CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) At their Wednesday meeting the Clarksville Rotary Club welcomed Tennessee State Senator and fellow Rotarian Dr. Mark Green as their guest speaker. Green, spoke about the state’s legislative session that recently wrapped up in Nashville.
Green said lawmakers passed a lot of legislation on the issue of opioids saying the opioid addiction in Tennessee is significant and they passed many different laws to try and clamp down on the problem. Also on a medical note, after some rural hospitals closed, the legislature gave rural hospitals economic development grants that help teach small hospitals to be more successful.
For veterans Green talked about veterans property tax relief and passage of the Stolen Valor Act which he cosponsored. “If someone impersonates a veteran to get free cable or get a loan, we can put that person in jail now,” Green said.
The Veterans Administration has a program where they will give a 100 percent disabled vet a car and if they are so disabled they can’t drive they will modify the care for them. A bill passed this year cosponsored by Green that ended the state charging for registration and sales tax on the vehicle.
When it comes to School Resource Officers, (SRO’s), legislation was passed to help law enforcement personnel who want to volunteer to be a part of school safety. Green said there wasn’t a system for them in place to do that, but certified members of law enforcement who have the required specialized training for school shootings can now volunteer in their off-duty time.
Green added that there is a lot more to be done on school safety but the legislation allows local school districts to use some of the $30 million of school safety funds authorized by Governor Bill Haslam over the next few years to have off-duty law enforcement become SRO’s.
Green is seeking Tennessee’s 7th District U.S. Congressional seat in the upcoming election. Other guests at the Rotary lunch included U.S. Representative Diane Black of the 6th District who is a candidate in the race for Governor of Tennessee and State Representative Jay Reedy who is running for another term in the 74th District.