Sam KcKenzie

Rep. Sam McKenzie is a Member, Education Instruction Committee, Education Instruction Subcommittee, and Transportation Committee. He voted with TLRC on ten bills and against us on sixteen, which accounts for his 46% vote score. Rep. McKenzie did not sponsor or co-sponsor any of the TLRC favored bills. He did co-sponsor a bill that we opposed:

HJR0010 – Parkinson – A Resolution to declare racism as a public health issue (sent to Summer Study). The passing of this resolution would have labeled Tennessee as a self-identified systemically racist state; we are not! “Systemic racism” has been conscripted and construed into a bludgeon to divide Americans. We must resist the comfortable path of acceptance, which implies assent.

McKenzie usually votes with his fellow party members against strong constitutional bills and supporting those that are neutral or more profligate with tax-payer money and expansive of government. Rep. McKenzie is articulate and seems confident in his arguments. He does not seem, however, to understand the principles of freedom embodied in our constitution. His constitutional score is a three out of ten.

Of the fifteen bills he sponsored, three of them passed into law:

HB0560 makes subject to public disclosure certain records, documents, and information pertaining to payers of the business tax, as long as the taxpayer consents to the public disclosure.

HB0893 allows a person who was convicted of a nonviolent offense committed prior to January 1, 1980, and received a pardon for the offense to have the person’s criminal records related to the offense expunged.

HB1509 authorizes the department to utilize alternative methodologies to determine the cost of day care when setting the annual day care reimbursement rate and to take actions necessary to support the development of shared services alliances and family child care networks to improve the quality of child care in this state, give child care providers access to innovative child care business resource platforms, and provide a means of cost savings to child care providers through negotiated discounts.

We have not had the pleasure of McKenzie’s in-person company, due to COVID restrictions. We look forward to finding common ground in the 2022 session.