Written by Matthew Zaremba
Being that most of YIG is composed of the legislative component, many delegates don’t know what the Governor’s Cabinet and Lobbyists actually do. Today, the Govcab and Lobbyist components held a joint meeting in which five groups of Govcab members presented their own unique pieces of dynamic legislation to the Lobbyists. Members of Govcab serve as Commissioners where they each oversee a specific department, such as the environmental department, the corrections department, and the education department. One of the functions of the Govcab is to write Dynamic Legislation to address issues that may not be present in the bill book. They will write a piece of legislation, which they then present to Govcab, just as legislative teams present to their chairs/delegation.
The process is really quite similar to the process of presenting legislation in the House or Senate. You present, you’re asked questions, and then the overseer of the specific committee you wrote legislation on chooses if they would like to move forward with your legislation. If they are interested, they will aid you in editing and finalizing your legislation before it moves forward to be presented in the House and Senate.
Topics of discussion at today’s meeting included a job program for recently released prisoners, a reduction in the amount of low-level radioactive waste being improperly disposed of in Tennessee, implementing more health checks for commercial businesses, creating a set handbook of rights available to persons with intellectual disabilities, and raising the tax on tobacco products.
The teamwork exhibited between these two components is impressive, and their anticipation to present their legislation to the House and Senate is obvious and overwhelming.
Department of Public Information 