Direct Effects
Shane isn’t taking prisoners today. I like that. He also believes that Tennesseans need to be paying attention.
Yet, too many voters view state and local politics as a “minor leagues” kind of affair and dismiss it as unimportant. Of course, a major problem with that attitude is so much of what the “minor leagues” do has an immediate direct effect upon us.
Case in point: a bill to increase the amount of toxic pollution released by corporations into Tennessee’s waters failed…by only one vote.
Adding insult to potential injury, the vote didn’t fail because more legislators voted against it than voted for it. The vote was 49 in favor with only 41 opposed. The bill needed 50 votes for passage. In other words, when asked “Is it a bad idea to increase the amount of pollution in our water supply?”, most state legislators thought it was not a bad idea at all. Fortunately, one small vote kept that side from prevailing.
Do legislators read these bills?
Hey, thanks for the love! But to answer your question, sadly the answer is that they did read it. They just preferred to either protect “business interests” (’cause, all those poisoned water drinkers need jobs, y’know?) or they didn’t believe in “science.”
Dang science.
Guns in bars, toxins in the water supply and we still don’t have a budget. There are times that I just shake my head.