Cooper honored by Tennessee municipal league

COOPER

At the annual awards banquet of the Tennessee Municipal League recently held in Memphis, three Tennessee legislators were honored for their outstanding public service.

Lt. Gov. John Wilder, state Sen. Jerry Cooper (D-McMinnville) and state Sen. Bill Clabough (R-Maryville) were recognized for their exemplary leadership and devotion to Tennessee towns and cities during the 2003 legislative session.

All three, champions of local government, coordinated efforts to protect local funding streams by pushing legislation that, if passed, would have restored cuts to state-shared revenues. Their noble effort came within one vote of passage in the senate.

“It was such a great honor to receive this recognition,” said Cooper. “My main goal during this year’s budget debate in Nashville was to fight off increased property taxes by protecting state shared revenues going to cities.”

State-shared revenues are funds collected from communities by the state and redistributed to local governments to deliver essential services to their citizens. The governor’s omnibus bill that passed shortly before recess of the 103rd General Assembly cut city revenues shares by an average of 8.1 percent.

Wilder, Cooper and Clabough worked to keep these dedicated funds flowing to local governments.

“They worked tirelessly to help Tennessee cities,” said Tom Rowland, TML president and Cleveland Mayor. “The Tennessee Municipal League is deeply appreciative of their gallant effort.”