SANDI VAN ORDEN, Post Contributor
Posted: Sunday, January 31, 2010 7:14 am

Red-light cameras may cause a stink in the General Assembly this year.

One issue of particular concern is growing discontent with red-light cameras in East Tennessee, which will make its way into the General Assembly this year.

Introduced last year, legislation concerning the legality of red-light cameras came out of summer study committee ready for a vote in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The House Transportation Committee amended and approved a bill to require counties and cities to make sure any contracts with vendors operating red-light cameras conform to the law.

The Senate Transportation Committee is expected to address the same bill this week.

A second bill would require a study on the use of the cameras and would place a moratorium on the installation of cameras until July 2012. The bill also addresses fines assessed by the use of the cameras. This bill was presented to the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday.

A third bill would prohibit the installation and maintenance of cameras at traffic lights. The bill sponsored by State Rep. Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) has not been brought before a committee, and Mumpower said he had no timeline for when he would present the bill.

Members of the Rutherford County delegation are still learning about the issue.

Rep. Joe Carr (R-Lascassas) said he is leaning toward the continued use of the cameras.

He said if it is an issue primarily concerning safely patrolling the streets, and not revenue, then he would be against legislation to prohibit the cameras.

Rep. Kent Coleman (D-Murfreesboro) said the presentation by Murfreesboro on the use of the cameras helped to dispel any false impressions.

“My impression is that the existing system in Murfreesboro was an impressive system that promoted public safety,” he said.

Rep. Pat Marsh (R-Shelbyville) said he sees both sides of the issue and the use for public safety.

“If it is just for revenue, I have a problem with that,” he said.

Sen. Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) said he was concerned about the use of cameras at traffic lights before the Murfreesboro mayor and council presented information to the Rutherford County legislators.

“From a safety stand point over time it would be good,” Ketron said. “I don’t think Murfreesboro uses the cameras for revenue grabbing, but for public safety.”

Carr also intends to pursue a bill he worked on last year that would allow municipalities to take a special census. The cost would be paid by the municipality.

State budget
With the state facing a nearly $1 billion budget deficit, legislators are trying to find extra money wherever they can.

“The No. 1 issue every year is the budget,” Sen. Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) said.

He has introduced a bill that would tie legislators’ per diem to state employees’ pay. Under the bill legislators would not receive an increase in the per diem amount received unless state employees receive a salary increase of at least 1 percent. The estimated financial impact is $975,700 from fiscal year 2011-12 to fiscal year 2013-14.

“The budget is the overriding issue,” Coleman said. “The reduction in revenue is something we have not experienced in the past. There will be a lot of hard decisions and choices.”

One of those hard decisions will come from Gov. Phil Bredesen, who will announce state layoffs at his “State of the State” address on Monday.

“There are some layoffs in the bill and they’re in a couple of categories,” Bredesen said. “There are some that are being done for what I’d call ‘business reasons’ where we’ve made a decision to close something.”

He said there are other cuts that will be “painful, right now” but hopefully in the future could be “retrieved”.

“You can’t get from where we are to where we need to be without doing things that people are noticing,” Bredesen said. “And remember that we really have two years’ worth of cuts to deal with. Because of the stimulus funds, there were a number of cuts that were actually made, legally, last year, but which really haven’t come into effect yet.”