So, something is happening next Tuesday? YES! GO VOTE!!
We'll see you back here after the dust has settled to talk about what comes next year at the state and federal level.
This was cool: check out the POPVOX/TN write-up in UTK's Daily Beacon. And come say hi and give us a "like" on Facebook!
Education in Tennessee
Did you know that No Child Left Behind was repealed by Congress last year? (The bill to repeal was sponsored by Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander). The new law went into effect in August 2016 and will be fully implemented in the 2017-18. Here’s Tennessee’s plan.
The state Department of Education set four goals for the next five years:
- Tennessee will rank in the top half of states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), or the Nation’s Report Card, by 2019
- 75 percent of Tennessee third graders will be proficient in reading by 2025
- The average ACT composite score in Tennessee will be a 21 by 2020
- The majority of high school graduates from the class of 2020 will earn a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree
In other education news: the Tennessee Promise scholarship program set another application record (60,780 high school seniors, up from 59,621 in 2015), Governor Haslam is calling for people across the state to sign up as mentors for the students.
#ICYMI Tennessee
- Tennessee early voting sets new record (1.67 million)
- Ballot selfies may get a new look in the next General Assembly session. TN-Rep. Hardaway submitted legislation AND posted his own voting selfie.
- Check out this deep dive (and awesome map) of changing Tennessee voting patterns over the years.
- Open enrollment for health insurance started November 1, amid rate increases and limited insurer choice. Find assistance.
- The state ranks #45 in premature births, getting a “D” grade in new analysis from the March of Dime
- State legislature is the "most secretive" state institution about sexual harassment complaints, says Tennessean, following a 3-month investigation into sexual harassment in TN state government.
- The national NAACP called for a moratorium on charter schools expansion; the Tennessee chapter distanced itself from the national position.
- Hamilton County gets new veterans service office.
- Tennessee imposes water restrictions in some counties due to drought.
- TVA says Boone Dam repair will bring jobs and millions of dollars of investment to Tri-Cities. (You can follow the project on Twitter).
- And you can't grow cotton any farther north than this in Tennessee.
Should Tennessee expand coverage to the "Medicaid Coverage Gap"?
Nearly 300,000 uninsured Tennesseans earn too much to qualify for TennCare, the state's Medicaid program, but do not make enough money to qualify for tax credits to purchase health insurance on the federal insurance exchange or through the private market.
Funding is available from the federal government through the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) to support state-led expansion of Medicaid across the country. Tennessee is one of 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid.
In 2015, Governor Bill Haslam proposed Insure Tennessee, a two-year pilot program to expand coverage to those in the Medicaid gap. The bill was introduced in a special legislative session but did not advance beyond its first committee hearing.
In 2016 Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell created the "3-Star Healthy Task Force" to design an alternative approach for providing coverage to the Medicaid gap population. The task force is still finalizing a plan, which it expects to submit for federal approval before the end of the year.
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Wishing you a wonderful weeked! And don't forget to VOTE!!!
