State Sen. Jim Tracy spoke to about 30 people at a town meeting Friday at the Chamber of Commerce. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge]

He spoke at a town meeting held in the Shelbyvlle Bedford County Chamber of Commerce auditorium, part of a series of meetings held throughout the 16th District.

"It is a much tighter year budget wise than last year," Tracy said. He said there could be about $200 million less revenue coming in and that the General Assembly would be spending a lot of time dealing with the shortfall.

With the low level of Normandy Lake, water is another important topic that needs to be addressed, Tracy said. One of the things being looked at is a regional water program.

"We need to come up with some game plans and one of the things we're looking at ... instead of building a dam, we're looking at bringing a line from the Cumberland River," he said. Water is a regional issue since communities like Tullahoma, Manchester and Columbia all get their water from the Duck River watershed.

Reform of laws dealing with driving under the influence will be a hot subject, with a lot of different ideas being touted to toughen the current laws. One suggestion is the automatic confiscation of driver's licenses upon arrest. Another would lower the definition of aggravated drunk driving from 0.20 to 0.15 blood alcohol content.

Another topic coming up will be a bill dealing with AT&T getting into the cable television business. Tracy said a bill was currently working through the General Assembly on the matter. "All parties are getting together working on it ... and there will probably be a compromise on it," he said.

Last year, AT&T wanted to change Tennessee state law to permit companies willing to compete with cable TV providers to get a statewide franchise to provide cable services themselves, rather than seeking a local franchise in each city or county.

One bill already passed by the Senate and that is moving through the House deals with the theft of precious metals, specifically the recent spike in thefts of copper, which Tracy hope will curtail the crimes. "It's a big issue," Tracy said, noting that one business recently lost $60,000 worth of the metal due to a break-in.

Issues surrounding open government will be discussed over the next few weeks, Tracy said. "In the past four years, we've done more to open government an it's more open now than it's ever been in history." He noted the introduction of live Internet feeds of the legislative process as part of the new openness.

"The more light you can shed on government, the better off you are," Tracy said.

The topic of lottery scholarships will also be a big issue for the legislature, the senator said. Lawmakers are looking at whether to lower the cumulative grade point average needed to maintain a scholarship.

Currently, a student must be enrolled full time in college, have a GPA of at least 2.75 after their freshman year and a cumulative 3.0 GPA for subsequent years to keep the scholarship.

Gov. Phil Bredesen has said he supports lowering the retention GPA to 2.75 and that issue is one of the reasons that the legislature deadlocked on an omnibus lottery bill at the end of last year's session.

Tracy warned that if the GPA is lowered, it would take more money from the lottery fund. Tracy said has a bill that takes some of the excess lottery funds and steers it toward capital projects for schools K-12.

Illegal immigration is another topic being dealt with by the Senate, a subject that Tracy says he hears a lot about from his constituents. While several bills are up at the state, level, Tracy characterized it as more of a federal issue.

Tracy mentioned the bill passed last year that penalizes businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. This week, the Senate voted unanimously make it a crime for illegal immigrants to use falsified federal identification to gain employment and another that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone who manufactures the falsified documents.

Tracy also said citizens can have just as much pull as lobbyists can, citing a measure that was passed requiring training for police officers on high speed chases. The bill was passed after mothers of three teenagers struck by a patrol car involved in a chase with no lights or sirens running pushed for the legislation.