Walley Wrap: Improving Public Safety, Curbing Illegal Immigration and Helping Rural Communities Fund Utilities

By State Senator Page Walley 

Last week on Capitol Hill, lawmakers were hard at work passing meaningful legislation to improve the lives of Tennesseans as our General Assembly begins to wind down. Public safety and immigration were significant focuses as well as a host of other issues. Additionally, during Holy Week, we passed legislation, which I co-sponsored, to designate November as Christian Heritage Month to recognize the importance of Christianity in the nation’s history. 

Legislation seeks reports on illegal immigrants who commit crimes in Tennessee 

Two bills advanced that will strengthen the state’s standing to sue the federal government over the costs of illegal immigrants to Tennessee’s taxpayers. The measures would generate reports that detail the costs incurred by the state from illegal immigrants who commit criminal offenses in Tennessee. 

Senate Bill 757 would require a local law enforcement agency to verify a detainee’s citizenship. If found to be not lawfully present in the United States, then the jail must report that illegal immigrant to the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Senate Bill 2158 would require the District Attorneys General Conference to collect and compile data on the cost incurred by the state as a direct result of known illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a criminal offense. The report will be submitted to the Governor and both speakers of the General Assembly. 

With record numbers of illegal immigrants pouring into our country, every state has become a border state. These bills will help us learn the cost and impact the immigration crisis is having on our state, so we can take steps to fix the issues and protect Tennessee communities.

DA Second Opinion Act would allow DAs from neighboring counties to prosecute crimes

An important bill to help curb crime, particularly in Memphis passed through the Judiciary Committee last week that would require law enforcement to report certain major criminal investigations to District Attorneys in neighboring counties like Fayette. Known as the DA Second Opinion Act, this bill would permit a neighboring District Attorney to prosecute certain Shelby County crimes if the Shelby County DA refuses.

This legislation will permit law enforcement to make a prosecution request to a neighboring District Attorney who may have a more ‘law and order’ approach to criminal prosecutions. Police officers work hard to build a case against violent criminals. This bill is designed to give law enforcement officials more options. It will provide Memphians the opportunity to receive the justice those in the law-abiding community demand.

Legislation designates November as Christian Heritage Month

We passed legislation to designate November as Christian Heritage Month to recognize the historical and cultural significance of Christianity in the state and country.

Our founders leaned heavily on their faith as they established our nation. It seems that too many want to cancel any awareness of that history. If we desire to continue to exist as a nation, we need to understand what undergirds our founding. This bill is important in that pursuit. 

Helping rural utility operations 

Lastly, I sponsored and passed in committee an important bill for our cities and counties. It has to do with helping us obtain grants for water, wastewater, and other important utility systems. The bill makes it easier to fund the “depreciation” for the systems, which is the cost of ultimately replacing them.  We often can’t accept grants in rural communities because we can’t afford to already begin to set aside money to replace them. This will allow us to get these important utilities installed with a more common sense plan of how to replace them when they ultimately require such. 

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as our state senator. I look forward to hearing from you in the coming weeks as we wind down the session. Please reach out to me about any issues important to you at (615) 741-2368 or sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov.

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