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Tennessee Listed As One Of The Worst For Women
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A study released by iVillage.com listed Tennessee as one of the worst states for women based on reproductive rights, health care, economic success, access to affordable childcare, female iVillage.com is a Web site geared toward women. The site spent four months studying each of the 50 states to determine which states were the best for women. Connecticut ranked number one in the country, while Mississippi ranked the worst at 50 out of 50 states. The study found Tennessee women lag behind the national average in pay and the number of women who complete a bachelor’s degree. According to the study, Tennessee women have median yearly earnings of $31,854. That amount is 13% lower than the national average of $36,551. When it comes to college graduation the study found that 23% of women in Tennessee earn a bachelor’s degree. The national average is 28%. “We have got to increase the number of our young people who are going to school graduating and receiving college degrees,” District 54 State Representative Brenda Gilmore said. “Sixty-nine percent of all households are run by women and we need to make sure women have all the tools and resources they need to take care of their families.”
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representation in government and educational attainment.| Tennessee Gets A C+ In Integrity Survey |
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And there’s campaign finance. The integrity review puts Tennessee down on that front, noting the 2011 law that opens the door to
One suspects that, if the review were conducted later this year, Tennessee would be headed downward in the ratings. Tom Humphrey focuses on what the state is doing right, and where it is doing poorly |
direct corporate financing of campaigns for state office and thus enhancing theimportance of money in state politics.| New Names In The Running In the 8th District |
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In the 8th Congressional District, incumbent Stephen Fincher, R-Frog Jump, has qualified to run. Annette Justice is another Republican candidate who has qualified for the August primary. Christa Stoscheck has qualified as a Democratic challenger for the seat, while two independents – James L. Hart and Mark Rawles – also have qualified, according to state records. |
| Why Didn’t An Important Healthcare Story Not Make The News In Tennessee? |
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It’s the blatant cowardice of both the Tennessee press and the Tennessee political leadership that astounds me. Any discussion of this study will inevitably lead to talk of healthcare costs, poverty, and race — issues that Democrats, including President Obama, are (or should be) dedicated to addressing. But rather than risk the appearance of supporting President Obama or his healthcare bill, Tennessee leaders are willing to ignore the plight of sick, black women in Memphis. On the second anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, Conservatives are still trying to equate affordable care with socialism, anti-Americanism, and all sorts of bad -isms. Apparently, the few liberals left in Tennessee are simply too scared to set the record straight.
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Tennessee Scientists Speak Out Against Anti-Science Legislation
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What high-tech employer will want to open up shop in a state that allows ideology and prejudice to trump science education? Reacting to such bills in 2006, the president of the Biotechnology Institute warned, “we are greatly diminishing our chances for future scientific breakthroughs and technological innovations, and are endangering our health, safety and economic well-being as individuals and as a nation.” Unfortunately, both houses of the legislature have approved HBl 368/SB 893. Although there are minor differences between the bills, it seems that the only barrier now to their passage and enactment is the veto of Gov. Bill Haslam.
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The Tennessean Editorial On the Scenic Vistas Protection Act
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Lawmakers could say they voted against the act because they dislike environmentalists – but what about the members of Protestant and Catholic churches who have come together to oppose mountaintop mining? What about the people whose livelihoods depend on tourism
in the areas where mining companies plan to scar the landscape? Being against the Scenic Vistas Protection Act is to be on Tennessee’s bad side. If you doubt this, ask the average resident of West Virginia how they like their ridgelines and mountaintops now that more than 500 of them have been blasted, and how they like their waters to be contaminated with the arsenic, mercury and other toxic substances that run off from the mining sites.
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the lawsuit to halt the plan was filed in chancery court in Nashville.
about two weeks ahead of their original planned date for final adjournment which is the end of next month.
generations to come.
has their latest newsletter out. 
maybe.
Coal played an important role in the history of Chattanooga and Sequatchie Valley, fueling iron production, but no active mines remain in that region. Seams were just a couple feet thick, so miners had to dig in a prone position. Work was slow and dangerous, and mines were abandoned as soon as it was feasible to bring in coal by rail. 
HB3619 simply called on the state commissioner of agriculture to keep statistics on horses on a website.
reduction package that would have included a new farm bill, we repeated the suggestion that Congress might give the current bill a one-year extension under the theory that each party is hoping to win control of Congress in this fall’s elections.
This week I attempted to pass my “Tennessee Contractors First” bill, which would have given preference to Tennessee companies on state-funded projects. I believe state government has a responsibility to give Tennessee businesses the first crack at state contracts, so our tax dollars create jobs here, not China or Mexico. Apparently, the majority party disagrees. They voted to kill the bill in our State and Local Government Subcommittee this week. 
punditry and what is not true regarding the spin on the democratic voter. 
