The Lowe-Down

NEW YEAR, NEW LAWS, NEW SOLUTIONS

I hope you had a great Christmas and New Year's season. A little rest and relaxation - with plenty of eating! - is always something Tiffany and I look forward to.

I want to tell you a little about the new legislative session coming up next week as well as legislation going into effect this year.

As we work to make West Tennessee an even more attractive home to employers who will create jobs, we must stay focused on educating and training a first-class workforce. The upcoming Special Session of the General Assembly furthers that goal by demanding results in higher education.

We will promote accountability in higher education by changing our funding formula to emphasize graduation. Tennessee ranks 43rd in educational attainment. As employers seek more from their workers, our ability to attract new business and keep existing ones depends on having a high-quality workforce. More students must graduate from higher education institutions.

Tying State funding to graduation rates will give colleges the incentive to focus on retaining and graduating students. Currently, state government allocates funds to public colleges based largely on enrollment-on the fourteenth day of the fall semester. By providing incentives to colleges to attract more students at the start of school rather than at the end, our funding formula does not take graduation or retention rates into account.

We should realign our incentives so that we are paying schools to retain kids from year to year and push them to earn a meaningful degree. By distributing dollars based on graduation, rather than enrollment, we ensure that our universities have their goals in the proper place.

Finally, a new law that I supported in the previous session went into affect on January1. The legislation - named "Crooks with Guns 2" - is specifically crafted to crack down on violent crimes by adding a minimum of six years to the sentence of a person who has a gun while committing a felony or attempting to escape. Violators who possess a firearm while attempting first-degree murder would get the extra time plus at least three to five years more depending on whether they have a prior record. This law builds upon the original "Crooks with Guns" bill, which I co-sponsored in 2007, and made it an additional offense to be armed with a firearm when committing felonies such as aggravated and especially aggravated kidnapping, burglary, carjacking, voluntary manslaughter and certain drug crimes.

An equipped workforce. Safer streets. The upcoming special and regular sessions of the General Assembly should continue focusing on those efforts as well as building a strong base for job creation throughout West Tennessee. I hope to tell you more about our efforts to create jobs and better opportunities for West Tennesseans in the days ahead.