally done and looks like something I might have done or put someone up to. That’s not the case.”
Bryson said he first found out about the site earlier this week when he was sent an email asking how long the site had been up.
Yesterday, after a few days of the website’s existence in the public domain, a press release was issued revealing the man behind the website, Joshua Pendergrass. Sen. Bryson says he believes he has met Mr. Pendergrass before but did not ask him to create the site and neither he nor his people have coordinated with him.
Bryson said he has tried to call Pendergrass to talk to him about the site but has not yet touched base with the apparent creator of the site.
“I certainly appreciate the interest and enthusiasm for my candidacy but the simple fact is that this election is about 132 votes. It is not a popular election,” explains Bryson. “This is about a lot of personal phone calls explaining my qualifications and what I plan to do in the office.”
Bryson was hesitant to speculate on whether this independent effort on his behalf would be helpful or hurtful in getting the requisite amount of votes for his candidacy in the legislature but was pleased to learn that the internet venture was for him and not against him.
“This isn’t the first time a website about me was created without my knowledge,” said Bryson referring implicitly to a negative blog attacking him during the 2006 Gubernatorial campaign. “At least this one is positive.”
Rep. Steve Cohen Endorses Hillary Clinton For Secretary Of State
Posted on November 16, 2008 at 6:46 pmThe Memphis congressman explains why the woman he once compared to Glen Close’s character in Fatal Attraction would be a good shaper of foreign policy in an Obama administration:
If President Obama does indeed select Senator Clinton as his Secretary of State, he will be invoking Lincoln’s legacy in a profound way; and in the opinion of this Congressman, there could be no wiser choice for the post.
During his first year in office, President Obama will likely need to keep a laser’s focus on domestic issues as we try to climb out of the economic hole dug under eight years of President Bush’s financial policies. Therefore, it is absolutely vital to select someone with the experience, toughness, and depth of knowledge to handle increased authority in foreign policy and deliver on President Obama’s promise to the world; and who could be more qualified to manage the duties of the nation’s top diplomat than the internationally revered junior Senator from New York? She brings two decades worth of foreign policy experience, much of it on the front lines as First Lady during one of the most peaceful eras in U.S. history. Furthermore, she brings instant prestige and credibility to the position; no foreign leader would ever feel diminished sitting in the presence of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
I have had the privilege to know the Clintons since their days in neighboring Arkansas, and I know of no one more intelligent and capable of tackling the enormous challenges we face abroad than Hillary Rodham Clinton.
SEE ALSO:
Mediaverse
Memphis Flyer
Where’s Gratitude?: Ramsey Rejects Kurita For Secretary Of State
Posted on November 14, 2008 at 7:19 amWe talked about the growing discomfort among Republicans, particularly in the House, of the prospect of a Secretary of State Rosalind Kurita a few days ago.
Now, it would seem official. Rosalind Kurita is now not even being backed by the man she made Speaker:
Former Democratic state Sen. Rosalind Kurita, who staked her political future on supporting a Republican for speaker, now is being rejected by Republicans in her bid to become Tennessee’s secretary of state.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, whom then-Sen. Kurita helped elect as Senate speaker in 2007, confirmed Thursday that rank-and-file Republicans, as well as grass-roots activists, fiercely oppose Ms. Kurita’s election by lawmakers to the post.
“That’s true,” said Lt. Gov. Ramsey, who last week stated that Ms. Kurita, of Clarksville, would make a “great” secretary of state.
“Rosalind Kurita voted for me for lieutenant governor,” said Sen. Ramsey, who as Senate speaker also has the title of lieutenant governor. “I owed her at least a consideration there. That obviously is not going to happen, and I have no problem with that. Keep in mind I don’t appoint this position.”
So what do you think of this? Should Ramsey have backed her regardless of the rumblings on the right? Should he have expended some political capital for a woman who basically gave up her career to put him where he’s at?
Couldn’t Ramsey and Mumpower, who are close, have rounded up a few Republicans to commit to voting for Kurita in hopes that some Democrats, recognizing that Kurita is the best they’re gonna do, would vote for her also?
The likelihood that the Senate will refuse to seat the man the Democratic Party installed in her Senate seat is increasingly unlikely considering the leeway the law currently gives a party in choosing their nominee.
Has Ramsey just thrown Rosalind Kurita under the bus?
Randy Rinks Building A Warchest
Posted on August 7, 2008 at 7:59 amHe’s not running for the legislature anymore but he is looking to help out those who are so that they might do him a good turn in return:
Rep. Randy “Bear” Rinks, chairman of the state House Democratic Caucus, has established a new political action committee - Bear PAC - to help in his coming campaign to become the next Tennessee secretary of state.
Rinks, who lives in Savannah, is not seeking re-election, and instead plans to ask legislators to chose him to replace Secretary of State Riley Darnell when the 106th General Assembly convenes in January.
Bear PAC has a balance of $2,701, according to a report filed last month with the Registry of Election Finance. Donations have come from former Democratic state Reps. Ronnie Cole, Joe Fowlkes and Doyle “Butch” Lewis.
Rinks said the plan is to create a fund to be used for making donations to candidates seeking election to the Legislature. They, in turn, will then hopefully be more inclined to vote for Rinks when the secretary of state election is held.
No donations to candidates have been made so far.
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