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Legislative session is underway The Second Session of the 111th Tennessee General Assembly convened last week in Nashville. The bill filing deadline for this year is set for Wednesday, February 5. That means all proposals, except bills of local application, must be filed by that deadline in order to be heard during the current legislative session. State Representative Jeremy Faison Republican of Cosby says education and health care remain priorities in 2020. He says avenues are being sought to create a health care system that improves access and quality of care available, while lowering overall costs. Those efforts include access through telemedicine, promoting competition and improving transparency. There also are discussions regarding an overhaul of the current criminal justice system so it meets present day standards, tempered with mercy, but not at the expense of safer communities. There will also be a focus on strengthening responses to individuals with mental health needs, truth in sentencing laws, and removal of barriers to successful re-entry for those who desire to become productive citizens. Members also will continue to examine the current surplus in the Needy Families program to determine ways to best support those looking to become self-reliant. Senator Steve Southerland, Republican of Morristown, says the senate agenda includes addressing opioid abuse and neonatal abstinence syndrome, funding for the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program, implementation of REAL ID in Tennessee, and chronic disease prevention. TWRA is looking to deter the spread of Asian Carp , and so a committee discussed the dangers of Asian Carp which is an invasive species that threatens to disrupt the native aquatic ecosystems in Tennessee's lakes and rivers. The diet of Asian carp overlaps with the diet of native fish in the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi Rivers. A Joint Taskforce discusses ways to create a healthier Tennessee including efforts to lower the rates of largely preventable diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease in Tennessee. Currently, Tennessee is ranked as having among the highest rates of those diseases in the country.
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