![]() She points out the commission provides agencies with information they need to apply for funds to provide services for children across the state. ![]() “It seems like the majority, every time somebody puts out something they don’t like, they want to get rid of it,” says Lamar, a Memphis Democrat. London Lamar, chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, calls the effort to kill the commission “an abomination.” ![]() That should be a win, and this effort suggests that we care more about the headlines than the outcomes,” Yarbro says. “One of the things this Legislature is trying to achieve this year is making big, substantial improvements in the Department of Children’s Services. Jeff Yarbro agrees, saying lawmakers from across the state were “deluged” this week by people back home who “value” the work the commission has done for decades and oppose what he calls a “lame effort to get some payback” for doing its job. He notes lawmakers have heard from constituents in support of the commission. “It was dropped kind of suddenly on everyone,” says Watson, a Hixson Republican. Bo Watson, chairman of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, points out Health Committee members wanted the weekend to digest the bill. She is said to be a stumbling block, but she declined to comment on the legislation Wednesday, saying she hadn’t read it. Mary Littleton, a Dickson Republican who chairs the Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee, confirmed the bill would have to go through her panel. Johnson, who was to be briefed on the bill at mid-week, was unavailable for comment after Thursday’s legislative session. The governor’s office wants to eliminate the commission, even as the state tries to clean up the Department of Children’s Services, which still has kids staying in state offices in Memphis. The Legislature created the 21-member independent group 35 years ago to provide it with unbiased information and to act as a third party for independent investigations involving children in state custody. Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson had to postpone the governor’s legislation for a week after commission backers packed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee meeting and supporters slammed lawmakers with phone calls in response to the last-minute bill drop. The Lee Administration’s plan to dissolve the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth- apparently for reporting the state’s foster care system is the nation’s worst - is running into trouble.
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