State lawmakers bring hill talk home to Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn. — State lawmakers talked to people in Jackson on Friday about what is going on with the current legislative session on Nashville.

Rep. Jimmy Eldridge, R-Jackson, said state revenue is good, but he wants to make sure the budget is balanced. “We don’t want to balance our budget off the backs of the taxpayer,” Eldridge said. “We want a fiscally responsible, transparent government.”

Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, said he wants to see the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab move from Memphis to Jackson. The $25 million project is in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. Jackson said the change would bring about 100 jobs to the area. “It will speed up the court system and help law enforcement,” he said.

Lawmakers also brought up the education vouchers at Friday’s meeting. Lawmakers said the issue will come up again. “All of the people I represent [are] against it, so I got to be against it,” Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Bolivar, said.

Lawmakers also commented on TNReady, the state’s new online school assessment test that crashed due to computer networking glitches.

“We paid a vendor over $1 million already to do this and it was, the crash, within the first 15 minutes,” Shaw said. “If the test is failing, how do you think the kids are going to pass the test?”

“We appreciate the teachers and what they do, and we just didn’t want to hold them accountable for the hiccup that’s not even anywhere close to their fault,” Jackson said. “There is a backup, which is the pencil and paper test, which will be done.”

Another concern among lawmakers is road repairs. Eldridge said an increase in the gas tax, which funds repairs, is off the table for now but will be back next year.

Lawmakers will hold another session March 18 to talk about what is going on at the capitol.