BusinessTN

Since Senate Speaker Ramsey—the first Republican to hold the office of Lt. Gov. since Reconstruction—assumed control of the state legislature's upper chamber last year, the mindset of that group has become decidedly pro-business in bent. He's seen to it that both Finance and Commerce committees have the needed pro-business votes on any given bill.

Ramsey is, however, working with a paper-thin majority, which has complicated his efforts to lead. He doesn't have the leverage needed yet to force the Democratic-controlled House and Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen to play ball on his low tax agenda. Despite that slim majority, Ramsey has nevertheless been a key watchdog for business, for instance in holding on to the gains made in workers' compensation reform a few years back. (There are constant threats.)

Though he appears on this list of best lawmakers for business for a second time, Ramsey and his Senate Republican majority has hiccuped on a pro-business agenda from time to time stemming mainly from their conservative stances on social issues. For instance, though a preponderance of business interests (not to mention Republican President George W. Bush) believe Pre-K expansion is key to improving educational performance and, eventually, workforce development, Senate Republicans in Tennessee view the program as an unnecessary substitute for a mother's care, and argue it has shown no proven results. Ramsey has fought the governor's Pre-K expansion plans, citing concern for runaway spending in a tight budget year.

House Speaker Naifeh has been instrumental in passing the governor's legislative and budget packages through three successive pro-business occupants of the office—McWherter, Sundquist and Bredesen. As the longest serving Speaker of the House in Tennessee history, every significant pro-business piece of legislation that has passed in nearly two decades has had his fingerprints on it. No doubt his greatest contribution has been to appoint pro-business House members to Finance and Commerce Committee leadership posts, thus insuring that the business community has a major voice in what happens to legislation on the Hill.

Hot-tempered and imperfect but principled and loyal to friends and allies, Naifeh's support and arm-twisting usually provides the momentum that gets it done when it comes time to get something done. When in 2007 he got behind the 42-cent cigarette tax (40 cents for education), which was against all of his prior stands on tobacco, its passage became a foregone conclusion. Though a blow to the tobacco industry and to retailers, including his own family, West Tennessee's first family of grocers, the cigarette tax was largely supported by the business lobby as a key means to addressing the state's workforce development needs. On workers' comp reform, Naifeh almost literally held the committees hostage in his office until the matter was settled. Another little-remembered Naifeh business-friendly action? In the 2006 ethics special session, his insistence that whatever passed not negatively impact the state's economic development efforts led to corresponding exceptions in the code.

Clearly, Tennessee has two very pro-business Speakers. Thus, the tone is set for the General Assembly. With few exceptions, such as the trial lawyers' success in defeating tort reform, the pro-business attitude of the two Speakers carries the day.

Don't be fooled. Curtiss' deceptively shrewd, "aw-shucks" style belies razor-sharp mental acumen. The pragmatic and common sense-oriented Curtiss is probably the most capable pro-business legislator on the Hill due to his tenure, reputation and party affiliation.

It's no wonder that Curtiss, the House Commerce Chairman, was chosen to carry the AT&T statewide video franchise legislation in 2007. AT&T has wanted legislation granting it a statewide franchise to offer video services without having to negotiate individually with the hundreds of cities and counties across Tennessee as long required. Those counties and cities, in concert with the cable TV industry, have fought the plan. Caught up in the middle of that controversial fight, and soon exhausted with both sides, Curtiss got rightfully frustrated and developed his own compromise bill that to some degree had both sides up in arms. The bill that eventually emerged borrowed heavily from Curtiss' own effort.

There's a saying in lawmaking that if you end up with a bill that makes both sides unhappy, you have probably done the right thing. No wonder this is the second time Curtiss has been named to this list.

As chair of the ultra-powerful House Finance Committee, Fitzhugh is extremely important to business. Every piece of legislation considered on Capitol Hill comes out of Finance. It's one of the most important jobs up there. As such, Fitzhugh shapes legislation even if he doesn't have his name on the bill.

A banker by trade, Fitzhugh brings a banker's common sense approach to budgeting. Smart and unflappable, Fitzhugh for instance tows a hard line on the "zero sweeper"—a legislative rule that typically places bills with fiscal notes "behind the budget" during tight times.

Fitzhugh is a quiet leader, but if you need something done, he can get it through. He was the first to express to the governor a desire for accountability reforms and higher K-12 standards and requirements in Tennessee, a seismic shift in the state's public education system that recently took root and has the potential to positively alter the state's education and workforce development landscape. He's also carrying water on a workers' comp bill alleviating businesses of liability when a worker gets hurt in on-site fitness centers or if telecommuters get injured while working out at home. Not doing so would endanger employee wellness programs across the state.

Chair of the Senate Education Committee, Woodson has served as the prime sponsor of charter school legislation—a key pro-market issue—since her House days. She stood for two hours on the floor of the Senate in 2005 explaining, defending, and ultimately passing the last major bill for charter schools. (Others also deserve credit on charters, among them Lois DeBerry.) Woodson is the prime sponsor of the charter schools bill this year, an important time since the current statute sunsets this year unless her bill passes. Woodson's bill would also open enrollment to all students who qualify for free and reduced price lunches, a needed change. (Currently, students must be failing students or from a failing school to enroll in one of Tennessee's few charter schools.)

Woodson also helped lead the charge for reform to the Basic Education Plan or BEP last year, providing more equitable funding to urban school districts. In her powerful education role she has also been very protective of lottery proceeds, which everyone has an idea about how to spend. Her leeriness of such proposals is good stewardship.

As a Knoxville representative, Woodson must be a champion for the University of Tennessee. It's all the more reason to be impressed with her balance on the issue of for-profit colleges in the state. The state legislature is currently eyeing greater regulation of such schools, businesses that are important to Tennessee's workforce. Woodson has been a fair-minded arbiter, working to stave off over-regulation.

Ketron's name is soon mentioned when a Capitol Hill observer is asked about business-friendly lawmakers. But he is by no means a lock down vote for business. His campaign demagoguing of the immigration issue was dangerous, though the legislation he spearheaded in Tennessee is superior to that of other states. Make no mistake, however, the general business community views the immigration issue—a key workforce factor—as a federal issue and has urged state legislatures not to pass a nightmarish patchwork of state laws. Ketron more recently made the liquor lobby (and the hundreds of mom-and-pop liquor store owners across Tennessee) unhappy when he signed on as sponsor of a bill that would allow wine sales in grocery stores in Tennessee. It's more evidence that Ketron will sponsor items he believes to be worthy of discussion even if he doesn't vote in favor of them in the end. To his credit, he's certainly one who believes the more input you get, the clearer the water will become.

Largely via his campaign support, House Majority Leader Odom won his current office and has since successfully divided up the majority Democrats in the House with Speaker Naifeh. He is clearly among the most powerful lawmakers on the Hill. Politically ambitious, and previously viewed as unfriendly to business, Odom has repaired that reputation over time (though he is a primary enemy of the aforementioned for-profit colleges). What places him on this list is his tendency for unhealthy game-playing, choosing not to use his power to productive ends.

Though the job of the House Majority Leader is in part to spearhead Gov. Bredesen's legislative agenda in the lower chamber, Odom is on the outs with the administration. In fact, he spends much of his time trying to build support for people who want to see Bredesen get a loss and looking to drive a wedge between Bredesen, Naifeh and the Democratic caucus. That's hardly a priority of the statewide business community.

Odom, chairman of the House Ethics committee, is also the lawmaker spearheading efforts to dismantle the ethics commission created in the aftermath of Operation Waltz. He's doing so by trying to merge it into the pre-existing Registry of Election Finance, the same entity previously authorized to handle ethics-related issues—some would say not well enough. The move certainly makes Odom popular with Caucus members (likely his motivation), as lawmakers generally speaking are uncomfortable with various tenants of the new ethics legislation in Tennessee.

Odom has a long festering ethical quandary of his own. The current member and former chairman of the House Professional Occupations Subcommittee, which sets licensure laws, including those for so-called allied health professions such as optometry and podiatry, is in his professional life executive director of the state optometric association. Now, as majority leader, he has a hand in virtually every health-related bill that moves through the House.

The formerly Republican Williams' allegiance to former Democratic Lt. Gov. John Wilder kept the GOP from assuming control of the Senate in Tennessee. Williams was rewarded with a lofty Senate position. But when that control of the upper chamber was wrestled away by the Republicans (using Democratic Sen. Rosalind Kurita's vote), Williams became a man without a party.

Ironically, Williams' record is largely pro-business—he's just so isolated now that he can't be effective. He trusts nobody, and nobody trusts him. Evidence? He has set up a secondary makeshift office complete with desk and chair in the parking garage of Legislative Plaza. Other bizarre behavior has also ostracized the now Independent lawmaker. Take for instance his photo in the legislative booklet visitors to the Capitol use to identify lawmakers. In it, the antique car restorer is shown wearing a NASCAR ball cap and dark sunglasses.

Bad blood should never be a reason to not vote for good legislation. But Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey could sponsor a bill giving free ice cream to kids in the streets of Nashville, and no one would be surprised if Williams voted against it. Williams' spat with Ramsey and the Republicans combined with the fact that his unpredictable vote is quite significant in a thinly divided Senate makes for too chaotic an environment for business, which is trying to protect its interests and make gains. For the betterment of Tennessee government, and the establishment of a more predictable, orderly legislature, Williams needs to go.

Finney, a retired doctor, does get credit for taking Gov. Bredesen's regulatory flexibility executive order and putting it into statute with added enforcement provisions. And it must be understood that Finney hails from U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander's district in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, where there's a legacy of electing Republicans of an environmental-friendly slant. For instance, Finney is sponsor of a bill expressing support for the creation of a comprehensive state plan to address climate change and limit greenhouse gases in Tennessee.

Finney's latest splash, though, is as prime sponsor of a bill that would ban most surface mining in Tennessee. Passage would have dire effects on the coal industry in Tennessee, specifically crippling Knoxville-based National Coal. TVA also has a lot of coal rights in Tennessee and may one day need to turn to them to maintain a continuous stream of power for business. Tennessee manufacturers rely on a steady and reliable demand for power, and coal plays a vital role in that production. The industry argues modern mining practices, including "deep" mining, "cross-ridge" mining and "contour" mining, are sufficient protection for the mountains and clean waters of Tennessee and that they already strive to protect those entities. No permit for "mountaintop" mining—dumping rock and dirt in adjoining valleys, as is a common practice in Kentucky and West Virginia—has been issued in Tennessee in nearly 20 years. Also, Finney's bill likely conflicts with federal law as the U.S. government overtook regulation of the industry long ago. Sources say Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey has talked to Finney about his stance until he is blue in the face, to no avail. Even after the bill was killed in a House sub-committee, Finney persisted in his attempts to gain acceptance of the bill in the Senate.

Finney is also sponsoring a bill urging Congress to recognize the problems caused by direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies and limit or ban it altogether, which has the powerful pharmaceutical lobby up in arms. Agree or disagree with Finney's stands against those industries, he is clearly on the outs with Big Business in Tennessee at the current juncture.

Turner, named a worst lawmaker in the state of Tennessee for business now for the second straight time, will no doubt wear the designation like a badge of honor. A firefighter/EMT and vice president of the Tennessee AFL-CIO, Turner is labor's chief ideologue in the House, voting its interests 100% of the time. It's in his DNA.

Business lobbyists in particular spend an inordinate amount of time chasing down and stomping out the plethora of anti-business legislation the persistent Turner dreams up seemingly on a daily basis. That alone makes him relevant, not to mention he is an imposing figure physically who will study an issue, gets passionate and therefore can both sway colleagues or bully them into favor.

It was Turner who proposed the amendment to Gov. Bredesen's workers' comp reform bill to raise the percentage awarded to partially disabled workers upon their return to work to a 2.0 multiplier, that would have effectively ruined reform efforts. More recently, Turner is sponsoring a joint resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to establish a minimum wage in the state not less than the federal minimum wage, and calling for an automatic increase whenever Congress fails to increase the minimum wage for five full calendar years.

It's hard to say, really, if Ophelia Ford is good or bad for business. Why? Because she's simply not there to provide enough of a track record. Ford, who has been plagued by health issues, just recently reappeared on Capitol Hill. (She missed much of last year's session with a severe case of anemia.)

Senate Democrats, forced to work in a 16-15-1 minority in her absence, tried earlier this year to pass a bill allowing temporary replacements for sick lawmakers. In a telling referendum on Ford's own interpersonal relations with her party members, the bill stated that if a lawmaker can't or won't step aside, and fellow members feel that the individual is not performing his or her duties, that members could vote to seek a temporary replacement. (State Attorney General Bob Cooper put the kibosh on that effort, one fraught with dangerous precedents.)

Ford, a member of the politically prominent Ford family in Memphis, has clearly done a disservice to her party, her District 29 constituents (stretching from downtown Memphis and Millington) and Tennessee for failing to resign the Senate. A debilitating long-term illness, or any cause that prevents a lawmaker from showing up for work on a consistent basis, is no excuse for allowing state policy to tilt in one direction or another, pro-business or not. In many ways, Ford's brother John, the indicted former state lawmaker now heading to prison, is a preferable lawmaker to represent the district. Criminal behavior aside, at least John Ford showed up for work, studied the issues and understood that business fuels the economic engine in Tennessee.

The trial lawyer doesn't have enough of a voting record yet to add him to a list of worst lawmakers for business. And he has been on the right side of business—namely bankers—on certain legislation. Fincher bears mention mainly because he appears to be a politician with leadership potential. (Fincher is a slam dunk candidate to replace state Sen.Charlotte Burks' when she departs.) And he is also one that the business lobby worries about due to his frequent unwillingness to listen or be available for input. That's not to mention some of the legislation he's sponsored. One recent Fincher bill authorizes a workers' comp claim to be filed in court before the Benefit Review Conference process is exhausted, undoing one of the major provisions of the 2004 Workers' Comp reform. As representative of a growing area with important business interests including Averitt and Oreck, Fincher can't afford to be completely anti-business.