CONGRATULATIONS!

Counties across the state have been very successful in their Lincoln Day and Reagan Day Dinners. It is such a treat and an encouragement to see grassroots leadership in action and growing our party! Thanks to Senators Alexander and Corker, our Congressmen Duncan, Wamp, Blackburn and Davis, and our State Leadership, Lt. Gov. Ramsey and House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower for making their calendars available to travel and assist the Party.

ABORTED LEGISLATION

House Democrats successfully sent, for the third time, pro-life legislation to the graveyard that has repeatedly passed the Senate. For weeks, dialogue and debate has occurred on the floor of the General Assembly and in the public square. The resolution would’ve returned to people’s legislature the determination of policy instead of a small group of unelected judges. The proposed constitutional amendment killed by statehouse Democrats would have allowed the legislature to pass commonsense provisions like informed consent and a 48-hour waiting period.

The vote serves as a defining moment. The proof is in the consistent record that shows Republicans working diligently for Tennesseans’ values versus the cheap rhetoric of House Democrats who are faux-life rather than pro-life. While many Democrat lawmakers claim to be pro-life, and the proposed amendment has the support of a majority of legislators in the state House and Senate, it once again was killed in a committee controlled by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, preventing a floor vote.

Four seats in the Tennessee House serve as the gap between life for the unborn or a judgment recognizing abortion as a constitutional right in our state.

HEALTH CARE SOLUTIONS FROM STATE REPUBLICANS

Republican lawmakers are promoting key health care reform proposals aimed at helping elderly and disabled Tennesseans receive more options in their health care, including staying in their homes for as long as possible. The long term care legislation is part of a series of bills aiming to help citizens “age in place.”

A part of the legislation package already approved by the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Services Committee calls for a pilot program for a “self-directed care program” where individual patients get the opportunity to choose services they think they need and who provides them. Consumers would receive a monthly budget based on their needs, and could use this money to hire personal assistant services, make home modifications, and more. Legislators discussed the reform proposals at a press conference Wednesday at the state Capitol.

State Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, chairman of the Senate General Welfare Committee, said, “We must look at all of our laws to help give citizens more options regarding their health care so that they can age in place in their homes with dignity. This is one of several bills we hope to pass this year aimed at providing more choices and options to elderly and disabled Tennesseans to help them stay in their homes as long as they can.”

Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, is carrying the proposal in the Senate, while state Rep. Debra Maggart, R-Hendersonville, is the sponsor of the House version.

“Tennessee has been last in the nation for too long in the number of healthcare choices for elderly and disabled citizens on Medicaid-supported services, a problem that has kept them from being able to stay in their homes and age with dignity,” Sen. Black said. “I know from speaking with citizens in my district that this is an issue that concerns many of them, and I can sympathize with their lack of options.”

Rep. Maggart agreed. “Our aim is to ensure that seniors and the disabled have options, and that they are in control of those options,” she said. “What fits for one person may not fit another. This is about allowing them to age with dignity."

“I hope these proposals are the first of many to look toward helping our seniors," said Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin. "Seniors win, and the state is being fiscally conservative in making sure these dollars are spent efficiently.”

Tennessee spent approximately $1.1 billion on long term care last year. Out of the 22,000 seniors on Medicaid in Tennessee, only a few thousand get home- and community-based care services.

After three years of closing 37 nursing homes, the Governor has offered no specifics, no money and no real plan for reforming the state’s long-term healthcare policy. But Tennesseans hoping for change to a more flexible system that saves costs and gives seniors more options don’t have to wait - Republicans are already moving forward with reform.

Another Republican proposal seeks to encourage responsibility by rewarding those who purchase long term care insurance. Currently, to receive state dollars for long term care, participants are required to “spend down” their assets - sometimes having to dispose of family heirlooms, land, or other things that do have monetary value, but also have sentimental value.

State Rep. Tom DuBois, R-Columbia, commented, “We want to allow seniors the opportunity to keep these things that are important to them, and encourage personal responsibility by encouraging people to purchase long term care insurance of some kind.”

State Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram, stressed the importance of the long-term care issue: “We debate many important things up here; however, healthcare takes up one-fourth of our budget. We need to make sure these funds are being spent in a way that will truly assist our aging population. We need to give seniors this voice.”

LOST INTELLIGENCE

After the Democrats in Congress allowed national security policy to lapse that permitted monitoring of known terrorists’ phone calls into and out of America, a letter was issued to U.S. Congressman Silvestre Reyes, Democrat Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, from Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence, J.M. McConnell. There has been a loss of credible intelligence as noted in the correspondence. http://www.politico.com/static/PPM43_080222_ag_dni_letter.html

Leadership committed to our national security is critical and required…and Republican.