State Senator Bill Ketron won passage of three key bills this week in Nashville, including final approval of a resolution opposing federal intervention in education in Tennessee. The other two bills include a measure to help deter motorists from driving uninsured and a proposal to curb animal cruelty in Tennessee.

Senate Joint Resolution 107 urges Congress to stop "what amounts to the imposition of a national school board and to end the decades of federal intrusion in state and local education policy decisions." The resolution cites the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which reserves to the States all "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution." It goes on to say federal law establishing the U.S. Department of Education in 1979 prohibited the U.S. Secretary of Education or any other officer of the department from exercising "any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system."

"Over the past twenty years, federal laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act and the Race to the Top competitive grant program, as well as the Department of Education's use of conditional waivers, have exceeded the appropriate role of the federal government under the 10th Amendment," said Senator Ketron. "This has, in effect, resulted in what amounts to a national school board run by the U.S. Department of Education. Our state and local school systems should be free from these unconstitutional mandates from Washington."

In other action, Senate Bill 648, which would implement an online verification program for uninsured motorists, passed in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee this week. The proposal would help ensure compliance with Tennessee's Financial Responsibility Law.

"The goal of this program is to reduce the state's uninsured motorist rate, which is currently at 23-24 percent, and offer a real-time system of auto liability policy verification," said Senator Ketron.

This bill requires that notice procedure be provided to any driver found to be uninsured, allowing them 15 days to provide proof of insurance or exemption. Failure to comply will result in a $25 coverage failure fee. If there is no response to such notice, the owner will be sent a second notice informing them that they have 30 days to provide proof of insurance or exemption. Failure to comply will result in a $100 coverage failure fee and suspension or revocation of registration.

The bill also increases the fine for failure to provide proof of insurance from $100 to $300 and if a driver fails to provide proof of insurance to an officer, the officer may tow the vehicle as long as the officer's agency has adopted a policy for such procedure.

Rhonda Cochran, the mother of James Lee Atwood Jr., a young man killed by an uninsured motorist, gave her testimony in front of the committee. Cochran said that the man who hit and killed her son was cited earlier that day for driving uninsured, but was let go.

"I don't want anyone else in Tennessee, or anywhere, to go through what we've gone through," she said, "Please don't let my son have died for nothing."

Upon going into effect, the bill would enact the "James Lee Atwood Jr. Law," in honor of Cochran's son. The bill is pending action in the Government Operations Committee in the House of Representatives.

Finally, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Ketron's legislation to strengthen penalties against spectators attending animal fights. Currently, it is a Class C misdemeanor with a $50 fine to be a spectator at a cock fight; while it is a Class B misdemeanor with a $500 fine to be a spectator at a dog fight. Senate Bill 1024 increases the current penalty for being a spectator at any animal fight to a Class A misdemeanor and establishes the offense of taking a minor under 18 years of age to an animal fight as a Class A misdemeanor with a minimum $1,000 fine.

"The purpose of this bill is to provide punishment stiff enough to put a dent in the pocketbook of animal fight organizers," said Ketron. "Children are routinely in attendance at these events where they are exposed to a host of criminal activities and animal cruelty. Animal fighting attracts such criminal elements as the Mexican drug cartel who ran multi-ton quantities of meth and heroin through such events in Tennessee."