• • Judges in Tennessee Prepare to Take Up Abortion, Doctor-Assisted Suicide Cases
• • Haslam names Jim Henry as chief of staff in shakeup of administration's top slots
• • Slatery, other Republican AGs call for protecting religious tax exemptions
• • Georgiana Vines: 14th District campaign gets underway

The hearing on the lawsuit seeking an injunction against the above pro-life laws has been scheduled for 9 a.m. (CDT), Thursday, July 9, in Judge Sharp's courtroom, Room 820, U.S. District Courthouse, 801 Broadway 800, Nashville, TN 37203.

On Friday morning, Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy will hear arguments by proponents of doctor-assisted suicide who claim the state's ban on the practice violates fundamental privacy rights in the Tennessee Constitution.  The lawsuit is brought by John Jay Hooker and seeks to overturn the 1993 state law which largely mirrors the policies of nearly 40 other states which similarly protect the lives of the elderly, disabled, and sick.

The hearing on Hooker's lawsuit will be taken up at 9 a.m. (CDT), Friday, July 10, in Chancellor McCoy's courtroom on the 4th floor of the Davidson County Court House, 1 Public Square, Nashville, TN 37201.

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News release from the governor's office:
NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam today announced Jim Henry as his new chief of staff. Henry currently serves as commissioner of the Department of Children's Services (DCS) and replaces Mark Cate who announced his departure last month.

"Over the past four years, Jim has led two departments in state government that handle some of our most difficult work concerning our most vulnerable citizens," Haslam said. "Along with his experience in DIDD and DCS, he has been a mayor, a legislator and businessman. I appreciate his willingness to serve in this capacity and bring his knowledge and expertise to our office."

Henry, 70, first served in the Haslam administration as the first commissioner of the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD), which was formerly a division of the Department of Finance and Administration before becoming a state department on January 15, 2011. He became commissioner of DCS in 2013.

"I am honored to serve the administration in this new capacity and look forward to working in the governor's office," Henry said. "I'll miss working every day with the dedicated and hardworking employees at DCS but know that they will continue to do great work for the state."

Before joining the Haslam administration, Henry served as president and chief executive officer of Omni Visions, Inc., a company serving adults with developmental disabilities and children and families in crisis. A Vietnam veteran and former mayor of Kingston, Henry spent 12 years as a state representative and six of those years as minority leader.

Haslam also announced that Leslie Hafner, 45, who currently serves as director for legislation, will be promoted to senior advisor to the governor. Hafner is a 20-year veteran of legislative plaza and Tennessee politics. Before joining the Haslam administration, she was a principal at Hafner/Alexander Government Relations. She has also been director of government relations for Bass, Berry & Sims and served seven years in the administration of Gov. Don Sundquist.

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News release from the attorney general's office:
Attorney General Slatery and 14 other state Attorneys General have sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to take action to protect the tax-exempt status of nonprofit religious organizations following the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges.

The letter was prompted by comments U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. made during oral arguments in the case. The Solicitor General indicated that the federal government might decide, based on the outcome of the case, that certain religious organizations no longer qualify as tax-exempt under the Internal Revenue Code and also that contributions to these organizations are not deductible as charitable contributions.

"Under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citizens have the right to exercise their religion freely without government pressure to change their minds or penalties for unpopular beliefs," the letter states. (Note: Full text HERE.)

The letter asks that Congress modify the Internal Revenue Code to prevent the IRS from revoking the tax-exempt status of nonprofit religious organizations that disagree with the same-sex marriage decision.

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Serious campaigning has begun for the state's 14th House District seat by two Republicans, Knox County school board member Karen Carson and former congressional candidate Jason Zachary, who have met the qualifying deadline for the Aug. 12 primary.

No Democrat is running for the post to succeed Ryan Haynes, the new state GOP chairman.

The Knox County Election Commission will meet at 8:30 a.m. Friday in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building to organize the special election. The runoff will be Sept. 29, the same day as the city of Knoxville primary elections.

Zachary's campaign announced training for door-to-door campaigning will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in his office, 11726 Kingston Pike. Then he and volunteers will start knocking on doors.

Carson said her campaign is already knocking.

"We had training last week and began Monday," she said Thursday. "The rain hasn't helped us. Next week we will be continuing to do the same thing, trying to get our message out."

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COLUMBIA, Tenn., July 8, 2015- On Wednesday, Tennessee lawmakers led by State Representative Sheila Butt (R-Columbia), delivered a letter (Letter to AG) to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery requesting he join Tennessee with twenty-seven other states that are initiating a lawsuit against the EPA, as well as, requesting that a federal judge declare the recent Waters of the United States rule illegal and order an emergency injunction against implementation of the rule

"Today, I am requesting that the Attorney General for the State of Tennessee join with twenty-seven other states in challenging the EPA's and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' new  'waters of the U.S. rule.' I understand there is a cost to litigation," said Butt. "However, the cost of implementing this rule to the agriculture industry and the personal property rights of Tennesseans would be far more devastating."

The letter reads, in part, "Due to the extreme consequences of the regulations in the new EPA and Army Corps of Engineers waters of the U.S. rule, we, the undersigned, request that you join twenty-seven other states who are challenging the rule that was finalized in May and would take effect at the end of August."

State Senator Mae Beavers (R- Mt. Juliet) is among the state senators to have signed onto Butt's letter.

"What we have here is an out of control federal agency, which has no constitutional authority to exist in the first place, usurping the power of Tennessee's elected officials," said Beavers while citing the Tenth Amendment. "I appreciate the leadership of Rep. Butt on this issue. Along with my colleagues, I am urging Attorney General Slatery to join this
lawsuit."

State Rep. Martin Daniel, citing personal business experience in developing "hundreds" of advertising designs over many years, is calling for a refund of all but $10,000 of the $46,000 paid for development of a new Tennessee state logo.

The Knoxville Republican made the request in a letter sent last week to executives of GS&F, the Nashville advertising firm that developed the logo, with copies to Gov. Bill Haslam and state General Services Commissioner Bob Oglesby, whose department oversaw the firm's contract with the state.

As the owner and operator of outdoor advertising businesses for 23 years, Daniel wrote, he has "developed hundreds of outdoor advertising designs and numerous logos for my firm and others." Further, Daniel said that in his successful political effort last year to defeat former Rep. Steve Hall, Daniel said, he also "worked with graphic designers to develop at least two logos for my campaign and several other advertising designs, with dozens of design concepts considered along the way."