Uninsured Motorist in Tennessee

Tennessee law states that an individual living in the state is required to be financially responsible for the damage or injury they could cause in an auto accident. This is called a tort state. In order to drive a car in this state residents are required to show proof of your financial responsibility. The limited amount that a driver can have is call liability. So with all of that being said, if everyone follows the law, why do we have such a topic at hand? Allow me to answer that question, “because everyone does not follow the law.” Uninsured Motorist is a topic rapidly grown in the state of Tennessee. Having dealed with this topic on a personal note, only catalyze my interest. I was involved in an accident in the other party did not have motor insurance. And before you guest, yes I footed the bill. Although I was not a fault, everything was filed to my insurance company. The understanding that I gained stated that my insurance company would personally sue the individual at fault. From a broader perspective all vehicles need proper insurance at all times. As a state, Tennessee should work harder to crack down on individuals who are not following the laws involved in auto insurance. Over next few blogs posted on this topic, I hope to bring new ideas, awareness of the need of insurance, and understanding of the legal side of uninsured motorist.

TEEN PREGNANCY IN MEMPHIS CITY SCHOOLS

Amid local and national coverage, Memphis City School system has another on-going issue that a ray of light has been shown upon…Teenage Pregnancy. Teenage Pregnancy is nothing new in Memphis or probably in any city, but national media coverage has once again brought it to the fore front and made it a priority among the board and city wide leaders. The problem stemmed from a news story which showed Frayser High School as having 90 children pregnant at one time. Although statistical data has not been thoroughly trended, the numbers are unsettling and show a need for plan to be in place. Superintendent Kriner Cash said in a recent news conference that the number is incorrect. He stated that in actuality the girls are in different stages of either being pregnant or have already delivered. He said that because of a program geared towards teens; a lot of students were transferred to Frayser High to receive the needed benefits of that program. Surrounded by City & Shelby County mayors, AC Wharton & Mark Luttrell, Cash said “In MCS, we have an adolescent parenting program that serves 85 to 100 young people; but it’s not big enough. We need a bigger boat.” Superintendent Cash also talked about a few other MCS programs put in place to combat the teen pregnancy problem, including one such that ensures students who are out of school because of giving childbirth, return to school and not fall behind their studies after giving birth. MCS just launched an awareness campaign in conjunction with Girls Incorporated of Memphis called “No Baby”. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell announced that the Shelby County Office of Children & Youth has joined with Memphis City Schools to help tackle the teenage pregnancy problem that has once again plagued the city of Memphis. Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital’s president and CEO, Meri Armour pledged a $4 million dollar federal grant that included boys ages 13 – 18 in a teen pregnancy prevention program. This pilot program will target certain areas in Memphis, beginning with North Memphis. All three entities agree that the problem does not begin nor end in Frayser High School exclusively. They believe that this is a countywide problem. The Urban Child Institute recently published its Data Book 2010 The State of Children in Memphis and Shelby County. In 2002 the birth rate per 1,000 females age 10 to 19 for black females in Shelby County was 38.3 per thousand, but increased dramatically to 62.6 per thousand in 2008, and increase of 63% and for white females in Shelby County, there was a 19% increase over the same period of time, 19.2 per thousand to 22.8 per thousand. In 2010, more than 2,100 girls ages 10 to 19 gave birth in Shelby County. Researchers say Shelby County’s teen pregnancy rate is 25% higher than New Orleans and twice of Louisville, Kentucky. Memphis City School Board Member Tomeka Hart says that the school board needs to reevaluate the sex education curriculum to find out if it is working. “Maybe what we are doing now is not the best way to teach students.” “We have a curriculum in place that seems to be comprehensive but we don’t know if it’s being implemented district wide,” said Martavius Jones, a school board member. The Memphis City School Board members are worried that they really don’t know what is being taught in the “Family Life” curriculum, which is abstinence, based, and has ordered Superintendent Kriner Cash to ensure all MCS teachers are indeed following the current school curriculum while statistical data is being founded and evaluated. The teen pregnancy issue is nothing new in Memphis and Shelby County, however the trend seems to be escalating rather than decreasing or even remaining the same. I think while we are launching programs and educating students about sex and its affects, parental education and involvement is an absolute necessity. Foundational thoughts and truths should be taught at home. We need to make sure that parents are accountable to their kids. I am with the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. Tonya Davidson

Uninsured Motorist In Tennessee

Uninsured Motorist in Tennessee Uninsured motorist in Tennessee and any other state is a very important need. Everyone should have auto insurance if you own a vehicle. According to a recent Insurance Research Council nationwide study if someone is injured in an automobile accident, the chances are 1 in 7 that the at-faultdriver is uninsured. In Tennessee, the estimate3d percentage of uninsured motorist is 21%. www.tennlawblog.com/dan-berexas-tennessee_law/unsured-motorist-coverage.html There are so many benefits to having uninsured motorist coverage. This coverage is designed to protect a driver in the event that they are in an accident and the other party's insurance policy is not able to cover part or all expenses. Many states do require that you have insurance for your car however it is not mandatory that you have uninsured mototist coverage. In Tennessee, the determination of issues concerning uninsured motyorist coverage is goverened by a combination of statues, law of contracts and common law presedent. The Tennessee Legislature has set out various statues that deal with this type of coverage. See Tenn Codd Ann 56-7-1206. Contract interpretation is required, because technology an insurance polkicy is a contract between the insurer and insured. Generally, Tennessee courts will interpret the policy within the confines of its plain and ordinary meaning, unless there is some proof of fraud or mistake at the time of the creation of the agreement. Because the unsurer drafts the p9olicy, any ambiguity within the policy will be likely held against it. Common law comes to play,l as well because legal issues involving negligence, fault and causation generlly arise in uninsured motorist matters.

Improving Education

Anika Hampton..."Education is the key to success". This motto is something you will hear throughout high school. " Every student college bound" is another motto known throughout schools and is frequently used by principals and staff members. These mottos normally represent goals and values of the schools. The school system is not living up to the parent's expectation. Of course parents have to be concerned about a child's education and also do their part to make this process a success. Unfortunately, According to The Commercial Appeal, May 2010 the school board approved $48.3 million in cuts to what is now an $888 million budget, sparing it to having to close schools and cancel text books order, but forcing it to cut jobs and mandate that every employee take two days of unpaid leave. The biggest saving, $13.8 million, came from cutting staff, staff that interact with families, monior in-school suspension areas and deal with behavior problems. This issue concerns me because how can students suceed academically if the schools are overcrowded and the city is cutting back on teachers. There are many plans in work that will supposedly better schools academically, but how will these plans be successful if the city keeps cutting back. One teacher is only assigned to so many students, which is sometimes still ineffective because that one teacher does not have the ability to meet the individual needs of all the students. I want my son to learn all that he can learn while he is in school. I do not want him to go to college not knowing things like how to write a professional paper. When students are sent off to college, they should be academically ready. Improving education starts within the family structure. It begins with the family's value and expectation of their child. How parents raise their children is vital. Teachers have to be patient with kids when trying to educate them. Some students need one on one interaction and encouragement from both the parent and the teacher. The resources have to be available for students when they need them. No student should have to go to school without school books. Taking baby steps will eventually improve education if everyone works together.

Nashville MPO Scoring Matrix

Background: The federal government gives billions of dollars every year for transportation projects. Each state receives funding for projects within the state and to act as the finance company for some rural areas, counties and local governments. In Tennessee, there are 5 primary markets and several smaller ones. The primary markets are the Tri-city area of eastern Tennessee, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis. Each of these area has a Metropolitan Planning Organization or MPO for short. The MPO acts as a broker for the federal funds distributed within its geographic area. As an example, the Nashville Area MPO manages the funding for Sumner, Wilson, Davidson, Rutherford, Williamson and parts of Robertson and Maury Counties. This area includes Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, and several other smaller cities. The Nashville Area MPO also manages funds for several transit agencies such as RTA, MTA and the Franklin Transit Authority. Within the MPO there are two committees. The Technical Coordinating Committee. (TCC) and the Executive Committee. The TCC is made up by a single staff member from each member community. The Executive Committee is usually the Mayor, or a designee of the highest ranking elected official from each member agency. Every five years the member communities served by the MPO come together and submit transportation projects to the MPO that will span the next 25 years. In 2010 the Nashville Area MPO request projects for the 2035 Regional Tranportation Plan. (RTP) This RTP indicates all the major roadway, transit, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) project as well as greenways, bike paths and sidewalks in which a member agency would like to receive funding. The projects are divided into near, medium and long term projects are are assigned, in the 2035 RTP, a 2015 Horizon year for the near term projects and a 2035 Horizon year for the long term projects. This indicates the year we members anticipate engineering and construction are planned. Once a project is accepted onto the RTP it waits for funding to become available in a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) TIPs run for three fiscal years and are limited in what they provide funding for. Most project must have what is called a local match. Typically funding is allocated at a 80/20 ratio, with the federal part at 80% and the local match at 20%. This indicates a commitment to the success of the project. Those agencies that can meet the local match then get onto a short list to be prioritized. The MPO then prioritizes the projects based on a scoring matrix that includes as one of the criterion “Local Agency's Highest Priority Project.” Others include specific design of the roadway and whether it includes ITS, transit stops, bike lanes and sidewalks along with many others. The Concern: My concern is that I am the TCC member for the City of Franklin, TN. I have served on the MPO's TCC since 2006 and I drafted a list of projects for the 2035 RTP that totaled $565,000,000.00. Now, in all fairness the Tennessee Department of Transportation was going to manage just about half of that total, but we have asked for nearly $290,000,000 in projects over the next 25 years. Most significant in the list I submitted was the completion of State Route 397 or Mack Hatcher Memorial Parkway in Franklin. The problem is that although it is Franklin's Highest Priority project, it does not score well in the scoring matrix. Franklin's population and commercial interests have blossomed in the past 5 years. New employment centers such as Nissan World Headquarters and Verizon Wireless have brought nearly 5,000 additional jobs to Franklin. The need for the roadway has been established over the past 10 years but some of the scoring is tilted towards established corridors rather than new roadways. Why?: The 3 sections of this roadway are crucial to the traffic congestion management for the City which also effects air quality and peak travel time excesses that help place Nashville as the #1 City in the country for the longest peak travel time. Intended Outcomes: It is my intent to have a higher score associated with multiple agencies in support of a project. The vary nature of the MPO promotes a regional approach to project implementation. Cooperative efforts between member agencies epitomizes that intent. The best outcome would be a revamp of the scoring matrix, lesser successes could be an improvement in the scoring matrix for regional coordination.

The EEOC Handling of Complaints of Racial Discrimination

As an African American who has repeatedly been subjected to disparate treatment in employment situations because of my race, I have grave concerns regarding the handling of complaints of racial discrimination by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), and I would like to see their processes improved. The areas of employment that are allegedly protected by the EEOC from racial discrimination (as well as other types of discrimination identified in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) are delineated at the EEOC website at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-race.html. They include recruitment, hiring, advancement, compensation, terms and conditions of employment, privileges, harassment, retaliation, segregation of employees, and pre-employment inquiries and requirements. Although the Commission appears to have far-reaching regulatory authority, their investigative and enforcement practices have done little or nothing to deter employment discrimination. Unfortunately, the process they delineated on their website for handling complaints brought to them by individuals (which can be found at http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/process.cfm) is not the reality of what typically happens with EEOC. Here they allege that “How [they] investigate a charge depends on the facts of the case and the kinds of information [they] need to gather. In some cases, [they] visit the employer to hold interviews and gather documents. In other cases, [they] interview witnesses over the phone and ask for documents by mail.” What they fail to mention is that the majority of their investigations appear to take the following course: they have the complainant come to their office to file a written complaint; the complainant tells an EEOC staff person their entire horrible story of racial discrimination on the job and presents them with written documentation to support some, if not all, of their assertions against the employer; the EEOC staff person prepares a shorthand version of the complaint (usually leaving out critical details that provide a legal basis for a complaint of discrimination), convinces the complainant that all of the details are not important at that juncture, and then gets the complainant to sign the ridiculously abbreviated version of their complaint; an EEOC staff person contacts the employer to inform him that a complaint has been filed against him and requests that he respond; they frequently give him numerous extensions of time in which to respond, because the employer indicates that he is too busy to respond within the original timeframe allowed; when the employer finally responds and indicates he did nothing wrong, the EEOC staff person makes a determination that they cannot prove discrimination, the case is closed, and the complainant is issued a Right to Sue Letter, giving him/her permission to hire an attorney and handle it on their own. What a joke! I am not the only person to whom this has happened. Practically everyone I have spoken with has indicated that they received the same shoddy treatment. There is never any evidence that EEOC actually conducted an investigation unless, of course, you happen to be part of a high profile case over which they think they can garner some media attention and a few “atta boys” for doing their job. Although there are no accurate statistics to prove how many legitimate complaints of racial discrimination are taken to the EEOC every year and subsequently dismissed at the employer’s request and/or insistence without an actual investigation, there are statistics that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the number is high. According to the law blog at http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/01/12/good-news-for-employment-lawyers-bias-claims-way-up/, Melanie Trottman, from The Wall Street Journal, reported for fiscal year 2010 that “The number of charges filed with the EEOC rose to nearly 100,000, up 7% from the year-earlier period and 21% from fiscal 2007.” That same site indicates that “Michael Burkhardt, a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Philadelphia, noted that the percentage of charges determined to have a reasonable cause has hovered around 5% for the past several years." That same site also quotes EEOC spokeswoman, Justine Lisser as saying that “retaliation is easier to prove” than discrimination. Although all of the discrimination cases filed were probably not racial discrimination complaints, I think it would be reasonable to conclude that most of them were. If EEOC is only there to take on the easy cases, then most racial minorities who are the object of employment discrimination will simply be on their own. I would like to see that scenario change, and I would like to see EEOC provide equal representation to all employees who come to them with legitimate complaints. That can be accomplished through actual investigations as opposed to cursory reviews. Further, their website (http://www.eeoc.gov/employees/process.cfm) appears to have actually been designed to give them "wiggle room" to do nothing about these complaints. They have a section entitled “Possible Action After Investigation Completed” in which they indicate that if they don’t find a violation, they will send the complainant a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue. Then, they claim that if they find a violation, they will attempt to get the employer to agree to a settlement. However, if they cannot reach a settlement, they might still decide not to file a lawsuit and put the burden of pursuing the employer right back in the hands of the complainant. To me, that appears to be dereliction of duty. Since it is the duty of EEOC to regulate and enforce Title VII, why do they even have the option of declining to prosecute a case in which they find a violation of the law? There will always be members of the racial majority that dismiss claims of racial discrimination by Blacks by contending that Blacks are simply “playing the race card.” and that there is no legitimate basis for a complaint. To that, I respectfully respond that each complaint needs to be judged on its own merits as opposed to generalizing. After all, it is precisely that type of “generalizing” by the majority that actually leads to discrimination in the first place. EEOC’s lack of consistency in enforcement of the laws against racial discrimination has created an atmosphere of fear, frustration and defeatism among the African American community. It has also created an atmosphere of arrogance and entitlement by employers, where they feel empowered to discriminate against racial minorities to the point of repeat instances of different terms and conditions, disparity in pay based on race, unlawful terminations and even constructive discharge (making the working situation so intolerable that the employee actually resigns). If this country is ever to reach a level of true equality, it is clear that organizations such as the EEOC need to lead the way by demonstrating through enforcement that disparate treatment and anything less than equality is unacceptable.

The Hiring of Illegal Immigrants in Tennessee

I personally don’t see any excuse that an employer in Tennessee could have for hiring illegal immigrants, and I think that employers who knowingly do this should face severe fines and other forms of punishment. We hear that most companies or businesses hire illegal immigrants for jobs that American’s don’t want to do. Well, with unemployment at an all time high, I doubt seriously if you would find a person that was unemployed and looking for work, that would agree with this philosophy. My son was in a carpenter’s union but he couldn't find work in the Knoxville area. There was plenty of construction going on, but the contractor’s were hiring illegal immigrants because they would work for a lot cheaper wages than the trained carpenter, but how can an employer justify this? Some employers hire the illegals over and over again, knowing that they are in this country, and in this state, illegally. With the federal e-Verify system in place, and with it being 99.5% accurate, there is no excuse for an employer to hire someone who is here illegally. No matter what documentation that is given to the potential employer, they are responsible for verifying the documentation through the federal government e-Verify system. Apparently, fake documents are easily accessible to someone who wants to come to the states illegal, and employers should be aware of this fact. When employers become known to the illegal community, they entice more and more illegal’s to come for work. Once in the state, it costs tax payers more and more. If they bring their children, we the tax payer, pay for their schooling. If they need medical attention, we taxpayers pay for the medical expenses. If they break the law, we taxpayers pay to incarcerate them. Most of the money they make goes back to their country, mainly Mexico, and we lose tax revenue, because illegal immigrants do not pay taxes. We American’s must take a stand and if we know of an employer that is hiring illegal immigrants, we must report them. There was a law that went into effect in Tennessee on January 1, 2008, that if a company is caught knowingly hiring illegal immigrants, that company could possible lose their business or be forced to close. I certainly support this law. There are many Tennesseans out of work and the unemployed of this fine state should not have to compete for a job with someone who is here illegally. The average person in Tennessee could not afford work for the low wages that are paid to illegal immigrants. The employer that offers jobs to illegal immigrants sometimes also put the lives of that illegal immigrant at risk. There was a company that was located close to where I live and this company was in the business of clearing of right-a-ways. The owner also owned a storage facility that he rented out storage units to the public. It became alleged that 15 illegal aliens from Mexico were working for this company and they were living in one of the storage units! They drove company vehicles and operated company equipment, but none were supposed to have had legal TN driver’s license. The company was reported, but before anyone came to investigate, suddenly all the Mexican’s were gone, from the job and from the storage unit. Hopefully the owner of this company learned his lesson, but how many other companies do this every day? They hire the illegals to save money, because they will work for so much less money, but the State of Tennessee government needs to make companies pay stiff fines if they get caught, and not just give them a simple slap on the back of the hand. I am in no way against immigration, this country was founded on immigration, but I just want an immigrant who wants to come to America, and who wants to become an American citizen, and who wants to work in Tennessee, to do it legal. Many that have come before them, and many that will come after them, have gone through the proper procedures and taken the appropriate steps to become a legal employee or a legal resident. It is not fair to the people of Tennessee who are unemployed to be overlooked for a job just because it would cost the employer more to hire the legal resident than it would to hire the illegal immigrant. It is estimated that more than 200,000 illegal immigrants are now residing in Tennessee, so the employer who wants to hire cheap labor, has a lot to choose from! http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1185221678150.shtm http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/tennessee.html http://www.ehow.com/list_6694797_tennessee-illegal-immigration-laws.html

Federal Housing

The Federal Government is responsible for many tasks that private industry cannot or will not handle. They may deal with the building of road and bridges or having a strong military. One of the crucial roles of our government is helping those in need. They may range from the single mother, to developmentally disabled, or the elderly. The government has social programs that almost everyone will recognize: Food Stamps, Medicare, and Social Security Income for Disabilities. These programs help meet many of the basic needs for struggling citizens. However, these programs do not ensure that everyone has a roof over their head. While housing programs may not be as familiar to public, they are just as wide spread and important. There are over seven million household that receive some type of housing assistance. Several different Federal Agencies operate housing programs including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Treasury Department (I.R.S), United Stated Department of Agriculture, and Department of Defense. Housing provided by the Department of Defense is for its civilian and non-civilian employees and family; however, the other agencies are all providing housing for low-income households. These different programs tend to overlap and meet the needs of similar citizens. A single apartment complex can have subsidy from multiple federal agencies. They have to follow regulations from these different agencies, which may not agree with each other, and have many different inspections within the course of a single year. These different federal programs create a huge administrative burden and cost on these properties. The layering of subsidy is inefficient and wasteful. Three of the big federal housing programs cover the same group of citizens in the same manor. Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 8 Multifamily program offers to pay a portion of households rent to a private apartments complex owner for agreeing to lease all of their units to low-income residents. http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/hsgmulti.cfm United States Department of Agriculture runs a program call Rural Development or more commonly known as farmer homes. http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rhs/ It provides money for the construction of low-income housing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LowIncome_Housing_Tax_Credit The final program I will discuss is the Low-income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program through the Department of Treasury. It offers tax credits to help fund the building or rehabilitation of low-income housing. One property could be built with the help of Rural Development, have Section 8 multifamily to pay for operations, and LIHTC to rehabilitate the property after a number of years of operations. While all of these different types of funding may have been need to keep building, maintain, and redevelop the low-income housing, it creates an administrative nightmare. The federal regulations for the Section 8 Multifamily program alone accounts for three handbooks totaling over 2000 pages of regulations. The Treasury Department has an entire section (42) of the tax code for the regulations of LIHTC program. In addition, Rural Development has its own set of code. These regulations were not development in concert with each other, and these different agencies have little communication. There are many situations for a property to be in compliance with one program will cause them to be out of compliance with a different program. HUD has developed a computer system called Enterprise Income Verification (EIV) system. EIV system accesses data from Social Security Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services. It provides properties information on Social Security, unemployment benefits, employment, and wages. HUD requires the use of this program to verify a tenant is income eligible; however, they ban the use of the EIV system for LIHTC and Rural Development. This creates a catch 22 situation that they cannot be in compliance with all federal programs they are subject too. Properties have to create separate paper work files for each program, and verify each household’s income multiple ways. This is a waste of time and money to ensure that the appropriate people are receiving the help they need. Another waste of time and money are the federal inspections. Each of these programs requires inspection on the physical condition and the administration (paper work) of the property. A property could be subjected to three physical inspections and three administrative reviews within one year. Not only is this a burden on the property, but it is a waste of tax payers tax dollars to send multiple groups out to these properties. The Federal Housing programs help millions of people, but are caught in bureaucracy. These programs need to be evaluated for redundancy to lift administrative burdens and save tax payer money.