The voters of Rutherford County recently elected Bryan Terry to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent Tennessee District 48, which covers the eastern part of Rutherford County. He will join Dawn White, Rick Womick and Mike Sparks, all of whom were re-elected to another term to represent people of Rutherford County in the Tennessee House.
Terry is an anesthesiologist at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital and a member of the Choctaw Nation. He and his wife, Cheryl, have two children, Brayden and Breeley.
As is the tradition, the Tennessee General Assembly will convene its session the second Tuesday of January.
During the seasonal hiatus, Dr. Terry took the time to answer some questions from the Murfreesboro Pulse:
The Murfreesboro Pulse: What would you like to accomplish over the next 2 years?
Dr. Bryan Terry: I decided to run because I wanted to make a difference for my children and their generation. So, generally, my goal is to help advocate for issues and causes that I believe will improve our state, county and district for all Tennesseans, but in particular, those that will follow us.
I believe there is a disconnect between Washington and here locally. I believe there is a disconnect at the state level, as well. As a trained self-governance candidate, it is my hope to reconnect voters with the government process. Self-governance is basically educating and empowering citizens to utilize their civic authority. We have a lot of voter apathy out there because of this perceived and real disconnect. It is my hope to diminish the disconnect. During the campaign, I held many events like “Tuesday with Dr. Terry” where I would meet and greet voters, but also listen to their concerns. I have started a Citizen Action Board to involve citizens in the process as well.
One outreach program that I am excited about is our S.H.A.R.E. Rutherford initiative. S.H.A.R.E. stands for safety, health, affordability, recreation and education. It is our goal to go throughout the district, as well as the county, and highlight on social media the citizens and businesses that fall into those categories. It is our hope to show citizens and businesses in the county and state what we as a county have to offer.
Now that the voters have approved Amendment 1, what legislation regarding abortion do you expect to come before the General Assembly?
I expect for us to introduce an informed consent bill, as well as, a brief waiting period bill. Both of those measures were on the books prior to the Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist in 2000. Both of those measures have been deemed constitutional.
The requirement for some abortions to be performed in a hospital was, also, on the books prior to that ruling. I would expect legislation addressing that to come forward at some point, as well. There may be bills that increase the standards of abortion clinics to operate as freestanding ambulatory surgical centers, too.
As I was answering this question, I learned that Rep. Rick Womick introduced a bill dealing with ultrasounds and requirements surrounding the use of ultrasound information. It may be the same bill that he introduced in 2013. To my knowledge, this is the first and only bill that has been pre-filed at this moment.
What people need to realize is that abortion is the law of the land. Amendment 1 will not give our General Assembly the authority to outlaw abortion in Tennessee. We can, however, educate women and make it safer for them. There are two lives at stake and I will be an advocate for both at the hospital and the Capitol.
Why is it important for the Tennessee of House of Representatives to have a medical doctor as a member?
I think it is important to have representatives from all walks of life. We can learn from each other and bring our collective strengths to the General Assembly. In addition, health care is the largest percentage of our budget. Having a physician in the House of Representatives will allow us to have more insight to the concerns of patients and the medical community when we are looking to adjust the budget.
How involved should the state government be in providing health care to the people of Tennessee?
Should there be “free” health care for all? Every man for himself? Somewhere in the middle?
How involved should the U.S. government be?
The history of health care was such that the patient/physician relationship was a health relationship and a monetary relationship. Over time, government has gotten involved to the point where the cornerstone of health care, the patient/physician relationship, is but a number. When upwards of 40% of health care dollars doesn’t even go towards patient care, then you know there is a problem.
How involved the state should be is up to the people of Tennessee. I think we are a compassionate state, but you must be fiscally responsible as well. Right now, health care is over 30% of the budget. While we can help those less fortunate, we must be responsible in what we can do.
On a federal level, I think that Obamacare was a huge federal overreach. Many of the mandates and the independent payment advisory board haven’t come to light just yet. I think people will realize what a mistake the law was once it is fully implemented.
“Every man for himself,” while free-market in the truest sense, leads to abuses and loss of consumer protections. On the other hand, “free health care” isn’t really free and invites major issues including suppression of the entrepreneurial spirit. For me, I think a freer market health care system with transparency of costs and consumer protections, especially for catastrophic illnesses, would be something we need to look at.
Do the people of Tennessee have the right to bear arms?
Absolutely. We have the right to keep and bear arms. I am in the process of looking at legislation to introduce that will further protect that right.
How do you feel about states requiring all children to attend school (compulsory attendance)?
What you are looking at here is the liberty of a family to raise a child as they see fit versus the potential cost to society of an uneducated, or undereducated child. While I am very liberty oriented, I think that the greater benefit is an educated, but not indoctrinated, child.
Is it fair that Tennessee code exempts periodicals distributed twice monthly or more frequently from paying state sales tax, while those who print on a less frequent basis must pay sales tax on their printing bills?
Is this indicative of the playing field being tilted towards the “big guy” rather than the entrepreneur and small businesses?
I would be interested in learning about the rationale of such a code. On the surface, the tax code appears to favor one group of periodicals over another. I believe in a freer market system, but this code does not seem to level the playing field.
Phil Williams of News Channel 5 recently reported on the inaccuracy of Drug Task Force K9s in Tennessee. What are your thoughts on the almost unlimited authority of the police to search vehicles without any accountability to repair the damage that they may cause? In what ways can government better ensure that police are being held accountable for their actions when dealing with the public? What safeguards could government put into place to protect personal privacy and prevent policing for profit in our state?
I have the utmost respect for our public safety officials. They put their lives on the line every day. All that being said, there is a growing concern of abuse of power. As with any issue, you need to determine if the concern is truly a problem and to what extent it is a problem. Phil Williams exposed an issue, and we should be concerned about a fourth-amendment abuse.
Then you need to determine the goal of your solution. In this case, the goal should be to optimize the safety of our citizens and the public safety officials, protect our liberty and fourth amendment rights, while providing the means of our public safety officials to do their jobs.
The Beacon Center of Tennessee has a policy briefing that outlines some measures that we could take including placing the seizures in a neutral fund, and transparency of the reports. I also think that, much like physicians can be guilty of medical malpractice, public safety officials could be guilty of civil malpractice. Perhaps, if the officer was responsible for the liability, as opposed to the taxpayer, then that might curb some of the abuse.
Should marijuana be illegal?
Again, this issue, to me, is one of individual liberty versus the potential harm to society with associated infringement on another person’s liberty. Until we can determine the harm to society and limit the infringement on another’s liberty, I don’t see how we could make it legal. For example, I have never smoked marijuana. I don’t want my children to smoke marijuana. If we legalize marijuana, then in essence we, as a government, are telling our children that it is OK to smoke marijuana and infringing on the liberty of a parent to raise their child under their own morals.
I would be in favor of looking into legalizing marijuana oils for the treatment of intractable seizures. If there is some medical benefit, then we do need to look at our options. Most people probably don’t realize that cocaine is legal in Tennessee for medical purposes. Cocaine is a local anesthetic and a vasoconstrictor. It is often used in nasal surgery to decrease pain and bleeding, and by anesthesiologists for placing an endotracheal tube through the nose.
Should the state of Tennessee offer corporations like Amazon special incentives to open facilities in the state, due to the quantity of “jobs” they bring (no matter how well they pay), or is this another way of further tilting the already-uneven playing field towards the large corporations rather than Tennessee’s small businesses?
What we need to realize is that Rutherford County is competing with the other 94 counties for businesses. Tennessee is competing with the other 49 states, and the U.S. is competing with other countries for jobs. It is a global economy. In a free market, businesses are going to go where they get the best deal.
In a recent survey of the top 500 CEOs, Tennessee ranked third behind Texas and Florida. These businesses look for an educated workforce, livability and taxes and regulations. Tennessee was behind based on taxes and regulations.
When you are looking to bring in corporations or jobs, you need to show where you are competitive or exceptional compared to other counties, or states. You must also determine the value of such a corporation to your community. If the corporation will serve as an anchor and economic engine for your county, then incentives may be worth it. The small businesses that can thrive off of the economic anchor benefit by the big corporation getting a “deal.” Ultimately, I think that you need to make sure that the corporation provides the jobs that you need, as well as provide an economic engine that small businesses can benefit from before offering special incentives.
In closing, I would like to thank the Murfreesboro Pulse for giving me this opportunity to reach out to its readers. I would like to thank the readers for being interested enough to read what I have said. I would encourage the readers to reach out to me and be engaged in the political and legislative process. It is our seat as a district. I am just being sent there to be an advocate and voice for the district. Please, contact me at rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov if you have any questions or concerns.
In Liberty,
Rep. Bryan Terry, MD
