Tennessee Chamber lauds pro-business lawmakers Page 1-A of the Kingsport Times-News July 15th, 2010 Tennessee Chamber lauds pro-business lawmakers By Hank Hayes Published July 13th, 2010 | Added July 13th, 2010 11:20 pm | COLONIAL HEIGHTS - Tennessee businesses faced more threats from state lawmakers this year than in recent history, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) President Deb Woolley said Tuesday night. "I'm not sure why," Woolley said at the Kingsport Area Chamber of Commerce's annual legislative barbecue held at Domtar Cabin. "The legislature was very political, and business became a scapegoat for money or for solutions, be it immigration ... or revenue needs for the state." But Woolley noted none of the 68 anti-business bills opposed by TCCI passed. "On every one of those bills, these guys were at the table," she said of the GOP lawmakers at the barbecue. With Republicans in control of the General Assembly, a $86 million package of tax and fee increases on big-ticket items and cable TV services failed. "There was less spending, less pork, no fish hatchery (a multi-million project requested by House Speaker Kent Williams of Elizabethton) and no new taxes," state Sen. Mike Faulk, R-Church Hill, told about 100 people at the annual chamber event. "I submit to you that it's the leadership of (GOP) Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey (of Blountville) that tilted this ship upright." Some other so-called "job killer" bills opposed by TCCI and defeated by lawmakers during the two-year legislative session included measures to reduce the sales tax on food; requiring businesses employing 25 or more to grant paid sick and vacation leave based on number of hours worked annually; and a measure to increase the maximum weekly unemployment benefit to $325. Woolley credited Faulk and retiring House Majority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, with having a 100 percent pro-business voting record. Lawmakers at the event also credited each other with their work during the session beginning in January and spilling into June. State Rep. Tony Shipley, R-Kingsport, touted unanimous passage of his DUI interlock legislation and recalled how Middle Tennesseans came together after spring flooding. "Bass boats, canoes and trucks came to the aid of your fellow Tennesseans," Shipley said. "There was no looting. ... Things were working out even though there was a disaster." Woolley, however, noted that lawmakers failed to pass a last-minute budget request to create a $20 million grant fund for small to mid-size businesses impacted by flooding in a 46-county area. "The money could have gotten a lot of Tennesseans back to work, but in the politics at the end of the session, it didn't happen," she said. "It would have been a special grant fund for restoration expenses. ... It was an extraordinary request at an extraordinary time. ... I guess we all laughed and said 'Nothing good comes from them being here in June.' And nothing really good comes from them staying a week after they've passed a budget." The event was also a tribute to the 36-year-old Mumpower, who was honored with a framed piece filled with images and messages thanking him for his 14 years of legislative service. But he was also given a good-natured poster of him wearing a mullet wig on his partially bald head. "It's a time like this that I hate to see my wife not here," he joked. "I haven't seen this many politicians sweat since the FBI raided the state Capitol (in the Tennessee Waltz bribery sting)." Mumpower encouraged Shipley's re-election in the 2nd House District and Ramsey's election as governor. Ramsey was not at the event but instead was in Middle Tennessee campaigning for the GOP nomination against Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga. At the event's end, Mumpower gave no other new clues as to what he'll be doing next. "The answer is I don't know. ... I'm not going to disappear ... and I think I'm going to be active in Nashville as well," Mumpower concluded. For more about TCCI go to www.tnchamber.org.