Economic Development Workshops Offered in August

The UT County Technical Assistance Service will be offering a series of workshops entitled Baisc Principles of Economic development for County Officials during the month of August. The classes will be taught August 23 in Knoxville, August 24 in Franklin and August 25 in Jackson. All courses are held 8:00 am to 12:00 noon local time. For more information about the classes or to register, go to www.ctas.tennessee.edu.

CTAS Index of Acts Available On-Line

The 2011 edition of the CTAS Index of Acts Related to County Government is on the Legislative Information page of the CTAS website. To view the document, click here.

This publication contains summaries of the public and private acts affecting county government that were passed by the General Assembly this year. These summaries are intended to give county officials notice of changes in the laws affecting their offices. Prior to taking action based on these new laws, the actual text of the law should be reviewed. The full text of all of the new laws can be found on the website of the Tennessee Secretary of State listed by public or private chapter number: http://tennessee.gov/sos/acts.

Release of TCAP Data on School System Performance

Last Friday, the Tennessee Department of Education released district-level 2010-2011 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement Test results. Now available online, the statewide and district-by-district breakdown shows how each school district performed in advancing student growth in all subject areas and grade levels three through eight.

Across the state, Tennessee students scored higher in all subject areas and grade levels in grades three through eight on this year’s TCAP achievement tests by comparison to 2009-2010 results. Student math scores grew by 7% and reading scores grew by 3.7%. These improvements show student success with the heightened academic standards implemented last year. An extended version of the statewide press conference is available online.

For the first time, TCAP achievement test results are being made publicly available on the department’s website in a district-by-district breakdown that shows the percentage of students who scored at the below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced levels in grades three through eight. High school end of course results and AYP determinations are not finalized and will likely be released in the coming weeks.

Students in Grades 3-8 take the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Achievement Test each spring. The Achievement Test is a timed, multiple choice assessment that measures skills in Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Student results are reported to parents, teachers and administrators. To view the 2010-2011 TCAP results, visit the Tennessee Department of Education website homepage at http://tn.gov/education.

All 2011 Tennessee Legislation Now Available On-Line

All of the legislation approved this year, during the first session of the 107th General Assembly, is now available online at the Office of Secretary of State web site. These documents - including 510 public acts, 32 private acts and 1,071 resolutions – can be found at: http://www.tn.gov/sos/acts/index.htm

Laws Taking Effect July 1, 2011

The General Assembly has a listing available on their website of new laws and changes to laws that take effect July 1 of this year. Much of the legislation that passes takes effect at the start of the new fiscal year, particularly if it relates to finance or taxation. Other bills may take effect immediately (i.e. when signed by the Governor) or, in rare cases, at some later date established specifically in the legislation.

Here is a link to those laws taking effect on Friday, July 1, 2011.

New Laws Effective July 1

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Governor Appoints State's First Procurement Officer

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced the appointment of Jessica Robertson as the state's first Chief Procurement Officer today. Robertson most recently served as Deputy Commissioner for the Indiana Department of Administration managing the operations for the state's procurement division. In this position, Robertson set policy for procurement and negotiated multi-million dollar contracts.

Tennessee Public Act 1098 of 2010 created a Tennessee state procurement commission, a procurement office, a chief procurement officer, a state protest committee and an advisory committee on procurement. The Act consolidates all procurement responsibility and allows negotiations and decisions to be handled by the procurement commission, procurement office and chief procurement officer. The procurement office will be managed by the Tennessee Department of General Services.

Robertson will begin as chief procurement officer on July 1. "Transforming the way Tennessee negotiates contracts will be an exciting new chapter for me," Robertson said. "I look forward to making Tennessee my new home while working to make a difference for the state's stakeholders."