Niceley Hostile to Business Interests
Chamber identifies state representative as unfriendly to business
KNOXVILLE, TN - Today, the Knoxville Chamber identified state Rep. Frank Niceley as hostile to business. His sponsorship of five bills demonstrates his unfriendly position regarding business and economic development, particularly in the local area.
"Among the members of the Knox County state legislative delegation, Rep. Niceley stands out as working against business interests in the state and in this region," says Garrett Wagley, the Chamber's Director of Communications and Government Relations. "If the bills he's introduced become law they would be burdensome to businesses and limit economic development. They could also result in the loss of jobs and negatively affect the local and state tax base."
Rep. Niceley has introduced five bills that are in opposition to business interests. The legislation makes it difficult to develop industrial or business property, targets the economic development activities of chambers of commerce, and institutes new, onerous reporting requirements for LLCs fulfilling government contracts. The bills are:
- HB3058 and HB3695 - which both speak to a community's ability to develop property. The first requires an entity using eminent domain to pay the current property owner the future value of the property once it has been improved. The second limit's a county's ability to develop land for industrial uses if it has been designated as nonattainment for air quality by the Environmental Protection Agency.
- HB3852 - would require meetings and minutes of a chamber of commerce to be subject to the open meetings law. The contracts chambers have with local governments to provide economic development services are currently public record. This legislation would make a chamber's dealings with businesses interested in locating a facility in the community open to the public. Such a law would dissuade many businesses - which often require anonymity until the deal is ready to close - from showing interest in the region.
- HB3032 and HB3061 - require LLCs doing business with a county or the state to disclose the name of each partner prior to finalizing a contract. In addition, the names of all partners must be posted on the government entity's website. This legislation could hamper private business investment.
The two bills Rep. Niceley has introduced regarding industrial property development stem from his opposition to the proposed intermodal facility in Jefferson County. Limiting that type of development in a nonattainment county is particularly curious - it would actually positively affect air quality.
According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the intermodal facility in Jefferson County would divert more than 100,000 tractor-trailers from I-40 each year. Interstate traffic is one of the primary contributors to air pollution in Jefferson County - and the other nonattainment counties in East Tennessee including Knox County. The intermodal facility could actually result in a total reduction in air pollution in the region and state.
It would also bring a large number of direct and indirect jobs. The direct jobs would come during the facility's construction and operation. Indirect jobs would be represented by additional businesses locating in the region to benefit from the shipping advantages of the intermodal facility.
In addition to these bills, Rep. Niceleyhas also been a major proponent of changing Tennessee's system for selecting local school superintendents. The current system requires superintendents to be appointed by an elected school board. Such a system allows these professionals to focus solely on the improvement of education. Rep. Niceley would allow for elections, which would require superintendents to be distracted from his/her important work to focus on periodic campaigns. The Knoxville Chamber, along with the chambers in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville, and other business interests across the state, has identified this issue as a major business concern.