Click here to download Rep. Odom's 2007 Session Newsletter

Odom: Tenn. Land Isn't Up For Grabs

Posted: Feb 27, 2008 11:38 PM CST
A portion of the Tennessee River
House Majority Leader Gary Odom

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Legislators in Georgia claim miles of Tennessee property is rightfully theirs.
Georgia seeks to shift its northern border by roughly a mile in southeast Tennessee. But the Tennessee General Assembly is drafting a resolution of its own.

"We're not going to participate in a boundary commission," said House Majority Leader Gary Odom, a Nashville Democrat. "Because to say we would is acknowledging somehow that we think there's a problem with the existing boundary. And we don't."

Lawmakers in drought-stricken Georgia want access to the Tennessee River.

"Allowing our neighbors to the north to hoard the water of the Tennessee River is simply not an option," said one Georgia lawmaker.

The Georgia General Assembly is trying to reopen an almost 200-year-old boundary dispute. Georgia lawmakers assert that surveyors mistakenly outlined the boundary and that the real one is at the 35th parallel.

In Chattanooga, the mayor had a tongue-in-cheek response to the issue. He declared Wednesday as "Give Our Georgia Friends A Drink Day." Bottled water was sent to the Georgia General Assembly.

State lawmakers such as Odom understand Georgians are serious, but he is serious in his refusal to relinquish possession of the territory.

"We have a boundary between Tennessee and Georgia that's been there for almost 200 years, and we see no reason for that to be an issue today," he said.

Tennessee was challenged in 1940 by neighboring Arkansas over an island on the Mississippi River.
Arkansas later admitted the piece of property belonged to Tennessee.

Lawmakers Look To Control Costs of ID Theft
Rep. Gary Odom Says Metro Election Commission Break-In Highlights Need

POSTED: 10:27 am CST March 3, 2008/WSMV TV

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the nation, and some lawmakers said it's time to do a better job protecting people from becoming victims.

Public officials are looking into how to control the costs that it takes to clean up the mess after identities are stolen. Ten million people a year become victims of identity theft and it usually takes about $1,000 to repair the damage.

State lawmakers said they want to prohibit credit freeze fees if a person's identity is stolen.
"If there's evidence that someone has been victimized by identity theft, then the last thing we need to do is punish them further by having businesses charge them fees because of the theft," said Rep. Gary Odom of Nashville.

Lawmakers are looking at ways the state can better protect personal information. They said they want to limit the way local election commissions can use Social Security numbers.

Odom said the December break-in at the Metro Election commission only highlights the need.
"If an election commission is going to collect Social Security numbers as part of the identification process for voters, that's probably OK, as long as steps are taken to protect those numbers," said Odom.

In addition, lawmakers are looking to mandate strict safeguards and procedures for all personal information stored on laptops or other removable drives.

Under that plan, if those safeguards fail and someone becomes a victim of identity theft, that person could receive damages from the state, county or city.
As of early March, none of these bills have passed both chambers

For-profits' tuitions often vary widely

Degrees can cost much more than public schools'

By COLBY SLEDGE March 9, 2008/Tennessean
Staff Writer

After prospective students at for-profit schools decide what program to enter, they must decide how much they want to pay for it.

Degree and diploma programs can vary wildly in price among for-profit schools, and those prices can look even higher when compared with public schools.

According to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, a bachelor's degree in criminal justice at ITT Technical Institute costs about $72,900.

That same degree costs roughly half — $36,890 — at University of Phoenix. And at Middle Tennessee State University, the same degree would cost about $21,000 for in-state students.

Admissions standards at state institutions are higher, requiring minimum test scores and high school grade point averages. At the University of Phoenix, undergraduate admissions require a high school diploma or a GED and current employment.

Scheduling also plays a role in many students' decisions. Shelley Gilpatrick, of Livingston, Tenn., has opted to take on nearly $20,000 in loans so far — and faces that much more — to obtain her bachelor's degree in education online through the University of Phoenix.

If she had gone to nearby Tennessee Tech, she would probably pay half that total, but her day job as an educational assistant at Livingston Academy wouldn't allow it.

"I can't quit work — that would be the only way I could go to Tech," Gilpatrick said. "I don't have any other options."

But the advantage in attracting students among for-profit schools often comes down to which puts its name out more effectively — and which owns the biggest building.

The University of Phoenix, the nation's largest for-profit school, signed a 20-year,
$154 million deal in 2006 for naming rights to the home stadium of the National Football League's Arizona Cardinals.

While other schools' advertising budgets might not stretch that far, their commercials can be seen populating daytime television.

"The advertising effort by these proprietary schools is amazing," said House Majority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville.

Odom is co-sponsoring a bill with Sen. Charlotte Burks that would require for-profit schools to cap their tuition at 50 percent of the expected starting salary of a particular program.
"I'm on the fence with that," said Ryan Ball, director of the University of Phoenix Nashville campuses. "I think the market should dictate tuition, and I think that potential students should really research that specific degree. Yes, it's the institution's responsibility to provide upfront disclosure, but students should do some research, too."

Warren Nichols, president at Volunteer State Community College, agrees students should do their homework, but wants to make sure the school's program is worth going into in the first place. Legislators are also looking at a bill that would require for-profit schools to obtain the same level of accreditation as Vol State and other state institutions.

"If someone wants to come to a community college and pay $3,000 for a paralegal program or go across the street and pay $20,000, that's totally their choice," Nichols said. "But let's at least make sure that paralegal program is a credible program."

At Vol State, an associate's degree in the school's paralegal program would cost $5,200. At Tennessee Career College, which closed Monday, a paralegal diploma cost $7,350, according to THEC.

Nichols said the school has tried to counter for-profit schools by offering fast-track programs and more flexible scheduling, but he thinks the community colleges might have to enter the advertising arms race the for-profit schools are used to.

"Why do students choose to go there than to a more affordable, easily transferable, accredited institution?" Nichols said. "I have to believe that we're not doing enough to tell people we're out there."
State scrutinizes for-profit colleges

Students' complaints result in move to tighten standards

By COLBY SLEDGE March 9, 2008
Staff Writer

Complaints of teachers sleeping in class, half-truths about accreditation and surprise closings have Tennessee officials examining the regulation of for-profit schools.

About 73,000 Tennesseans attend 168 for-profit schools on 335 campuses. From 2000 to 2006, for-profit schools nationwide grew from 687 to 891, a 30 percent increase, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The number of complaints from students is rising, too. The Tennessee Higher Education Commission has received 12 this year, putting it on pace to eclipse its record of 29 in 2003.

Laura Ballard was three months from obtaining her medical transcription diploma from Tennessee Career College in Donelson, the next step in fulfilling her goal of working from home full time. On Monday, the for-profit college shut down with no warning.

Its 60 students weren't enough to keep it open, said administrators, adding that they couldn't find a buyer.

Now Ballard, a TennCare employee, is stuck with financial problems of her own, trying to figure out where to finish her program and how to obtain forgiveness for about $5,000 in federal student loans. The process could take weeks, at least.

"I'm just taking it in stride, just trying to figure out where to go next and what to do next," Ballard said. "It's a bad situation."

An attractive option

For-profit colleges and universities have found fertile territory in Tennessee.

Many students find the schools fit in well with their schedules, offering night, weekend and online classes. The admissions standards are low or nonexistent — no high SAT or ACT scores or GPAs required.
But the state legislature is looking at tightening standards aimed at protecting students from predatory institutions.

"I think (for-profits) prey on some of our most vulnerable citizens," said House Majority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville.

Odom and a state legislative study committee recently produced proposals to more heavily regulate for-profit schools. Among the tougher requirements: regional accreditation — the same obtained by public and many private nonprofit colleges and universities — by 2012.

Many for-profit schools are nationally accredited, meaning their credits don't usually transfer to regionally accredited schools with tougher faculty requirements.

"When the state of Tennessee puts its seal of approval on an institution of higher education, we need to do everything we can to protect the students," Odom said.

Other proposed legislation would require schools to disclose more information to students, including upfront tuition costs, credit transferability and graduation rates.

"There are areas where there was a great deal of common ground related to the disclosure issue," said Sen. Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, a committee member who voted against recommending the accreditation requirement.

In January, Apollo Group, which owns the University of Phoenix, the nation's largest for-profit school, was ordered to pay $280 million to stockholders for failing to disclose a U.S. Department of Education report critical of the school's recruitment policies.

The company is facing a Supreme Court case in 2009 on similar claims that recruitment counselors are paid based on enrollment.

More detailed disclosure might have helped Karissa Russell, who came to Nashville from North Carolina in July after a High-Tech Institute recruiter sold her on the school's dental assistant program.
During the time she was recruited and after she began classes, Russell, 18, was not told the school was on probation with its accrediting agency, the Arlington, Va.-based Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology.

The commission placed the Phoenix-based school on probation in January 2007 for failing to meet faculty and degree program standards. After the agency stated in October that it would take further action — without describing what that might be — High-Tech stopped enrolling students in its degree programs, leaving Russell with the prospect of obtaining only a diploma instead of an associate's degree.

"A diploma doesn't mean anything to me," Russell said. "If you know the accreditation is under appeal, why would you keep recruiting people?"

Patrick Donovan, who leads the Nashville campus of High-Tech Institute, refused to comment on whether the school properly informed students. Diane Gilmore, vice president of High-Tech Institute, wrote in an e-mail that the school notified current students of the agency's decision, but she did not answer when asked if recruiters informed prospective students of the probation.

The school is appealing the agency's threat of further restrictions.

Russell is back in North Carolina, preparing to start next month at another for-profit, Miller-Motte Technical College. Her complaint to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission for housing and tuition reimbursement was successful, but she has yet to hear anything from High-Tech and is waiting on it to send her transcripts to Miller-Motte.

If she had it to do all over again, she never would have left home.
"I would have stayed home and gone to community college," Russell said. "That school really just wasted my time."

Community colleges hit

Supporters of for-profit schools often cite the schools' flexible schedules, which often involve a combination of online and night classes geared toward working adults.

Julia Johncock, a case manager at a public alternative school in Nashville, began at Argosy University — a regionally accredited for-profit — in September 2006 to obtain her master's degree in professional counseling.

She has a year left at the school, which she chose after hearing Argosy's good record on the state licensure exam.

"I feel like they're still trying to get the hang of things because it's a new place, but I feel like the administration really cares about people," Johncock said.

"It's small and personable, and they help develop a community."

The advantages draw students away from community colleges, which usually offer the same programs at a lower price. Warren Nichols, president of Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, said his 7,000-student school has seen a decline in students 25 years and older, many of whom are opting to attend for-profit schools.

"It's one thing for us to sit here and complain about for-profits, but if they are offering flexible scheduling or whatever's bringing students to them, we certainly have the opportunity and the necessity to do the same," Nichols said.

Vol State may have a new role soon: evaluating paralegal and medical transcription students like Laura Ballard from Tennessee Career College.

Community colleges typically won't accept students from schools that lack regional accreditation, but Nichols said he wants to look at students on a case-by-case basis.

Ballard said she would be willing to apply to Vol State after initially passing up community colleges in favor of the shorter program at Tennessee Career College.

She has also applied to several for-profit schools. At the schools she contacted — from a list provided by Tennessee Career College — fewer than half of her credits will transfer.

Border dispute a ‘ heinous assault’ by Georgia, Tennessee lawmakers say
Monday, February 25, 2008

By: Andy Sher (Contact) /Chattanooga Times Free Press
NASHVILLE — A top Tennessee legislative leader intends to introduce a resolution today that puts the state on record as officially rebuffing efforts by Georgia lawmakers to revisit a 190-year-old border dispute.

The resolution by Tennessee House Majority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville, says that “in the face of Georgia’s heinous assault on the sovereignty of Tennessee, this General Assembly must act expeditiously and with authority to protect the borders of our state for present and future generations.”

It says “this General Assembly refuses to participate in the Boundary Line Commission purportedly established by the Georgia General Assembly, or any similar commission established for such purpose.”

Georgia lawmakers last week passed a resolution creating a commission to revisit what it says was a faulty 1818 survey of the state line. With Georgia and in particular, Atlanta, dealing with an historic Southeastern U.S. drought, Georgia lawmakers are seeking to move the border 1.1 miles north.

Doing so would move into Georgia a section of the Tennessee River in Marion County at Nickajack Lake as well as portions of Chattanooga, East Ridge and the town of Lookout Mountain, Tenn.

The Tennessee resolution calls Georgia’s effort an “election-year ploy” that is little more than a “veiled attempt to commandeer the resources of the Tennessee River for the benefit of water-starved Atlanta, which is either unable or unwilling to control its reckless urban sprawl.”

The Tennessee resolution says the Tennessee-Georgia state line has been “well established for nearly 200 years, and that there is no valid reason for Tennessee to revisit this issue.”

It says that in addition to the doctrine of “adverse possession, in which long-term possession of real property trumps survey boundaries, all other pertinent legal precedent favors the Volunteer State, just as good fortune often smiles upon the righteous.”

Tenn. lawmakers to craft response to Georgia border resolution
By ERIK SCHELZIG Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008/Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Tennessee lawmakers are drafting a retort to what they call their Georgia counterparts' designs on the state's territory and water supply.

House Majority Leader Gary Odom, a Nashville Democrat, said Thursday that the General Assembly in Tennessee needs to take an official stance on the Georgia resolution that calls for a reconsideration of the states' borders.

Odom said his resolution will be worded to "to put our General Assembly on record as to what we think of those shenanigans that appear to be taking place to our south."

Both Republican-controlled chambers of the Georgia Legislature a day earlier approved a resolution asserting that an 1818 survey mistakenly drew that state's northern line about 1.1 miles south of where it should have been.

Congress in 1796 designated that Tennessee's southern borders should stretch along the 35th parallel, but surveyors in 1818 missed that mark. If the line had been drawn correctly, Georgia would have access to the Tennessee River, which has about 15 times greater flow than the Chattahoochee, which Atlanta depends on for water.

The Georgia resolution also calls on the governor to establish a commission to sort out the dispute.

ODOM DRAFTS RESOLUTION TO PROTECT BORDER
Measure addresses recent threat from Georgia legislature

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: February 25, 2008

(Nashville) — House Majority Leader Gary Odom Monday filed legislation to address a recent threat by the Georgia General Assembly to encroach upon the southern border of Tennessee.

“What I thought was a joke has turned out to be rather disturbing,” said Odom (D-Nashville). “I thought it was important that the Tennessee General Assembly declare that we would not engage in any talks with Georgia regarding giving them a piece of Tennessee; that would be absurd.”

The resolution, HJR 919, is in response to a measure passed by the Georgia General Assembly recently that forms a “Georgia-Tennessee Boundary Line Commission,” which would discuss ceding Tennessee property to Georgia.

The Odom resolution clearly states that no member of the Tennessee General Assembly will partake in said commission. It also goes on to say that the State of Tennessee will “take the high road relative to this mythical dispute, instead of becoming embroiled in an election-year ploy initiated by the Georgia General Assembly.”

“While we understand the serious problem that the extended drought has created for the people of Georgia, neither Democrat nor Republican can see why Georgia Legislators would resort to such a blatantly political tactic instead of coming up with a realistic solution.”

Beyond the political nature of the dispute, the Odom resolution includes Supreme Court precedent from cases involving state boundary disputes, including Oklahoma vs. Texas and Georgia vs. South Carolina.

“The highest court of the land, the United States Supreme Court, has ruled multiple times on the matter of state borders and said that a ‘long acquiescence’ is ‘conclusive of the rightful authority,’” said Odom. “Our border with Georgia has served both states well for nearly 200 years, so I think there’s little need to change it now.”

The Tennessee State House of Representatives is expected to move the bill swiftly through the committee process for quick passage on the House Floor.

###

House Committee Recommends Greater Scrutiny of Proprietary Schools
Chattannogan.com / posted February 1, 2008

A House panel voted Tuesday to raise the requirements of proprietary schools to a level that matches accredited institutions "to prevent for-profit schools from taking advantage of Tennessee students."

Under the committee-approved recommendation, proprietary colleges such as DeVry University and the University of Phoenix would need to be regionally accredited in the same way as Vanderbilt University or the University of Tennessee by 2012.

“Many of these proprietary schools have been acting like predators feeding off the hopes and dreams of those who want to fulfill the American dream of achieving a college education,” said Majority Leader Gary Odom (D-Nashville). “We must act to protect the citizens of Tennessee and to assure that an education from a proprietary school is just as valuable as an education from any public college in Tennessee.”

In addition to the accreditation requirement, the committee also recommended that proprietary colleges be required to fully disclosure information that is important to students who are considering an education at the school. Currently proprietary schools can withhold whatever information they choose, including complete tuition information, predatory loan practices and the inability of proprietary class credit transferring to accredited universities.

“We require car dealers to fully disclose the facts about a vehicle they are selling, and we require banks to fully disclose the contract terms of the car loans they provide,” said Rep. Odom. “Yet right now these schools don’t have to disclose anything and that’s not fair to students wanting to earn a degree.”

Rep. Odom said he has already begun filing legislation based on the recommendations of the committee and hopes to see that legislation passed this year.

“I hope these bills will curb the aggressive nature of proprietary colleges and get them back to the fundamental reason they’re in business – to provide the people of Tennessee with a valuable and fulfilling education,” he said.

For more information on the committee contact Majority Leader Odom’s office at (615) 741-4410 or online at rep.gary.odom@legislature.state.tn.us.

More Tennesseans Should Benefit From Lottery Scholarships
by Rep. Gary Odom
Chattannogan.com / posted January 15, 2008

Tennessee has long been lacking in the number of college graduates living in our state when compared to the rest of the nation. The Tennessee lottery was designed to address this problem by providing scholarships for Tennessee students in order to help them finish college. Democrats in the General Assembly are going to fight this year to broaden the opportunities and allow more Tennesseans to get their degree.

However, there is an effort underway by some House and Senate Republicans to rob our lottery program in order to fund local “pork barrel” projects. Last year, House Republicans attempted to take $200 million out of the lottery reserve fund and divvy it out to local schools boards for capital projects. We expect that effort to be made again. This move is aimed to cover up the fact that most Republican legislators sided with the cigarette companies against the Governor’s Schools First initiative, voting to block much-needed funding for our public schools. These same Republican legislators repeatedly attempt to micro-manage the lottery system when most originally voted to block its implementation.

Today more than 75 percent of college students who achieved a 3.0 average in high school lose their lottery scholarships because their grades in college fall below the 3.0 GPA. The House passed a bill last year that established a GPA of 2.75 for retention of the lottery scholarships in an attempt to make many more students eligible for the scholarships. Unfortunately, the Senate Republican leadership refused to bring the measure up for a vote because they believe the 3.0 GPA requirements should be maintained.

The lottery scholarship was never intended to be an academic scholarship; it was intended to be a way to help more Tennesseans get a college education. We established the 3.0 GPA benchmark to ensure the lottery’s financial stability during its infancy. Now the Tennessee lottery has five years of success under its belt with $400 million in excess reserves. We should use these reserves in line with the lottery’s original mission: to graduate as many Tennesseans from college as we can afford.

Specifically, I believe the elitist nature of the program results in a lack of assistance for those that need it the most: our middle class and working families.

It is clear that those students who go to our best public or private high schools are better equipped to make the transition from high school to college. For most Tennesseans, the transition is much more difficult. Many students will be away from home for the first time in their lives. Many others will have to work to pay their own way through school. A large percentage of students will drop out due to unforeseen circumstances, resuming their studies later in life. Our current lottery scholarship program too often fails these students who need its assistance the most.

University of Tennessee administrators indicate that we have 40,000 Tennesseans with some college credit. We also know that there are currently 30,000 students in our state who have a GPA between 2.5 and 2.99. I believe helping these non-traditional students and these C+ students complete their college education should be our State’s priority for the lottery fund.

As one example, House and Senate Democrats have already devised one plan to provide a special $1,000 per semester scholarship for veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan to assist in their college expenses. This is necessary because the G.I. bill no longer covers the full cost of higher education as it did years ago.

I’m asking everyone to please contact your State Representative and Senator and ask them to oppose raiding the fund and support making lottery scholarships available to more Tennesseans.

We named our lottery scholarship program HOPE. HOPE should not be limited to a few when we have the lottery funds available to help more of our citizens who are in college and earning what we have established as passing grades. Let’s make HOPE available for more Tennesseans.

(State Rep. Gary Odom (D-Nashville) is the majority leader in the state House of Representatives.)

Committee to make recommendations on for-profit schools
Thursday, January 17, 2008/Chattanooga Times-Free Press
By Angie Herrington
Staff Writer

Tennessee's for-profit schools should more fully disclose information such as tuition costs and graduation rates to consumers, and the state should perform more on-campus visits to these schools, a study committee recommended.

The committee of state lawmakers and state higher education officials has drafted 40 proposed recommendations regarding the oversight of for-profit schools.
Private, for-profit institutions, also known as proprietary schools, specialize in offering programs in high-growth fields that cater to working adults. Those in the Chattanooga area include University of Phoenix and Virginia College.

The committee is scheduled on Jan. 28 to discuss which recommendations will be given to members of the House and State Education Committees.

Rep. Gary Odom, D-Nashville, said he will introduce legislation that reflects the five proposed recommendations he submitted as a member of the committee.

He said he's concerned that students at some for-profit schools are not informed up front that it may cost as much as $70,000 to complete a degree program. "A lot of Tennesseans are being taken advantage of," Rep. Odom said.

About 20 percent of the 366,239 Tennesseans attending higher education institutions in fall 2007 were enrolled at for-profit colleges, according to data from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
Proprietary school enrollment in Tennessee increased 82 percent from fall 2002 to 2005 to a total of 20,601 students, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics compiled by THEC. The number of proprietary institutions also jumped from 44 to 57 during this time frame.
Steven Cotton, vice president and general counsel for National College, which has campuses in six Tennessee cities, said some of the 13 recommendations he submitted deal with eliminating the distinctions that now exist in how the state regulates for-profits that are nationally accredited and those that are regionally accredited.

"There's just a hodgepodge of regulations out there, some of which make distinctions based on regional or national accreditation, and I don't think those distinctions are meaningful," he said. For example, he said National College is required to call itself by a different name -- National College of Business and Technology -- in Tennessee because it is nationally accredited. For profits must be authorized by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, but their programs need not be accredited.
The study committee was formed in response to a bill that passed last session calling for the General Assembly to take a broad look at for-profits, which are overseen by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

Committee member Jim Catanzaro, president of Chattanooga State Technical Community College, said one of his recommendations would require that institutions be accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency to obtain authorization by THEC to operate.
"I think the state of Tennessee has become very vulnerable because many of our citizens have been attracted to programs that are not accredited, and they incur substantial debt and they are not necessarily well prepared as members of Tennessee's work force," Dr. Catanzaro said.
National College's Mr. Cotton said there are some schools in Tennessee in which accreditation is neither feasible nor appropriate.

Not being accredited doesn't mean they are a bad school, he said. Rather, it might mean accreditation for their particular programs are not available, or the school might be so small that accreditation might not be economically feasible, Mr. Cotton said.

Thoughts Shift to HOPE as Legislative Session Nears
By Andy Meek
Published: Monday, 12/24/07 Memphis Daily News

Instead of wrapping up their legislative calendar by Memorial Day as they'd hoped to do, members of the Tennessee General Assembly earlier this year got bogged down until the last minute on unfinished business.

One of the holdups concerned a proposed revamping of the state's lottery scholarship program, something that will be at the top of the list of priorities in the coming legislative session. No changes ultimately were made this year to the standards for receiving and keeping any of the HOPE lottery scholarships.

But lawmakers next month are expected to take another crack at overhauling some features of the lottery scholarships, an effort that died at the last minute in the last session of the body.
The state House of Representatives earlier this year passed a bill of scholarship reforms, but the state Senate adjourned without taking action on the bill. They made that choice shortly before midnight on June 12.

The legislature reconvenes at noon on the second Tuesday in January.

Lowering standards
The Senate's inaction on the lottery bill earlier this year still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of some Democrats who were pushing for changes. The 33-member Senate is comprised of 16 Republicans, 16 Democrats and one Independent, but Republicans control most of the committee leadership seats.
"The House Democrats had a plan last year that the Senate Republicans killed, and that was to address the issue where we've got 80 percent of our students who initially become eligible for the scholarships who lose them," said House majority leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville.

Echoing that thought in an opinion piece he recently authored, Jim Kyle - the Democrats' party leader in the Senate - pointed to failed lottery reform as an example last session of, in his words, "a remarkable amount of hubris" displayed by Republican lawmakers.

"One of the things I'm personally interested in promoting is getting off the 3.0 grade point average standard and moving it down to 2.5," Odom said. "We've got about 30,000 students in Tennessee apparently who are in the range of 2.5 to 3.0 who aren't eligible for a scholarship."
At a forum in Chattanooga earlier this week, an official with the Tennessee Higher Education Commission said the GPA requirement for keeping the scholarship should be dropped from 3.0 to 2.75.

Not so simple
Because each General Assembly meets over a two-year period, the House bill of lottery reforms still is in play. But state Sen. Paul Stanley, R-Germantown, offered a line of thought perhaps shared by most of his Republican colleagues - namely, that moves to expand the lottery scholarships should not be automatic.
He also passionately defended action by the Senate earlier this year on the lottery reforms, calling events surrounding that bill "old-fashioned politics in the purest sense."

"I think you certainly need to give it to people who are trying hard, but you also have to draw a line in the sand," Stanley said of lawmakers' efforts to expand the scholarships. "It doesn't matter where you put it. Right now it's at 3.0. But you're always going to have someone who comes in, say, a 10th of a point below that.

"So you can say you want the lottery to cover more people - that's all fine and good - but there comes a time when, A, you've got to say 'Do we have enough money for this?' and B, even if we do, should we give everybody a little something and devalue the scholarship for those who put out the effort?"

The state Senate, he recalled, chose not to act on the House bill until 2008 because of a late-night decision and an unforeseen turn of events. After some last-minute debate on the proposed reforms, Senate Republicans had gone into their caucus room, he said.

When they came out, the Democrats were gone. Midnight was approaching, and any changes the Senate would have passed still would have had to have been reconciled with the House bill, Stanley said.

"So we said, 'Let's take a fresh look at this over the summer and come back next year,'" he said. "From the time the lottery was conceived, there's always been and always is going to be a push to give everybody a free education who wants one.

"But we just don't have enough money to go around. That's why we put in things like grade point averages and some of the other requirements that we did."

Fight over Tennessee lottery money brews
Legislators will clash over how it is spent, who gets scholarships

By SHEILA WISSNER
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, 12/26/07

State legislators are gearing up for a fight next year over how to spend lottery profits, including a likely battle over whether lottery scholarships should be opened to poor teens whose grades are too low to meet the current standards.

The nearly 4-year-old Tennessee lottery has a surplus of about $400 million. Legislators last session proposed various ways to spend it. Republicans and Democrats blocked each other's proposals, though, and little got done.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they are ready to try again, and expect the tussle over spending lottery money to be among the top issues when they go back into session Jan. 8.

"I think there is a clear distinction between Democrats and Republicans on this issue,'' said Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis.

"That is something that I think is going to take a great deal of our time,'' he said.
Gov. Phil Bredesen and many Democrats would like to open the scholarships to students making C-plus grades and focus the program more on helping low-income students.

Republicans want to preserve the existing academic standard, a 3.0 grade point average. They also favor giving lottery money to school systems for construction projects. The governor backed a program last session to set up a loan fund that would have helped schools' capital needs.

Both sides also propose opening scholarships to military veterans.

2-tier system proposed
The governor said during budget hearings that he planned to ask legislators their opinions about revamping the entire lottery program into a two-tiered system. As an example, he said, such a program might allow lower-income students to qualify with grade point averages of 2.5 while those with higher incomes would need 3.5 grade point averages to qualify for academic scholarships.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, a former state legislator and primary architect of the state's lottery program, has said previously that he opposed a two-tiered system but approved of tilting the program more toward need.

House Majority Leader Gary Odom said members of the House Democratic Caucus, and some Senate Democrats, believe the grade point average should go as low as 2.5, both to qualify for a scholarship and to keep it.

Odom, a Nashville Democrat, said most students receiving lottery scholarships lose them, in some cases because of trouble making the transition from home to college or because of problems juggling school and a job.

Lowering the GPA would open the program up to 30,000 more students, he said.

"I think, personally, that would be a very positive thing to do in the state," Odom said. But that plan "could get contentious,'' said Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris.

"I have not spoken to the governor yet,'' said Norris, of Collierville, "but if he only wants to make it needs-based, without dealing with the educational achievement end of it, that could be a slippery slope and make it more of an entitlement than a true scholarship."

Construction use is issue
House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol said Republicans would again push to send the lottery surplus to communities to use for school building projects. The effort failed last session.

"There is over $400 million in excess lottery funds today and it will only continue to grow,'' Mumpower said. He added that using some of it to give school systems capital funds would not eat into the scholarship money.

Democrats such as Odom say using the lottery surplus for capital projects will "cheat" students Democrats want to help out of scholarship money. Additionally, the amount of money that school systems would get under the Republican plan would be too small to help schools very much with their building needs, they say.

"So I think that is going to be a major discussion, because I know they are contacting county commissioners now and saying, 'Pass a resolution asking for this,' without, as they typically do, giving a full picture of what the ramifications are," Odom said.

Legislators from both parties want to help veterans go to college, but disagree on details. Democrats, for example, want to offer scholarships to Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans; Republicans don't want to limit the bill to those wars.

House Democrats launch new caucus Web site
Published: Oak Ridger, 12/24/07

On Thursday the House Democratic Caucus announced the official launch of their new Web site, www.tnstatehousedems.com. The redesigned Web site includes a host of new features including a RSS Feed for regularly submitted press releases and a media player for caucus-created content.

In addition to the new front page video player and RSS Feed, tnstatehousedems.com includes a "Contact Representatives" section for visitors to learn more about individual caucus members and a "Media" section for photos and videos of your favorite representatives. There are also links to the Tennessee Legislature's "Streaming Video" Player and "Bill Tracking" tool.

"The town square rallies, the whistle stop tours of old are being replaced by Web sites and blogs," said House Majority Leader Gary Odom (D-Nashville). "As a new generation of Tennesseans turn to the Internet for answers to theirs questions about government, we as elected leaders must work to provide them answers in the same manner."

Visitors interested in receiving regular e-mail updates from the caucus may join the House Democratic Caucus e-mail list by clicking the "Sign Up" button on the front page. There is also a button to "Contribute" for those wanting to donate to the caucus.

Make more lottery scholarships available

By STATE REP. GARY ODOM

Published: Thursday, 12/20/07

What should be the goal of our state lottery scholarship program?

Currently, a student must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average to keep the HOPE scholarship. These scholarships, which can be as much as $4,000 a year, are being lost by almost 70 percent of eligible students by their junior year. We now have more than $400 million in lottery fund reserves. The state lottery provides more than $200 million each year for scholarships and the revenue stream for scholarships has been stable.

Should our scholarship program be one that simply rewards those students who maintain a "B" average or should it be a program that helps more Tennesseans obtain a college education? I am not sure this question has ever been adequately answered. When the lottery first started, we really had nothing but estimates on how much scholarship money would be generated. We now have a five-year history and a much better understanding of how much revenue we can expect the lottery to generate.

Some have argued the scholarships should be limited to our "best and brightest." Others have said our present scholarship program is elitist and takes nothing into account other than grades. The fact is that the transition from high school to college can be difficult. It is probably easier for some students who have had a private-school experience. It is probably more difficult for students who work to pay their way.

Change GPA threshold
I believe Democrats in the state House of Representatives are ready to answer the question of what should be the mission of our lottery scholarship program. I believe the answer will be to assist more Tennesseans in getting a college education. The program should not be limited to only those who have a 3.0 GPA. It should be for those who are staying in college and earning passing grades.

There are approximately 30,000 Tennessee students in college now who have a 2.5 GPA or better who are not eligible for a lottery scholarship. I think that this year, we should examine the possibility of lowering the GPA threshold to 2.5.

I believe that, in the coming year, we should make this the General Assembly's defining issue. It will not be an easy fight. We have a fundamental disagreement on making these scholarships more available. Many Republicans argue that the 3.0 GPA should be required for scholarship eligibility. Last session, the House passed a lottery bill that changed the threshold to 2.75 for retention. Unfortunately, the Senate Republican leadership decided not to even bring the initiative up for a vote.

There are other things we can do with lottery scholarships to help nontraditional students. Recently, the Democratic Caucus introduced an initiative called "Helping Heroes." This program would ensure veterans who return from combat receive $1,000 per semester to subsidize the GI Bill, which doesn't cover the cost of tuition in many public institutions. We also have students who had to drop out because of financial reasons. They could use the help of a lottery scholarship but are not now eligible. These are just a couple of examples.

We named these scholarships HOPE. Let's make that hope available for more Tennesseans.

State needs resources for proper oversight
By REP. GARY ODOM
Published: Monday, 12/03/07 Tennessean

Tennesseans are fortunate to have many educational options after high school. We have a state system of technology centers, community colleges and universities that offer many program options. In addition, we have 169 proprietary schools in this state offering over 1,500 programs. The majority of these schools are for-profit and 101 lack official accreditation.

Along with numerous other duties, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission is the agency in charge of regulating proprietary schools in this state. THEC currently has nine employees overseeing the large, diverse and growing collection of proprietary schools in Tennessee. At this level, THEC is both understaffed and overwhelmed.

Tuition at proprietary schools is not cheap. I have seen tuitions at some for-profit institutions be 10 times that for similar programs offered at state institutions. Even when you consider that our state institutions are subsidized with public dollars, this difference in tuition is substantial and alarming.

For example, for a two-year surgical technology program our technology centers had tuitions of about $2,000 while one for-profit institution charged more than $20,000. Further, the more expensive for-profit program in this example did not meet the accreditation standards that all other private or public institutions in this state had attained for that program. We cannot allow our citizens to be charged top dollar for a substandard education.

Schools should have openness
A troubling note regarding tuition is that some institutions refuse to reveal their tuitions by phone or on the Internet. There have also been reports of applicants being pressured to apply for student loans. Openness and honesty should be paramount in every college, regardless of for-profit status.

While I am convinced that most proprietary schools provide quality education, we must remember their status as for-profit institutions. By the number of TV and radio ads it is evident that substantial marketing dollars are being spent by these institutions. We need strong consumer protection laws in this state because once THEC approves an application, the state of Tennessee's "seal of approval" has been issued for that institution.

Citizens deserve to know that the approval process means that they can expect quality programs that are appropriately accredited at reasonable cost. Tuition is especially important because there must be compatibility between tuition for a specific program and salary expectation following completion of the program.

Regulation of proprietary schools is currently based on self-reporting. Unless a complaint is filed with THEC, proprietary schools can operate without fear of a surprise visit from regulators. There have been reports of deception regarding tuition, questionable enrollment practices and students saddled with loans for programs that could never result in incomes necessary to repay the debt. It is my intention to work for changes in the law that will enact reasonable consumer protection in order to address these concerns.

House Democrats Introduce Helping Heroes Act
Published: Wednesday, 11/07/2007 House Democratic Caucus

NASHVILLE – Citing the inability of the G.I. Bill to meet the rising costs of a college education, the Tennessee House and Senate Democratic Caucus today introduced the “Helping Heroes Act of 2008,” a scholarship funded by lottery proceeds that will provide a maximum of $8,000 in higher education assistance to Tennessee veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

“A lot of us couldn’t believe that the full cost of college tuitions weren’t being covered when our veterans were coming home to Tennessee,” said House Majority Leader Gary Odom. “The use of lottery scholarships to address this, we believe, shows support for those who have served our country and state.”

The Helping Heroes Act will provide up to $1,000 per semester for Tennessee veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that attend approved state institutions of higher learning on a full-time basis. Total benefits are capped at $8,000 and must be used within eight years of the end of military service.

Eligible veterans must have been honorably discharged from the military and must have received the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, or the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. They must also meet all residency requirements established by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America issued a statement of support for the legislation (Click here for a copy of the IAVA letter).

“The current Montgomery GI Bill, as created in 1984, was conceived in peacetime and falls well short of covering the average cost of education in Tennessee,” Patrick Campbell, IAVA legislative director, wrote. “IAVA believes that the Helping Heroes Act will be remembered as a wise investment in Tennessee’s future.”

According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Tennessee veterans receive approximately $39,000 in benefits from the G.I. Bill. With the addition of the Helping Heroes Act, a college education will be virtually free for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Tennessee.

”We believe we can help as many as 12,000 Tennesseans with this initiative,” Odom said.

Governor Phil Bredesen also offered his support. “Tennesseans greatly appreciate the sacrifices that our veterans make to protect the freedoms we enjoy,” he said. “After their service to us, the least we can do is help our veterans get the education they need to be productive in the 21st Century economy.”

Estimated cost of the scholarship program is $6-8 million annually.

Specialty tag revenue driving bill
Legislator wants more oversight into how funds are being spent
By Tom Humphrey / Knoxville News Sentinel
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

NASHVILLE - A foundation established by former House Minority Leader H.E. Bittle could potentially lose its primary source of funding under legislation drafted by House Majority Leader Gary Odom.
Odom said Monday the legislation is the start of a planned effort during next year's legislative session to put more accountability into the system of specialty license plate sales by the state. The idea, he said, is to make some arm of state government responsible for oversight of the money collected and how it is spent.

Under current law, money from the sale of a specialty "Sportsmen's" license plate, which features a running deer, goes to the Sportsmen's Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Bittle.
Bittle sponsored the legislation creating the Sportsmen's plate, and earmarking the fees collected, as a Knoxville Republican legislator in 1999. The foundation has received more than $900,000 from the arrangement since then, much of it going toward the purchase of property and construction of a lodge in Cumberland County.

Under the bill drafted at Odom's request, the money would instead go to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency "to be used exclusively for hunter education." Odom said that, if the bill is approved, TWRA could decide whether to send some, none or all of the money received to the foundation.
"The TWRA, if they so choose, could enter into a contract to provide the services" and, if so, provide oversight on spending, he said.

Bittle said he was surprised to learn of Odom's proposal but has "no problem" with the concept, believing TWRA would approve continued funding for the foundation.
One of the organization's primary goals is to provide a facility for youngsters to take hunter education classes, he said.

"We have done absolutely nothing wrong," said Bittle. "We have a receipt for every penny that has been spent. The whole purpose is to help kids be outdoors."

Odom, D-Nashville, said he expects a report on the Sportsmen's Wildlife Foundation from the state comptroller's office "in about two weeks." Odom requested the comptroller's office and the state attorney general to review the operations after reading a News Sentinel report on the foundation.
"This is a draft. I'm going to get more feedback," said Odom. "What appears to be the situation now, though, it that we are going to need to make some changes in how entities receive and spend funds from these specialty license plates."The more I've gotten into this, the more is seems we need to get a handle on this situation," he said.

Nat Johnson, TWRA's deputy director, said the agency has served as a "pass-through" for the Sportsmen's specialty plate money. But that involves no oversight or control of the funds. The Department of Finance and Administration simply uses TWRA as part of an administrative distribution system, he said.
"We have no problem with accountability," Johnson said when asked if TWRA would support Odom's proposal. "If that's the will of the Legislature, we will make sure the funds are used appropriately."
Johnson said TWRA now makes grants to people and organizations for educational purposes though contracts.

"We do provide oversight of those grants and are much more involved," he said.
If the bill passes and the foundation seeks a grant, Johnson said, "We'll ask our information and education folks to do a review and see if we think that's where those resources ought to be placed."
The state issues more than 100 different specialty license plates, each one authorized by the Legislature. Typically, purchasers pay $70 more for the specialty plates than for a regular Tennessee vehicle license plate, with a portion of the extra money designated to help a specific charity.

Legislature Gives Back to Taxpayers
By GARY ODOM / HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER SUMMER NEWSLETTER
August 15, 2007

Because of our fiscally conservative and sound budgeting over the last several years as well as a booming economy here in Tennessee, we knew it was time to give back to the taxpayers.

Here’s how we did it: