Tag Archives: agenda 21

Norris Faces a Primary Challenger for the First Time

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State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville is facing an opponent for his state legislative seat from within his own Republican Party for the first time ever, reports Richard Locker.
Woody Degan, 48, who operates a private airfield in Fayette County and produces charitable and musical events, said he’s in the race because he was encouraged to run by a coalition of tea party groups.
Degan is specifically upset about Norris’ sponsorship of a bill Degan says essentially allowed water polluters to buy their way out of liability by paying into a conservation mitigation fund. The bill failed but Degan says the issue grew out of a fight he waged with the state over flooding of his airport in 2011 from construction of the mammoth intermodal rail yard nearby.
While in Nashville fighting that bill, Degan said he met conservatives who were asking lawmakers to pass resolutions opposing “Agenda 21,” the nonbinding 1992 United Nations program for sustainable development that opponents argue infringes on property rights.
Norris, 57, a Memphis lawyer who lives on a farm north of Collierville, was elected to the state Senate in 2000 after six years in the Shelby County Commission. He faced no opposition, in either the Republican primary or the general election, that year and has faced only one opponent, a Democrat in 2004, in his two re-elections. He has been Republican majority leader for the last six years.
Degan said Norris would not see him when he visited Nashville.”I’ve been on the wrong end of one of these political deals and I’ve understood that being a public servant is about sitting on the other side of the desk and listening to a man or a woman or a group with a problem.,” Degan said.
As Republican leader, Norris handles Gov. Bill Haslam’s legislative agenda in the Senate, which included last year’s sweeping changes in civil liability law that, among other things, placed caps on noneconomic damages in liability lawsuits.

Haslam Dodges United Nations Agenda 21

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Gov. Bill Haslam has declined to sign a resolution passed by the General Assembly – over Democrats’ objections – to condemn United Nations Agenda 21.
The governor’s decision (or non-decision?), initially reported by Blue Collar Muse, marks another semi-assertion of gubernatorial differences with the Republican majority of the Legislature on social issues. The biggest assertion, of course, was his first veto – the so-called Vanderbilt bill, or “all-comers bill,” if you prefer. And there was that refusal to sign the so-called “creationism bill,” or “monkey bill” if you prefer.
Says Ken Marreo in the Blue Collar Muse post:
I’m unclear on why the Governor has refused to sign the Resolution. He has not issued a statement on the matter.
But doing so gives ammunition to those believing the Governor is less than a reliable ally on basic issues. Taken alone, perhaps it could be explained away. In conjunction with actions such as his veto of the Vanderbilt Religious Freedom bill, it makes it harder to argue Haslam is a Governor of the People and not a representative of the establishment.
In fact, given the establishment and the People are in agreement on Agenda 21 and Haslam is out of step with both groups, the whole thing becomes even more confusing.
Haslam has refused to condemn Agenda 21. Just exactly where does that put him on the political map? I don’t know. Perhaps a statement from Governor Haslam explaining his decision would help pin down where he should be seen to be.
An inquiry by yours truly to Haslam’s press secretary, David Smith, asking if it was true that the governor had declined to sign and for a comment, produced this response:
“Resolutions are position statements by the General Assembly, not a law to be implemented. The governor doesn’t support Agenda 21, but he didn’t feel compelled to and isn’t required to take any action on the resolution.”
That lattter comment is true, of course. Governors may sign resolutions and, as a matter of courtesy, they usually do so. Gubernatorial signatures are not required for the non-binding and generally inconsequential statement of legislative opinion. Most resolutions express condolences on the death of a constituent or praise for some accomplishment, such as a high school basketball team’s win in a tournament.
The governor, I think, has courteously signed every resolution put before him previously. The suspicion is that the governor has been deliberately discourteous here, but would rather not talk about it. And the folks hired to spin for him need a little time to figure the best, most benign method of stating the governor’s semi-non-position.
Check back in a day or two and we’ll see.
Previous post sampler, HERE, HERE, HERE.

Mayor Fact Checks State Rep’s Flag Remarks, Finds Fault

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Mayor Tommy Bragg sent two letters to state Rep. Rick Womick in March challenging “misstatements” he made in the General Assembly about city codes enforcement to garner support for a resolution against United Nations Agenda 21, reports the Murfreesboro Daily News.
Bragg sent the first letter March 19 “to correct” several things Womick said on the House floor about the city’s dealings with Papa’s Butts and BBQ Hot Sauce Store on Old Fort Parkway. The second letter, dated March 20, said Womick made other “misstatements” in a House Judiciary subcommittee meeting March 14 about Murfreesboro’s flag regulations.
“At the meeting, you began describing the event when you presented a Tennessee flag to the president of the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic (Joey Peay). You commented that after I presented it to him publicly, (he) comes to me and says, ‘Well, Rep. Womick, thank you very much for the Tennessee flag. I appreciate it, but you’re going to have to talk to the City of Murfreesboro because they won’t let me fly the Tennessee flag on my property. We’re not allowed to fly any flags. No U.S., no Tennessee, nothing.'”
…Bragg’s letter states that Womick did not contact any city staff about flag or flagpole regulations, which led to his failure to “accurately describe the situation.”
City Manager Rob Lyons spoke to Peay, who told him he made a comment in jest that he would have to “go through the process with the city” to put up the flag. Peay made no comments that the city had banned state or U.S. flags, the letter states.
Bragg’s letter points out that the city requires a flagpole permit — at no charge — to verify proper footings and wind-load design. Nineteen flagpoles have been permitted in the last three years since the permit was established and none have been rejected, the letter states.
The mayor noted that the city lost a court case over flag regulations after previously exempting the American flag from its ordinance. The court ruled that it had to treat the U.S. flag the same as all signs.
Bragg wrote that Murfreesboro Medical Clinic did not apply for a flagpole, so the city could not have denied a permit request.
….”Your comments ….created the impression that the city banned the display of the flag and damaged our reputation statewide as a patriotic community.”
American and Tennessee flags fly over city buildings, Bragg stated, and Murfreesboro police officers and firefighters wear American flag patches on their uniforms.
…The Rockvale Republican, who is serving his first term in the state House, refused to speak to a DNJ reporter when approached Thursday morning on the House floor. Asked if he would talk when the House let out for the day, Womick, said, “I don’t have anything to say.” He has declined to return phone calls.