Lusk for Tennessee - District 27

I am a fiscally responsible Democrat and, most importantly, a consensus builder. If elected, I intend to focus on the critical issues that face Tennesseans: quality education, affordable health care, quality jobs, operating within a balanced budget, security and the environment. I believe that they are all interconnected, and success in one area will lead to success in others. Please consider these critical issues:

Education
Health Care
Quality Jobs & Economic Development
Fiscal Responsibility
Immigration, National and Border Security
Ethics Reform
Now What?

Education
Public education is one of the cornerstones of our democracy and critical to the success of Hamilton County. Investments in education will pay dividends through economic development which will also help ease our looming healthcare crisis.

Our children have suffered far too long from a flawed funding formula, the BEP. I pledge to work with the entire Hamilton County delegation to press for meaningful reform of the BEP process.
Salaries and benefits for our educators must be competitive with school systems in surrounding areas if we hope to keep our best teachers and to attract new talent to the profession.
Funds must be made available to repair our school buildings.
The skilled trades represent the foundation of our middle class. We must renew our focus on vocational education to make Tennessee attractive to new business.
The Governor's "13 year" high school proposal will give students an opportunity to graduate high school with an associate's degree in hand, a real advantage over other areas and the kind of forward thinking necessary to make Tennessee and Tennesseans among the most competitive in the nation.

Healthcare
Citizens who work hard, pay their taxes and live within the law should have access to affordable healthcare. This is a complex issue that will require a creative solution to prevent healthcare costs from bankrupting the state. While I do not agree with all of the Governor's decisions relative to TennCare, the TennCare system now has the stability necessary to advance the discussion of further and necessary improvements.

New programs like Cover Tennessee, Cover Kids and Access Tennessee will go a long way to providing some healthcare benefits to those in need.
Business, individuals, insurance companies and the Federal and State governments must partner to solve the healthcare crisis.

Quality Jobs and Economic Development
Tennessee lags neighboring states in economic development because we do not provide competitive incentives to either new or existing businesses and our education system needs significant improvement to create an attractive workforce. Good jobs bring benefits that will provide living wages and affordable healthcare to our citizens.

Hamilton County has the geographic location, the available sites and the infrastructure necessary to attract new business development.
Competitive but measured incentives will help entice new business to this area.
Incentives must recognize the importance of our existing employers and reward their investment in our region.
Tennessee can be at the forefront in research, development and production of alternative fuels. With our agricultural and natural resources, combined with the talent at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, we can create thousands of long-term quality jobs while we improve the quality of our air and water.
Improving education must be a vital part of any economic development plan.

Fiscal Responsibility
Never have we seen such an unprecedented level of fiscal irresponsibility and debt as we now experience at the Federal level. As a result, Federal funding for some of our most important state and local projects has been slashed or is even non-existent for programs such as the No Child Left Behind Act.

We must not spend what we do not have. We must not let this Federal practice infect Tennessee. We must maintain the balanced budget achieved by Governor Bredesen, while providing for the needs of all Tennesseans.
We must not raise taxes. We must improve the efficiency of state government and eliminate pork spending and funding for non-essential "pet" projects.
We should further increase the property tax exemption for those over 65 and receiving Social Security benefits from the present $25,000 to $100,000 to prevent our seniors from being taxed out of their homes.
We must consider reform of the Hall Income Tax and the State's Inheritance and Estate tax.

Immigration, National and Border Security
We are a nation of laws and illegal immigrants and their employers are breaking the law. The Federal Government has ignored this issue until it is now at a crisis level. Illegal immigrants cost Tennessee taxpayers in excess of $200 million dollars per year, $15 million of which is spent on healthcare costs. These expenditures make illegal immigration a state issue. Illegal immigrants come to Tennessee for good jobs, not jobs that Tennesseans will not do, but jobs that Tennesseans will not do for less than a living wage. The most effective way to counter illegal immigration is not by stopping them at the border but by stopping their paycheck.

Tennessee must press the Federal Government to enforce existing laws.
Government must provide the tools necessary for employers to quickly and accurately verify a worker's immigration status. Presently this information is not readily available.
Employers must be held accountable under existing laws if they hire illegal immigrants.

Ethics Reform
I am committed to meaningful ethics reform with real teeth. I will apply the principals of the Sunshine Law to all my legislative duties.

I will meet with lobbyists only in my offices and only for business before the legislature
I will attend no functions funded by lobbying dollars.
I will maintain a web-based list detailing all meetings I attend which concern business before the legislature and are not part of a recorded legislative session. The entries will include lists of speakers and the topics discussed.
I will maintain a web-based description of every vote I cast in the legislature and a discussion of the reasons for my vote.
I will hold open forums and attend regular town meetings at least quarterly in each area of the 27th district.

Now What?
We are at a crucial juncture in the history of the state of Tennessee. Having spent the last four years dealing with the spiraling costs associated with TennCare, we must now make important decisions that will determine our future and the future of our children.

We must send more moderates to Nashville who will work with the Governor and across the aisle to address these issues in an honest, bi-partisan way. ÊI ask for your vote and your support to make this a reality.

I care about our community, our people, our businesses and our environment. I know how to work within budgets and with people of all backgrounds, learned during my 30 years of experience in the transportation business, where I worked my way from the very bottom up to top level executive positions. Given the opportunity, I can and will work tirelessly for the people of Tennessee.

We need to send more voices of reason to Nashville, representatives who will focus on improving the quality of life for all Tennesseans. We simply can not afford another two years of the same nothing in Nashville. To do this, I need your volunteer efforts, your votes and your financial support. Together, we can and will make a difference.