State Rep. Pat Marsh's Letter to the District

"That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well." Abraham Lincoln

We started off this week with the Legislative Session beginning at 5 PM Monday and then we went right into Governor Haslam’s State of the State Address. His speech lasted about 45 minutes and I thought it was his best speech to date. The Governor has become a great speaker and his talk was filled with big ideas for this coming year. He presented the 2012-2013 budget and how well the state is doing. Just a few of these include:

 ●       We have a fiscally sound balanced budget of $31.93B.

 ●       The general welfare fund has returned to the previous collection level from 2007. This shows our economy has shown great improvement.

 ●       2.5% salary increase - Includes state employees, higher education, and BEP

 ●       State employees are down from 49,835 in 2008 to a projected 43,906 by 2013. This shows a much needed reduction in the size of Tennessee government.

 ●       Middle Tennessee State University will be receiving money for a new science center. This will help fill the qualifications for hi-tech jobs, which is much needed in Tennessee. This way we are not having to fill these jobs with workers from out of state.

 ●       Tennessee has also been able to establish an increase of $50M to the rainy day fund with a projected balance of $356M by the middle of 2013.

 The Governor’s budget cuts almost $1 billion from last year’s budget and a lot of services to our citizens could be eliminated. Therefore the next few weeks will be filled with meetings trying to convince the Legislature to not cut certain areas. There will be many tough decisions that have to be made, but since Tennessee mandates a balanced budget, certain things must be cut out and services discontinued. These decisions will not be taken lightly, however, we must live within our means.

 Monday I was humbled by a visit from Bethany Vanhooser from the Howell Community in Lincoln County. She is a freshmen at UT Knoxville this semester and came down with the University of Tennessee's Government Affairs Committee to see how our state Government works.

 I was absolutely honored to attend the 4-H awards banquet in Fayetteville Friday evening at First Baptist Church. It’s always great to see our youth involved in great programs like these and I want to thank Dan Owen for inviting me to the dinner.

Working with Mayor Ron Stacey, of Wartrace, we were able to help out with the CSX trains that had been causing traffic issues. After speaking with a representative from CSX and Mayor Stacey, I understand things have gotten better and should continue to improve.

I also worked with Tim Gill, the Road Superintendent of Lincoln County, concerning the Bridge in Coldwater. TDOT inspected it, and found it is still in moderate to fair condition, but will continue to keep an eye on it. I want to thank Thomas Hastings for his concern, and for bringing that to my attention.

 We had a full room last week when I met with Mayor Sam Tune and the Consolidated Utility district Board and staff about the new sewer system needed in Eagleville. We had two representatives from Environmental and Conservation in attendance and after a 2 hour meeting I left very optimistic about the move forward.

 The next couple of weeks are shaping up to be super busy. Bill counts are growing and committee meetings will be longer and probably more continuous. Also, we have many more meetings for breakfast, lunch, and receptions. It is all part of a very interesting process and I hope all of you can come up and watch it work.

 Please feel free to stop by my office or give me a call if you have any questions or concerns. You can reach me at (615) 741-6824 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . I am honored to represent the people of the 62nd district.