Editorial
Front Page - Friday, October 30, 2009
Sen. Bo Watson speaks to CMBA about state legislature
Samara Litvack
It is often said that one should not speak to a group regarding topics the group knows more about than he does. To that end, Sen. Bo Watson spoke earlier this month at a meeting of the Chattanooga Mortgage Bankers Association regarding the function of the state legislature, his role and his views on legislative hot topics, rather than the state of the mortgage banking industry.
A native Chattanoogan, Watson’s family moved to the Hixson area when he was young, and the area was in early stages of development. He lived there most of his life, attending Normal Park Elementary School, The Baylor School and The University of the South. Watson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. He then received physical therapy training at the UT Memphis Center for Health Sciences.
Today, he works as the director of therapy services at Parkridge Medical Center. He is also a clinical instructor of physical therapy at UTC and Chattanooga State Community College.
Watson was elected to the general assembly in 2004, representing the 31st district of the House. In 2006, he was elected to the 11th Senate district and has been serving in the Senate ever since.
Watson opened with brief descriptions of the roles of the seven other legislators, with whom he considers himself “very privileged” to serve. Andy Berke, his colleague in the Senate, serves as secretary of the Education Committee, he said, and Rep. Richard Floyd represents the Signal Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Red Bank areas and serves as the secretary of the House Conservation and Environment Committee.
Rep. Tommie Brown, who has served in the legislature longer than any of her colleagues, represents downtown Chattanooga and serves on the House Finance Ways and Means Committee, which Watson says is one of the most important, if not the most important committee. She also serves as vice chair of the House Higher Education Committee.
Rep. Gerald McCormick, representing Hixson and Ooltewah, is the chairman of the State Government Subcommittee and also serves on the Commerce Committee, while Rep. Joanne Favors is the secretary of Health and Human Resources and represents the North Chattanooga/Highway 58 area.
Rep. Vince Dean, representing East Ridge and East Brainerd, serves as the vice chairman of the Transportation Committee. And serving a dual role, representing northern Hamilton County as well as Rhea County, is Rep. Jim Cobb, who serves as secretary of Government Operations in the House.
The legislature is composed of 33 members of the Senate and 99 members in the House and collectively, all 132 members represent the 95 counties of Tennessee.
“I am the chairman of the Government Operations Committee,” said Watson. “This is a committee that you may not pay much attention to but has a great deal of impact on what you do in your day-to-day lives, particularly in the business world.”
This committee is responsible for the oversight of any entity that has been created by the state government, such as the Departments of Transportation and Education.
“Most important to you is that any rules or regulations which a department, agency or bureau may create … have to come before this committee for approval,” Watson said. “And then this committee recommends to the full legislature whether those rules and regulations are appropriate, according to the statutes, and whether they should be implemented.”
Watson also serves on the Finance Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for the state budget; is the vice president of the General Welfare and Health and Human Resources Committee; is the chair of the Republican Caucus Bill Review, which means he reads all legislation and reviews it with members of the caucus; and is the chairman of the Hamilton County delegation.
“I am the contact person for activities which might be specific to Hamilton County and what the delegation is working on,” Watson said. “Our delegation is made up of Democrats and Republicans, so there are some issues upon which we do not agree. However, I will tell you that on issues that are relative to the City of Chattanooga, or any of the municipalities which make up Hamilton County, we very much come together and work on those issues that are important to our community.”
Watson encouraged all in attendance to interact with him and his colleagues, as citizens have the shared right and responsibility to offer their insight into legislation. He suggested calling, e-mailing or even stopping by their Nashville offices, adding that state legislators are all open to input from the community.
He then segued into a brief discussion regarding three main areas of interest – education, healthcare and economic development. He began by stating that the only constitutional mandate in place within the state legislature is that it must pass a balanced budget.
“The costs of any new programs advanced on the federal level, like healthcare reform, have potential to have significant effects on the states but no one appears to really be talking about that,” he said. “They seem to be talking about the effect on individual citizens.”
The reality, Watson said, is that the plan being proposed by Congress will have significant financial impact on the states. If the federal government imposes costs that exceed state budget allowances, state legislators will be forced to either cut funds from other entities, such as the Departments of Transportation and Education, or raise taxes to get the budget balanced.
Watson spoke of the need for more Tennessee high school
students graduating from high school; the need for better math and science skills to address the new, technologically-based economy; and the need for more graduates from two- and four-year universities. And while the state has done much by way of K-12 education and has improved teachers’ pay to at or slightly above average for the southeastern part of the country, there is still much room for improvement.
Watson also said reports presented to him regularly as a member of the finance committee show Tennessee as a well-positioned state, in terms of economic development. The key to success in this department, he said, is a well-educated, well-trained workforce.
“I am one, as I think most are, who has a tremendous faith that we will persevere and will emerge from this recession a strong state in a really good
economic position,” he said.
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