New TNJ alert: Starbuck stymied, Curcio’s transformation, and Fox’s departure
The Tennessee Journal is out with a new print edition after taking a break from the inferno-like temperatures of Nashville last week. Here is what’s in the latest version:
— Starbuck stymied by supremes, 5th District’s GOP field finally set.
— McWhorter comes back to succeed Economic Development chief Rolfe.
— Curcio kick-starts transformation from House chairman to lobbyist.
— Ubiquitous no more? Bill Fox hangs ’em up after 27 years as revenue and economic impact estimator.
Also: An overhaul of the Tennessee Municipal League board, Gerald McCormick’s ALS diagnosis, Franklin Haney pivots to solar, and Cooper laments curbside intoxicants in downtown Nashville.
As always, access the your copy of the TNJ here.
Or subscribe here.
As a final look back to our summer travels, here is photo of Buoy the news retriever lounging on the Atlantic coast.
McWhorter leaving Lee administration for higher education, private sector
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, right, and Deputy to the Governor Lang Wiseman confer before Gov. Bill Lee’s first State of the State address in Nashville on March 4, 2019. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Former Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter is leaving Gov. Bill Lee’s administration after overseeing the “unified command” for the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
McWhorter will become a senior adviser to Clemson University, his alma mater. He will also return to the private sector. Butch Eley has taken over as finance commissioner.
Here’s what The Tennessee Journal wrote when McWhorter stepped down as finance commissioner in March:
McWhorter, the chairman of a healthcare venture capital firm who had served on the board of the Lee Co., was an early backer of Lee’s long-shot gubernatorial bid. He eventually served as the campaign’s finance chairman and was one of Lee’s first appointments following the 2018 election. The finance commissioner is traditionally the governor’s chief Cabinet officer, though McWhorter has appeared at his least comfortable when pressed by reporters about controversies ranging from school vouchers to the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at the Capitol. He has been more content to focus on the budget planning elements of the job, in which he has presided over a wild roller-coaster ride from the days of overflowing tax coffers to having to cut about $1 billion of the upcoming spending plan to account for the expected economic fallout from the coronavirus.
Here’s the full release from the governor’s office:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced next steps for the Unified-Command Group as Stuart McWhorter departs the administration at the end of May to go back to the private sector and to take on a senior advisory role at Clemson University.
“Stuart has been a tremendous asset to my administration, first as the commissioner of Finance and Administration, then in his role as director for our COVID-19 response through Unified-Command,” said Gov. Lee. “His ability to apply private-sector expertise to public-sector challenges has served our state well and I wish him the best in his new chapter with his alma mater’s entrepreneurship and innovation planning.”
The Unified-Command Group, comprised of the Tennessee Department of Health, the Tennessee Department of Military and the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, has established working procedures for testing, procurement, hospital capacity contingency planning, data analysis and other core functions in the fight against COVID-19. The Unified-Command Group
continues to coordinate with the Economic Recovery Group through planning and executing on the safe re-boot of Tennessee’s economy.
“The strong work of Unified-Command will continue as we address the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis,” said Lee. “This group has optimized our state’s response and we will keep this model in place for as long as needed.”
Lee names Butch Eley as new finance commissioner
Gov. Bill Lee, bottom left, looks on as his Cabinet takes the oath of office in Nashville on Jan. 19, 2019. (Erik Schelzig Tennessee Journal)
Gov. Bill Lee is naming Butch Eley as his new finance commissioner. Eley has served as Lee’s chief operating officer and was a top adviser during the 2018 governor’s race. He replaces Stuart McWhorter, who stepped down to lead the state’s “unified command” in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Department of Finance and Administration will play a crucial role in the reboot of our state’s economy and Butch brings significant expertise to the role as our state faces economic changes,” Lee. said in a release. “His knowledge of the private sector and service as our chief operating officer will ensure we keep Tennessee in a fiscally sound position by prudent management of state services.”
Here’s what The Tennessee Journal wrote about Eley when Gov.-elect Lee named him head of his transition team in November 2018:
Eley was an aide to then-U.S. Rep. Bill Boner (D-Nashville) who drew attention by going into real estate business with his boss in the mid-1980s. He was a spokesman for Boner’s successful 1987 mayoral bid and later served as his chief of staff, budget director, and economic development chief. The Tennessean editorial page declared Eley to be Boner’s “most loyal soldier.”
Eley left Boner’s staff in 1990 to open his own lobbying firm (later joining and then leading the Ingram Group), and was a noted campaign donor to Boner’s successor, Phil Bredesen, in 1991. He was named head of communications for Belmont University in 1995 and founded Infrastructure Corporation of America in 1998.
He was among those considering (but ultimately deciding against) a bid for Nashville mayor in 2015. Eley told The Tennessean he had been approached by several potential supporters who were “looking for somebody who can pick up where Karl leaves off.” That would be Karl Dean, the former Nashville mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lee vanquished on Tuesday.
Other members of the transition team include campaign general consultant Blake Harris, who will serve as executive director. Campaign manager Chris Devaney, a former state Republican Party Chairman, will be deputy director and legislative liaison. And Laine Arnold will reprise the role of spokeswoman that she previously held for the Lee and Randy Boyd campaigns.
Lee warns lawmakers of ‘surge’ in coronavirus hospitalizations
Gov. Bill Lee is warning state lawmakers a “surge” in coronavirus infections could overwhelm the state’s healthcare system in the next two to four weeks.
Lee made his comments in a conference call with lawmakers on Wednesday. The Daily Memphian reports that Lee’s “unified command” is basing its efforts to respond to the crisis on modeling of the outbreak.
BREAKING NEWS: Gov. Bill Lee expects COVID-19 surge that could overwhelm Tenn. hospitals. https://t.co/g6cGocPHwP pic.twitter.com/gNfTP3Jl57
— The Daily Memphian (@dailymemphian) April 1, 2020
“We know based on modeling we’re looking at that we will have a bed shortage, both with hospital beds as well as ICU beds. We’re taking that very seriously,” Stuart McWhorter, the head of the governor’s task force on COVID-19 said during the call. “We’re looking at the best data we have right now to try to look at what Tennessee will look like over the next two to four weeks and taking it very seriously.”
Yesterday, state officials offered assurances about the state's preparedness for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Today there's this: State eyeing convention centers, hotels to meet demand for beds, Lee administration says in stark coronarivus assessment https://t.co/9IIPzOtMhf
— Joel Ebert (@joelebert29) April 1, 2020
Lee names McWhorter to head ‘unified command’ on Tennessee coronavirus response
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter presents budget cuts to the Senate Finance Committee on March 18, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has named Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter to head a new “unified command” on the state’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
McWhorter,who will step aside from his role as head of the Department of Finance and Administration to take on the new role, named retired Army Brig. Gen. Scott Bower as his chief of staff. Bower is a former acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.
Here’s the full release from Gov. Bill Lee’s office:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee established the COVID-19 Unified Command, a joint effort to be led by Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, to streamline coordination across the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), Tennessee Department of Health and Tennessee Department of Military.
“The COVID-19 pandemic challenges every aspect of traditional government response in a crisis,” said Gov. Lee. “I have appointed the Unified Command to effectively change the way we attack COVID-19 in Tennessee as we work to simultaneously address health, economic and supply crises.”
Commissioner Stuart McWhorter currently heads the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration and will leave this post to head the COVID-19 Unified Command. McWhorter appointed retired Brig. Gen. Scott Brower to serve as chief of staff for the operation.
“Gen. Brower’s special forces background and previous service as the Acting Senior Commander for the 101st Airborne Division has enabled him to pull leaders together and troubleshoot quickly in a crisis,” said McWhorter. “Gov. Lee has urged our team to challenge every barrier and assembling this team is the first step.”
Brower resides in Clarksville and most recently served as the military advisor in residence to the president of Austin Peay State University. The COVID-19 Unified Command also includes:
- Patrick Sheehan, TEMA Director
- Dr. Lisa Piercey, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Health
- Maj. Gen. Jeff Holmes, Adjutant General, Tennessee Department of Military
Vouchers vs. teacher pay? Lawmakers gear up for budget battle
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter presents budget cuts to the Senate Finance Committee on March 18, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Tennessee lawmakers are gearing up for a long day Thursday in which they hope to come to an agreement over deep budget cuts before going into recess until the coronavirus crisis subsides.
One of the biggest sticking points is Gov. Bill Lee’s plan to keep funding in the budget to launch his school voucher program this fall while cutting a planned 4% teacher pay raise in half.
#BREAKING: @GovBillLee’s administration presented a revised budget plan Wednesday that halves the proposed increase for teacher pay and cuts most of the #education initiatives he announced before the new #coronavirus created a public health emergency. https://t.co/TtQfsV4a74
— Chalkbeat Tennessee (@ChalkbeatTN) March 18, 2020
The word around the largely deserted hallways of the Cordell Hull Building is that the House will go first on trying to pass the budget, with the Senate to follow suit later.
Capitol Commission won’t vote on Forrest bust at next meeting
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, left, participates in a meeting of the State Funding Board in Nashville on Jan. 21, 2020. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
A long-awaited meeting of the State Capitol Commission next month won’t decide the fate of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust located outside the House and Senate chambers.
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter told reporters on Tuesday that he envisions a series of at least two meetings to sound out supporters and opponents of moving the bust of the former slave trader, Confederate general, and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
Even if the Capitol Commission were to seek a waiver under the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act to remove the bust, a lengthy process would ensue. The State Historical Commision must wait at least 60 days to hold an initial hearing once a petition is filed. A final hearing can’t take place until at least 180 days after that. And any determination made by the panel (it would take two-thirds of the members to remove the monument) would have to wait 120 days from the final notice being posted on its website from going into effect.
And of course not of that takes into account any likely court challenges.
In other words, it’s going to be a while. Unless lawmakers decide to jump start the process by filing legislation to bypass the hurdles put in place by the Heritage Protection Act.
Lee administration records show dozens of grant ‘commitments’
Gov. Bill Lee, second from left, holds a budget hearing with the Department of Economic and Community Development on Nov. 4, 2019. (Erik Schelzig/Tennessee Journal)
Gov. Bill Lee has sought to chalk up disagreements about a local grant fund to a “misunderstanding” among lawmakers about the application process the money would be distributed. But emails The Tennessean obtained under state open records laws the show the Lee administration had committed to 60 projects around the state before the grant application process was formally established.
Critics have derided the $4 million grant pool as a “slush fund” and raised questions about whether the money was designed to reward lawmakers who voted for Lee’s controversial school voucher bill. Not so, said Lee, but the governor nevertheless halted distribution of the money until the next budget year.
The finger-pointing spree erupted when Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesborough), a top ally of former House Speaker Glen Casada, announced in September that a favored nonprofit in his district would be receiving an extra $75,000 grant. Nobody in the executive branch claimed to know anything about it.
But the Tennessean records request shows Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bobby Rolfe sent a July 26 email to Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter saying dozens of commitments had already been identified.
“This morning I met with our ECD Grant Team to develop a plan to administer the $4 million Rural and Community Development Grant Program that was approved by the General Assembly,” Rolfe said in the email.
“Assuming the individual grants will not be large amounts, it is quite conceivable that the total number of grants could exceed 100,” VanderMeer wrote.
Rolfe told the paper on Monday he had no knowledge of specific projects.
“We at ECD saw our role only as the grantor of the program,” he said. “Which means as this legislation was written, (the) commissioner of F&A would be making the decision and would be approving the grants, commitments, whatever you want to call them.”
“We at ECD — nobody’s ever seen a list,” he said. “We to this day don’t know that a list exists. We’ve just been told that there was a list somewhere.”
McWhorter declined to comment to the paper through a spokeswoman. But he denied having a role in devising the additional grant pool funds with state lawmakers at the end of last session.
“I’m not part of the legislative negations,” McWorter told reporters on Nov. 4. “That was their amendment, they added the money. You’ll have to ask them how it was added.
“We submitted a $3 million request as part of the admirative amendment. They added $1M additional and they unanimously approved the budget. So you’ll have to ask them how it occurred,” he said.
Lee said he hasn’t spoken to Hill about why he thought the $75,000 was funded for the project in his district. The governor said during budget hearings earlier this month that he doesn’t know why there’s so much confusion surrounding the grant program.
“You’ll have to ask those who don’t understand it and have said they don’t understand it,” Lee said. “We understood exactly what the process was. But there have been a number of lawmakers who have expressed uncertainty about how the funds would be distributed, what that process would be.
“Because of that lack of clarity and their lack of understanding about the process, we said let’s just hold up, we won’t spend it until we make sure everyone knows how it will be done,” Lee said.
Lee announces membership of Health Care Modernization Task Force
Gov. Bill Lee welcomes delegates to a summit on economically distressed counties in Linden on Aug. 13, 2019. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Gov. Bill Lee has announced the membership of his Health Care Modernization Task Force. Here is who’s on it:
Co-chairs:
- Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the state Department of Finance and Administration.
- Bill Carpenter, former chairman and CEO of LifePoint Health.
Task force membership:
- James Bailey, professor and director of the Center for Health System Improvement at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
- Mike Carrigan, chief administrator of Premier Medical Group.
- Brian DeBusk, first vice-chairman on the board of trustees if Lincoln Memorial University.
James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical C0llege. - Melanie Keller, CEO Meritan Inc.
- Mary Kiger, executive director of TN Charitable Care Network.
- Kathie Krause, chief nursing officer at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
- Shantelle Leatherwood, CEO of Christ Community Health Services.
- Alan Levine, chairman, president, and CEO of Ballad Health.
- Jim King, family physician.
- Kim Parker, director of inpatient and crisis services, Pathways Behavioral Health Services.
- Jeff Tibbals, Scott County Mayor.
- Michael Ugwueke, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare.
- Andrea Willis, chief medical officer, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
- Randy Wykoff, dean and professor of the College of Public Health at East Tennessee State University.
Lawmaker members:
- Senate Speaker Pro Tem Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin.
- Senate Finance Chair Bo Watson, R-Hixson.
- Senate Commerce Chair Paul Bailey, R-Sparta.
- Senator Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis.
- House Utilities Subcommittee Chair Pat Marsh, R-Shelbyville.
- House Insurance Committee Chair Robin Smith, R-Hixson.
- House Business Subcommittee Chair Ron Travis, R-Dayton.
- Rep. John DeBerry Jr., D-Memphis.
Lee administration gives first look at findings from health care meetings
Gov. Bill Lee delivers his first State of the State address in Nashville on March 4, 2019. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Finance Commissioner Stuart McWhorter has written an op-ed for The Tennessean about what he has found out during a series of closed-door meetings about the state health care in the state. Details of Gov. Bill Lee’s health care modernization task force are expected to be released later this week.
The placement of the op-ed is curious given that the paper’s own news staff was thwarted in its efforts to cover the meetings.
McWhorter said the meetings involved the heads of eight state agencies and private sector experts to “explore improving rural health, reducing chronic conditions, improving transparency and helping to foster innovation.” The discussions are apparently separate from the Medicaid block grant proposal that was panned in a series of public hearings last week.
McWhorter warned that there’s “no silver bullet,” but gave this summary of what was found:
- First, we heard that transportation is a significant barrier to care. Lack of transportation keeps some Tennesseans from having access to a primary care physician or out-patient services. This inevitably leads to medical problems becoming unmanageable, requiring emergency transportation and services for conditions that could have been managed better.
- Second, technology, including telehealth, is an underutilized tool in addressing access issues, especially in rural areas of our state. This technology is already having significant positive impacts for other industries. For example, telehealth has enabled schools and law enforcement to provide health care and better manage behavioral health issues which resulted in fewer school absences and reduced jail time.
- Third, rural areas are hit harder by these issues than other parts of the state, specifically in regard to lack of providers. Tennessee, not unlike other states, continually struggles to attract providers, which can lead to hospital and physician practice closures and, subsequently, a lack of available care within reasonable proximity to Tennesseans.
- Fourth, addressing social determinants of health could help foster healthier generations. Such efforts can aid in reducing costs, particularly for consumers during a national transition from fee-for-service to value-based care, but also for taxpayers as some costly medical services are preventable by introducing basic lifestyle changes.
- The fifth and final theme touched on the market challenges related to medical billing. This issue is complex and includes some of the largest facets of our health care system. There is no quick solution for this issue, but it is one our state will need to have a detailed conversation about in the months and years ahead.
