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Rep. Jim Hackworth - House District 33
IMMEDIATE RELEASE February
18, 2010
HOUSE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES
ETHICS LEGISLATION
Bill reaffirms ethical standards for the House of
the 106th General Assembly
NASHVILLE (Feb. 18) – On
Thursday, the Tennessee House of Representatives unanimously passed
ethics legislation that formally establishes and reaffirms the ethics
code for the chamber.
“I know every Tennessean
strives to live his or her life by a strong ethical code, and this
legislation reaffirms our commitment, as legislators, to doing the work
of the people in that same way,” said Representative Jim Hackworth
(D) Clinton. “While I believe my fellow colleagues on both
sides of the aisle each follow their own personal ethical code in what
they do, this bill allows us to show our public commitment to serve with
high ethical standards.”
House Resolution 229 is a
nine-page document that details the standards expected of each House
member, those actions which could be considered violations and the
procedures to be used by the House Ethics Committee for addressing
violations. The purpose of the resolution is to establish clear
guidelines for evaluation of potential ethical violations, as well as
disciplinary steps if members are found to have violated the code.
“Just as most work places
have a code of conduct policy, this resolution helps clarify the
standards that all elected members should abide by and also clearly
state the consequences for members who choose to violate those
policies,” said Hackworth.
The resolution will stand
until the end of the 106th General Assembly and be taken up after the
swearing in of the 107th General Assembly in January 2011. The
entire document can be found online by going to
www.capitol.tn.gov and typing in
HR229 in the FIND LEGISLATION search box at the bottom.
BIPARTISAN BILL TO
ALLOW INSTALLMENT PAYMENTS ON PROPERTY TAXES MOVING SWIFTLY THROUGH
HOUSE COMMITTEES
This week a bill that would
allow local municipalities to offer its citizens the option of paying
property taxes in installments rather than in one lump sum passed out of
subcommittee and is set to be heard by the House State and Local
Government Committee next week.
“Many of our seniors and
disabled Tennesseans live on a fixed income that doesn’t allow for a lot
of savings or planning for future payments like property taxes,” said
Hackworth. “With this legislation, citizens could have the
option of paying their property taxes with installment payments over the
course of a year and not be caught short when full payment comes due.”
House Bill 2870 is a
bipartisan bill sponsored by Representative Mike McDonald (D-Portland)
and Senator Diane Black (R-Gallatin) that would authorize a municipality
that collects its own property taxes to accept partial payments of
property taxes. The local municipality would be required to create
a plan for collecting the payments and accounting for them accurately.
“In this tough economy, we
need to find ways to help citizens make ends meet and sometimes that
means helping spread out their payments over the course of a year,” said
Hackworth. “While we have taken steps in the past to freeze
property taxes for seniors, this legislation goes one step further to
allow residents the opportunity to break those payments up over time.”
The legislation is set to
be taken up by the House State and Local Government Committee on
Tuesday, February 23, at noon in room HHR16. The committee can be
followed online at
www.capitol.tn.gov by clicking on VIDEOS.
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