David Fowler President

December 21, 2009

Next year will have major implications for our state’s public policy for the next decade. Next year’s election cycle will determine whether Republicans maintain the majority they won in 2008 in the state House or whether Democrats wrest back control.

 

Who controls the state House determines who is the House Speaker, and the House Speaker decides, by virtue of his or her committee appointments, which political philosophy will prevail. And because the party in charge will also get to draw the legislative (and Congressional) district lines for the next 10 years, these elections will determine how gerrymandered the districts are in favor of the party in control.

One has to look no further for evidence of the importance of state House control than what happened last year on Senate Joint Resolution 127. Under the leadership of former House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington), for seven years SJR 127 never got out of the House subcommittee to which it was assigned. However, with his demotion and the election of Rep. Kent Williams (R-Elizabethton), the committee appointments changed, and SJR 127 not only got to the floor for a first ever vote, but it passed 77 to 21! One person can make a difference.