Ferrell Haile

Senator Ferrell Haile (R): District 18, Gallatin, first Vice-Chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. Senator Haile, although considering a huge number of bills, has only endorsed two TLRC chosen bills with his co-sponsorship:

SB0474/HB0855 – Powers/Powers – All businesses are essential in emergencies–no discrimination allowed (passed).

SJR2 – Kelsey – Puts Right-to-Work into our Tennessee constitution, making it much more difficult to rescind (passed).

TLRC chose to sponsor one of Senator Haile’s bills:

SB0115/HB0116 – Garrett/Haile – Human/sex traffickers often transport groups of victims in trucks. Under this law commercial driver’s license (CDL) will be denied for life for those convicted of human/sex trafficking (passed).

Senator Haile lost points because of three bills he supported that TLRC opposed:

SB0425/HB1379 – Massey/Kumar – Would require insurers to cover infertility treatments which would result in higher premiums for all (sent to Summer Study). Dictating to private business is antithetical to the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions but some of our legislators only remember that when it serves them.

SB0736/HB0141 – Johnson/Lamberth (a Governor’s bill with which we take issue) – Special tax exemption for the film and video industry which was supported by a large majority of the General Assembly (passed). TLRC does not support special carve-outs for cherry-picked industries. The government should not be picking winners and losers.

SB0783/HB1204 – Massey/Zachary – Authorizes a special sales and use tax allocation to finance Randy Boyd’s Baseball stadium in Knoxville at the expense of Tennessee taxpayers. Boyd is a mega millionaire (passed).

Media stories on the subject:
Boyd Sports to Profit from Events Held at Taxpayer-Funded Stadium – Tennessee Star

Member of Senate Committee Considering Legislation for Randy Boyd’s Taxpayer-Funded Baseball Stadium is Employee of Law Firm That Could Benefit From Bill’s Passage – Tennessee Star

Five Sponsors of Bill Enabling Randy Boyd’s Taxpayer-Funded Baseball Stadium Received More Than $90,000 in Campaign Funds from Individuals with Ties to the Project – Tennessee Star

TLRC opposed those bills on fairness, fiscal-responsibility, and constitutional principles.

Senator Haile sponsored fifty-two bills, twenty-seven of which passed into law, one of which TLRC scored. To access, go here.

We do not need more laws; we need better laws, and enforcement of the laws already on the books. The grassroots are looking for courage in our legislators: courage to stand up for constitutional principles over pressure from leadership and paid lobbyists. Senator Haile could be that warrior. He represents a very conservative district and should reflect their values. He needs to study the Federalist Papers and resist the temptations to compromise those constitutional principles for any reason whatsoever!

We are at a crisis point and now is the time to stand for the people instead of special interests, the wealthy, and well-connected, and against those who assume power through corruption and coercion. If we do not, we could very well lose our republic and our liberties.