Rep. Greg Vital
photo by Hannah Campbell
State Rep. Greg Vital of District 29 told members of the Pachyderm Club on Monday that the shooter’s manifesto is the Covenant School shooting will eventually be released.
However, he said officials are slow to give in to the inevitable because he said it is a dangerous collection of records that details vulnerabilities of many area schools.
He also guessed that the information in the manifesto is embarrassing to certain state officials.
Rep. Vital praised the Assembly’s approval three weeks ago of Tennessee’s $56.2 billion budget, required by the state Constitution to be balanced.
He said the budget provides almost $46 million in tax cuts for small and medium businesses that will foster growth in Tennessee and attract more businesses to the state.
When asked by an audience member, Rep. Vital confirmed that Vice President Kamala Harris did travel to Nashville to meet with the “Tennessee Three” legislators and did not meet with representatives of the Covenant School or school families, which he said was “tragic.” Two of the three legislators were expelled from state office by the House for breaking House rules and later reinstated by their local city commissions.
Rep. Vital was appointed vice-chair of the House Transportation Committee in January. He also serves as a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and the Commerce Committee
TRANSPORTATION
Rep. Vital said the Transportation Modernization Act designates $3 billion for transportation, or $750 million locally, plus another $300 million through Hamilton County matching funds.
“Transportation is an issue we deal with every day,” he said.
He said the new budget allows the state to negotiate contracts and shift debt risk to private contractors more freely, which will speed up state project lead times from the current 12 to 15 years. He said 70-year-old bridges are on the list of $26 billion in deferred highway maintenance.
“We can’t wait that long anymore,” he said.
The state’s choice lanes collaboration with private companies, he said, will “magnify” the county’s road network and relieve 30 to 40 percent of the traffic, at no cost to taxpayers, he said.
“Let’s give this a try as an adjunct to some of the things that we’re doing,” he said.
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS
Rep. Vital said the budget’s $1 billion in vocational and technical education spending will complement the state’s recent investments in information technology, solar power, artificial intelligence and automotive companies that have opened in or relocated to Tennessee. He said comparable certificate programs will extend benefits past high school to adults as well.
Rep. Vital said he ran for office to protect Tennessee’s disappearing farmland and preserve the open spaces that contribute so much to Tennessee’s desirability.
Already, he said, Tennessee can’t rely on farmers who once knew how to repair diesel engines. Those mechanics make $100,000 a year but they’re too scarce and Tennessee will have to train their own, he said.
Tennessee is also committed to provide career paths for nurses, he said.
UNIONS
Rep. Vital praised the Employee Free Choice and Privacy Act, which gives employees anonymity during unionization of their company. He said companies can’t provide names, addresses or email addresses to union organizers, which protects employees from intimidation, he said, and also ensures that certain types of employees will be included in the process.
“That’s a great start,” he said. “They should be able to vote in secret.”
THREE TAX-FREE MONTHS
Tennessee can look forward to three months of tax-free food purchases in August, September and October, up from one tax-free month last year.
EXTENDING BROADBAND “THE LAST MILE”
Rep. Vital said the Assembly is committed to expanding broadband service “the last mile,” as electricity was expanded to the last rural areas in the 1930s, even though it doesn’t make financial sense. Locally that’s northern Hamilton County, on both sides of the river, he said.
VOUCHERS
“They're not delivering a product that any of us would accept in our businesses,” Rep. Vital said of the local school system.
The legislature voted to approve a private school voucher program that will include Hamilton County for the first time.
The program provides up to $8,500 for families making less than $75,000 a year, among other restrictions, he said.
INDEPENDENT SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS
Independent school bus drivers can now pay the county’s municipal rate of $5 for their bus tags, instead of $250. These drivers transport public school students.
“Something simple, but I’ve never had so many thank yous,” he said.
STATE PARKS
Rep. Vital said that Tennessee’s four new state parks, including North Chickamauga Creek Gorge State Park, and designating Maury County’s Duck River a Class II scenic waterway, protecting it from encroachment of a waste complex, will add to Tennesseans’ quality of life for decades to come.
Rep. Vital said he plans to run for office again next year.
“Nobody expects the kind of confusion we had this year, but it’s an honor,” said Rep. Vital, who washed windows as a teenager and now raises buffalo.