Hello, I’m Senator Paul Bailey bringing you a capitol update from Nashville. We’re picking up the pace this week in the Tennessee General Assembly. Our committees have full calendars and we’re continuing to study the budget of each State Department.

On Monday night, we approve two important measures. One engages the federal government and stopping the flow of cell phones and our prison. There were over 1500 incidents with cell phones in Tennessee prisons last year.

Prisoners have used them to stop victims threaten witnesses arranged the murder of correctional officers and to continue gang activity, all from behind bars. We need the FCC to work with us to aggressively address this threat.

The legislation calls for proactive and collaborative approach to disrupt the use of contraband phones in our prisons.

We also gave final approval on Monday to create recovery high schools for students with alcohol or drug abuse dependency. It’s important to keep kids with addiction disorders in school and on the right track to help them succeed.

Finally, as Chair under the Senate Transportation Safety Committee, I’m very excited about the plan proposed by President Trump on Monday that will boost spending on infrastructure and the US.

Governor Haslam has reported that after meeting with the White House, Tennessee is well positioned to take advantage of this funding. Roads are critical to Tennessee’s economy, not to mention the need for safety. I look forward to reviewing the plan and will work with Governor Haslam and [??? 1:25] to ensure that Tennessee takes full advantage of bringing these dollars to our state.

As always, please feel free to contact my office with concerns or if you wish to weigh in on the issues. Until next week, this is Senator Paul Bailey giving you a capitol update.