Contact Friends, Family and Neighbors to Contact the Senate, Governor, Lt.Governor!

It just keeps going on. Like a bad soap opera. What are we saying? The Tennessee Legislature is a bad soap opera!

If you've not heard yet, the State Fair legislation was put off until Monday. The senators were too busy sniping at each other over the budget and trying to figure out just what is "gateway sexual activity" so that they could order teachers not to talk about it.

But we're making ourselves heard. In spite of having to compete with the paid lobbyist from Farm Bureau insurance-- the people who wrote this legislation and are trying to push it into law. We're not sure just what their motive is, but you can be sure that if you follow the string, it will lead to money in their pocket in some way, shape, or form.

Or maybe it's just to keep "their" committee running the State Fair. And when we say "their" committee, it's referring to the jack-leg Tennessee State Fair Association whose board includes Sen. Haynes, who filed the legislation, Commissioner of Agriculture Johnson, who will get to pick and administer the proposed new commission, and Lacy Upchurch, CEO of Farm Bureau, the for-profit private insurance company.

Farm Bureau issued a press release stating "The bill does ensure we have a state law creating a commission to keep a state fair. Without this bill the continuation of a Tennessee State Fair at any location would remain at risk." This is absolutely false and misleading.

We already have a commission tasked with keeping the State Fair-- the Davidson County Fair Board of Commissioners. They were established by State Law in 1923 as a separate commission from the Davidson County government, not under the control of the mayor or the council, although the mayor appoints members who are confirmed by the council. They are authorized not only by state law, but the metro charter as well, to act independently. Does this allow for some political influence? Most assuredly. But what do you think is already happening at the state level concerning the State Fair? The State ran the State Fair with a state commission, leasing the Fairgrounds from Davidson County, from 1908 until 1923, when they gave up the effort, asking Davidson county to step in. It didnt't work for the State to run the Fair back then, and it won't work any better today.

It is also being claimed that Davidson County has given up on support of the State Fair because they have "outsourced" it for the past three years. This outsourcing is allowed under the Fair Board\'s rules (although the FGHPG would prefer that the Fair Board operate the Fair themselves as in years past) and is the result of recommendation by the Metro Council, and lobbying by, would you believe, this same Tennessee State Fair Association who\'s now lobbying to get the whole thing given to them. (the proposed new legislation would require that the Fair be outsourced).

Whatever support Davidson County has given to the State Fair in the past, could be considered the "moral support" variety of backing. The property was purchased in 1908 with funds from a special county referendum to create a "permanent home for the Tennessee State Fair." The Fair itself has always been self-sustaining and has never taken funds from either the State nor Davidson County. Any services that Davidson County has supplied to the Fairgrounds have been reimbursed by the Fair Board using it's own funds (for instance, the Fair Board pays Metro for traffic control during the Fair and other events). It has been strong Fair Boards in the past who have maintained the State Fair tradition-- not the metro, and certainly not the state governments.

So now we have this committee, TSFA, who having had the Fair contract for the past two years and put on incredibly mediocre fairs, is now tying to avoid having to compete for the contract before the Fair Board by creating a new commission with them and their pals in charge of it. This really stinks.

Don\'t let them get away with this special interest legislation. Keep working to stop it.

We know that many of you have called and sent emails, and walked the halls of the House and Senate, but you have to keep giving the effort for just a couple more days. Please.

Take this newsletter and print it out. Take it to church with you tomorrow. If you're not a church-goer, take it to the mall, the Arts Festival, the park-- anywhere you'll meet crowds of people and give them a copy. Urge them to email the senators-- all of them, not just their own-- and starting at 8am Monday morning, start the phones ringing in the Senate! You can get senators phone numbers here. And if you've already called or written, do it again until they get the point!

And call the governor too-- tell him to veto this bill if it should pass.

And if at all possible, be at the Senate building beginning at 8am and tell the Senators in person that you do not want our State Fair hijacked by special interests. Look for other red shirts, Terri Baer if you know her, or just strike out on your own! The Davidson County Fair Board has run the State Fair for the past 90 years and should continue to do so!

The Davidson County Senators (Davidson County is broken into 3 senate regions) and the Gov and Lt. Gov.: Calling the Davidson County Senators may not do much good, since they all co-sponsored the bill (remember this at election time!) but you never know. Minds change. Senator Henry was a strong supporter of the Fairgrounds at one point.

Sen. Thelma Harper: 741-2453

Sen. Doug Henry: 741-3291

Sen. Joe Haynes: 741-6679

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey: 741-4524

Governor Haslam: 741-2001

You can get other senators phone numbers here.

Copy/Paste these emails to reach all the Senators, their staff, and House leadership:

sen.tim.barnes@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.tim.barnes@capitol.tn.gov), sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.mae.beavers@capitol.tn.gov), sen.mike.bell@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.mike.bell@capitol.tn.gov), sen.andy.berke@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.andy.berke@capitol.tn.gov), sen.charlotte.burks@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.charlotte.burks@capitol.tn.gov), sen.stacey.campfield@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.stacey.campfield@capitol.tn.gov), sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.rusty.crowe@capitol.tn.gov), sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.mike.faulk@capitol.tn.gov), sen.lowe.finney@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.lowe.finney@capitol.tn.gov), sen.ophelia.ford@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.ophelia.ford@capitol.tn.gov), sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.dolores.gresham@capitol.tn.gov), sen.thelma.harper@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.thelma.harper@capitol.tn.gov), sen.joe.haynes@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.joe.haynes@capitol.tn.gov), sen.douglas.henry@capitol.tn.gov ( mailto:sen.douglas.henry@capitol.tn.gov), sen.roy.herron@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.roy.herron@capitol.tn.gov), sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov), sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov), sen.bill.ketron@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.bill.ketron@capitol.tn.gov), sen.jim.kyle@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.jim.kyle@capitol.tn.gov), sen.beverly.marrero@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.beverly.marrero@capitol.tn.gov), sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.becky.massey@capitol.tn.gov), sen.randy.mcnally@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.randy.mcnally@capitol.tn.gov), sen.mark.norris@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.mark.norris@capitol.tn.gov), sen.doug.overbey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.doug.overbey@capitol.tn.gov), lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov), sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov), sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.steve.southerl and@capitol.tn.gov), sen.eric.stewart@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.eric.stewart@capitol.tn.gov), sen.jim.summerville@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.jim.summerville@capitol.tn.gov), sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.reginald.tate@capitol.tn.gov), sen.jim.tracy@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.jim.tracy@capitol.tn.gov), sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.bo.watson@capitol.tn.gov), sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov), duane.dominy@nashville.gov (mailto:duane.dominy@nashville.gov), savemyfairgrounds1@gmail.com (mailto:savemyfairgrounds1@gmail.com), lauren.agee@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:lauren.agee@capitol.tn.gov), liz.alvey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:liz.alvey@capitol.tn.gov), zack.blair@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:zack.blair@capitol.tn.gov), robert.callahan@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:robert.callahan@capitol.tn.gov), lance.frizzell@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:lance.frizzell@capitol.tn.gov), pam.george@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:pam.george@capitol.tn.gov), claudia.weaver@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:claudia.weaver@capitol.tn.gov), adam.kleinheider@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:adam.kleinheider@capitol.tn.gov), glenda.mayes@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:glenda.mayes@capitol.tn.gov), marsha.milan@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:marsha.milan@capitol.tn.gov), lynette.morris@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:lynette.morris@capitol.tn.gov), debbie.rankin@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:debbie.rankin@capitol.tn.gov), katherine.robertson@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:katherine.r obertson@capitol.tn.gov), darlene.schlicher@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:darlene.schlicher@capitol.tn.gov), tonya.shisler@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:tonya.shisler@capitol.tn.gov), colby.sledge@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:colby.sledge@capitol.tn.gov), tres.wittum@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:tres.wittum@capitol.tn.gov), micki.yearwood@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:micki.yearwood@capitol.tn.gov), jordan.young@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:jordan.young@capitol.tn.gov), catherine.haire@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:catherine.haire@capitol.tn.gov), luke.gustafson@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:luke.gustafson@capitol.tn.gov), logan.grant@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:logan.grant@capitol.tn.gov), loudene.gee@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:loudene.gee@capitol.tn.gov), summer.carr@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:summer.carr@capitol.tn.gov), nathan.james@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:nathan.james@capitol.tn.gov), stephanie.jarnagin@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:stephanie.jarnagin@capitol.tn.gov), chip.mcconkey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:chip.mcconkey@capitol.tn.gov), tim.sig ler@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:tim.sigler@capitol.tn.gov), callan.wilkerson@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:callan.wilkerson@capitol.tn.gov), russell.humphrey@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:russell.humphrey@capitol.tn.gov), amanda.mcclain@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:amanda.mcclain@capitol.tn.gov), beverly.williams@capitol.tn.gov (mailto:beverly.williams@capitol.tn.gov)

Add the TN Farm Bureau:

lupchurch@tfbf.com (mailto:lupchurch@tfbf.com), jpearson@tfbf.com (mailto:jpearson@tfbf.com), rrose@tfbf.com (mailto:rrose@tfbf.com), wharris@tfbf.com (mailto:wharris@tfbf.com), tdodd@tfbf.com (mailto:tdodd@tfbf.com), elancaster@tfbf.com (mailto:elancaster@tfbf.com), jpearson@tfbf.com (mailto:jpearson@tfbf.com), tmullins@tfbf.com (mailto:tmullins@tfbf.com), pread@tfbf.com (mailto:pread@tfbf.com), lmaddox@tfbf.com (mailto:lmaddox@tfbf.com), mburniston@tfbf.com (mailto:mburniston@tfbf.com), swarner@tfbf.com (mailto:swarner@tfbf.com), bbeets@tfbf.com (mailto:bbeets@tfbf.com), bwright@tfbf.com (mailto:bwright@tfbf.com), rrose@tfbf.com (mailto:rrose@tfbf.com), smaupin@tfbf.com (mailto:smaupin@tfbf.com), ccurtis@tfbf.com (mailto:ccurtis@tfbf.com), cfleming@tfbf.com (mailto:cfleming@tfbf.com), kchastine@tfbf.com (mailto:kchastine@tfbf.com), thickman@tfbf.com (mailto:thickman@tfbf.com), j_mckinnon@bellsouth.net (mailto:j_mckinnon@bellsouth.net), matt.fennel@tfbf.com (mailto:matt.fenn el@tfbf.com), mbryant@tfbf.com (mailto:mbryant@tfbf.com), eclark@tfbf.com (mailto:eclark@tfbf.com), jbell@tfbf.com (mailto:jbell@tfbf.com), rking@tfbf.com (mailto:rking@tfbf.com), sscoggins@tfbf.com (mailto:sscoggins@tfbf.com), lroberts@trh.com (mailto:lroberts@trh.com), darrella@tfbf.com (mailto:darrella@tfbf.com), tdodd@tfbf.com (mailto:tdodd@tfbf.com)

Don't let the State Fair be hijacked by special interests!

Together, we CAN make a difference.