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Rep. Jim Hackworth - House District 33
IMMEDIATE RELEASE February
10,2010
HOUSE HOLDS FIRST BUDGET
HEARING OF 2010
Members expect to hear from all state departments by
end of March
NASHVILLE (Feb. 10) – On
Wednesday, the Tennessee House of Representatives held their first
budget hearing on Governor Bredesen’s proposed 2010-2011 state budget.
“The process of planning a
budget is the same whether it’s the family budget or the state’s
budget,” said State Representative Jim Hackworth, (D-Clinton).
“We have to look at where we spend our resources, where we receive our
revenue, and make sure we don’t spend more than we make.”
This week the House heard
from the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Housing Development Agency,
the Human Rights Commission, the Advisory Commission on
Intergovernmental Relations, the Post Conviction Defenders Conference
and the Commission on Aging & Disabilities.
The House Budget Hearings
are expected to take place each week throughout February and March. Each
meeting will host a number of departments of state government and allow
members of the House to question the directors and commissioners about
key funding requests or directives. Every hearing is open to the public
and can be watched online from the Legislature’s website at
www.capitol.tn.gov.
“The people of Tennessee
have the right to see their government at work and by having these
meetings available online, more Tennesseans can be a part of the
process,” Hackworth said.
Next week the House will hear from the following groups (A complete
schedule is provided at the end of this release):
Tuesday,
February 16, 2010
Tennessee Commission on
Children & Youth
Department of Children
Services
Wednesday,
February 17, 2010
Department of General
Services
Department of Human
Resources
Department of Revenue
Thursday,
February 18, 2010
Administrative Office of
the Courts
District Attorneys
General Conference
Office of the Attorney
General & Reporter
BILL TO STOP PHONE
SOLICITORS PASSES CONSUMER COMMITTEE
This week a bill designed
to protect senior citizens from unsavory phone solicitors was introduced
and passed out of the House Commerce Committee.
“Too often I hear stories
of seniors receiving calls from automated calls selling them everything
from insurance to cookware and before they know what’s happening they’re
signed up for stuff they don’t need or want,” Hackworth said.
“These types of aggressive, shady business practices need to stop.”
Introduced by
Representative Gary Moore (D-Joelton), the bill (SB2501/HB2503) would
make it a Class A misdemeanor for anyone in Tennessee to use false or
concealed telephone numbers through an auto-dialer to call another
Tennessee phone number. The penalty for such acts would be up to $2,500
for each deceptive call.
“We have to do more to make
sure Tennessee’s most vulnerable are not getting taken advantage of and
this legislation is a good step towards protecting our seniors,”
Hackworth said.
The legislation would allow schools, businesses, charities and political
candidates to continue to use auto-dialers, as long as their Tennessee
phone number and name were displayed through caller identification. As
an extra measure, political candidates would be required to sign a
written document authorizing the owner of the auto-dialer to use the
candidate’s phone number.
Having passed out of both
the House and Senate Commerce Committees, the legislation is expected to
be taken up later this year.
Budget
Hearing Schedule
Tuesday,
February 23, 2010
Comptroller of the
Treasury
Secretary of State
Treasury
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation
F & A -- Cover Tennessee
Department of Safety
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Department of Commerce &
Insurance
Tennessee Regulatory
Authority
Monday, March 1, 2010
Department of
Environment & Conservation
Tennessee Historical
Commission
Tennessee Wildlife
Resources Agency
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Department of Mental
Health & Developmental Disabilities
Department of Agriculture
Department of Economic &
Community Development
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tennessee Board of
Probation & Parole
Tennessee Corrections
Institute
Department of Correction
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Department of
Health, Ms. Susan R. Cooper, Commissioner
Department of Human
Services, Ms. Gina Lodge, Commissioner
Monday, March 8, 2010
Tennessee State
Museum
Tennessee Arts Commission
Tennessee Health Services
& Development Agency
Department of Tourist
Development
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Department of Veterans
Affairs
TRICOR
District Public Defenders
Conference
TN Education Lottery
Corporation
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
F & A -- Division of
Intellectual Disabilities
Bureau of TennCare
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tennessee Higher
Education Commission
Tennessee Board of
Regents
Tennessee Student
Assistance Corporation
University of Tennessee
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Department of Financial
Institutions
Department of Labor &
Workforce Development
Department of Military
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Department of
Transportation
Department of Finance &
Administration
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Department of
Education (K-12)
Tennessee State Board of
Education
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