Kim McMillan, Democratic candidate for governor, spoke with us today about her campaign. She was very gracious with her time and we talked about a wide range of issues of concern to voters across the state of Tennessee.

Our impression is that she has a solid background in state government and is highly qualified for the job of governor. She can talk policy and has the experience and leadership qualities needed in these tough times for our state. She may be a little moderate on couple of signature "liberal" issues (single payer, for example) but overall she gets an A+ on her progressive credentials. If Republicans are able to maintain control of the House and Senate, it will be critical to have progressive leadership in the governor's mansion to provide checks and balances. Kim McMillan can bring it.

We first asked about the most important lessons learned from her experience in the legislature and working in the governor's office and how she would she apply them as governor.

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Ms. McMillan said that as House Majority Leader she learned to reach out to people and across the aisle to make things happen and solve the state's problems. "You've got to form that consensus, form those alliances, and work together, because it's something you have to work as a team. The legislature can't act on their own, and the governor's office can't act on their own. They have to work together and that was the most important thing I learned."

Next we asked about state revenue sources, noting that she is on the record as opposing a state income tax.

Ms. McMillan said that with our current system is based primarily on the sales tax which represents about 60% of state revenues, and notes that sales tax declines in times of high unemployment. "When people don't have jobs they don’t' have disposable income to spend to add to the sales tax base." She would increase our sales tax base by making sure people are working and have jobs. "I believe that job creation, job retention, and job growth are the primary ways we can continue to work towards growing our sales tax base. It's not going to happen overnight, there's no magic wand, but there are lots of ways we can continue to increase the job growth that Gov. Bredesen and his administration have started and that have been very successful."

Regarding job growth, we asked about attracting new jobs and industry and about the types of incentives we offer.

Ms. McMillan said one way we can create opportunities for job growth is by partnering between higher education and private industry. As an example, she cited the recent $1.2 billion Hemlock Semiconductor expansion in Clarksville, "which will benefit not only the people of Montgomery County but all of the people in Tennessee" by creating more than 500 high paying jobs. This was accomplished by working with Hemlock to find out what they needed. "And what they needed was a degree program to train the people to work in the plant that wasn't currently offered. So we were able, with the help of the state, to design a degree program, put it in place at Austin Peay State University, offer it to people from all across the state where they could come and get a two-year degree in chemical engineering technology and be trained and ready for employment at this new facility." Ms. McMillan said this approach creates new jobs, especially in the alternative energy field, and adds to our sales tax base.

Speaking of alternative energy, we asked how we could better leverage the state's resources at Oak Ridge, TVA, and the University of Tennessee to make the state a leader in the green economy.

She said we must promote Tennessee's important role in this industry throughout the global economy. "We have such a wonderful opportunity with ORNL and UT-Battelle and all the facilities we have right here in Tennessee and we've got to make sure people realize that." She says that alternative energy and the green economy are the wave of the future, "and we've got to make sure that people realize what we have." She said that the governor's solar initiatives and other programs demonstrate the state's commitment to alternative energy and a green economy. She also notes that we are committed to providing the kind of educational opportunities needed to support these types of industries, and that's how we leverage our assets. "We've got it here. We've just got to make sure people know about it."

Next we asked her thoughts on why Tennessee ranks so poorly in education and what we can do about it.

Ms. McMillan said "it is a shame," and that she first ran in for the legislature in 1994 "primarily to make our educational system in Tennessee the best that it could be for my children and hopefully my grandchildren someday and everyone else's children and grandchildren because children are the future of our state."

She said we rank low because "we are just now starting to make the efforts to get where we need to be. For example, up until recently we didn't have a Pre-K program. We ranked 50th in Pre-K because we didn't even have a program. And thanks to Gov. Bredesen and the General Assembly, I was proud to be the sponsor of a bill that created a state-wide Pre-K program. And now we have a program that is ranked nationally as one of the better in the country. We have programs in all 95 counties and we continue to work toward adding more classrooms every year as funding comes available." She said the way we continue to make progress is to find "new and innovative ways to do what other states have done in the past and that we haven't been doing." She says the Pre-K program is a way to increase attainment levels and improve readiness to start school and to learn.

Another example is the Tennessee Diploma Project, which she was also involved with in the legislature. This program ensures that "what we expect from our students in Tennessee is equal to or better than what other states expect." She said that "this year we are going to start seeing in the pipeline different requirements that we're expecting from our students, such as four years of math, a physics requirement, other types of graduation requirements, and more testing such as ACT tests at the 11th grade level. Those are the kinds of things we can do. We have to expect more out of our students, more out of our parents, more out of our families, more out of what we are doing as a state to raise our standards. We're making those efforts. We're part of a national alignment project to make our standards the same as other states so we can be on a fair playing ground. We have great people in Tennessee, smart kids, smart students who want to do well. We just have to provide them the opportunity."

Regarding parental involvement, Ms. McMillan says every study she's seen shows that parental involvement is one of the top ways to increase attainment levels and graduation rates. But, she said, "It's tough. I've been a lawyer for over twenty years, and practiced in domestic relations, and people ask 'how can I make my ex-spouse be a better parent.' You can't just issue an order that you have to be a better parent, just like it's hard to pass legislation to force people to be more involved in their children's education. What's important is having someone in the governor's office and people in the legislature that make this their top priority, to go out and convince people that being involved in your children's education, being excited about the prospects we have in Tennessee, being optimistic, is really important. I can do that. I've done that for fifteen years in my role in state government and I am prepared to do that as the next governor."

Next we talked about the current health care reform debate, and what effect reforms might have on our state.

Ms. McMillan said "Well first of all let me just say I'm glad I'm not in Congress right now. I've been watching some of these forums and it's been quite interesting. Having been a public official as long as I have, I understand some of the frustration of the elected officials who really want these town hall meetings to become more of a question and answer session so that people can get more information as opposed to just a yelling session like some of them are."

Continuing, she said the state must be prepared to work with the federal government depending on what they do at the federal level, but at this point it is unclear what that will be. She said, however, that the state can't just sit back and wait for them. For example, when she was in the legislature and the state had to make changes to TennCare "we didn't just sit back and say we're going to make these changes and not provide any other opportunities for people to have health insurance. So we created programs like CoverTN and CoverKids and CoverRX and other programs that helped people get health insurance, people who didn't qualify for TennCare because they were employed and had an income but worked for a smaller employer who didn't have the ability to provide a health insurance program." At the state level, she said these are examples of the kinds of things we can do to "expand on some of our existing programs to help people get health insurance coverage and make it accessible and make it affordable."

We asked specifically about the possibility that health care reform would require states to expand Medicaid programs, and how that would affect Tennessee given our budget situation.

Ms. McMillan noted that TennCare is different from other state Medicaid programs because of our waiver so we are treated a little differently. But from her perspective in state government, she said "I don't believe in unfunded mandates. That was the problem with No Child Left Behind. You had federal mandates that they sent down to the states but they didn't send the appropriate funding. We're a state with a low tax base so we have to be careful about what we can do. I don't know exactly how it would work, but I can tell you that it would be very difficult at this point to expand the TennCare program. And that's why we have to look at other opportunities like CoverRX, CoverKids and CoverTN and other types of catastrophic insurance programs that we can do at the state level and that don’t work through our Medicaid waiver."

When asked whether she would lobby for or against a single payer system, should such a discussion ever occur in Congress, and whether it would help or hurt Tennessee, Ms. McMillan said "I couldn't tell you one way or another whether it would help or hurt Tennessee. Clearly it's a different type of program than we're used to. It's different from what our current TennCare system is, which is different from other state Medicaid systems. So we have to closely examine that to make sure that whatever we had to do in Tennessee and whatever we were lobbying for or against was something that benefitted actual Tennesseans."

Next we moved on to some of the controversial issues in the last legislative session. First up, we talked about her views on all the gun legislation.

Ms. McMillan said "I support the 2nd Amendment and always have. But, I was very frustrated, as someone not currently in state government, that what I saw was a legislature focusing on issues that I felt were not the issues that ordinary, average Tennesseans were concerned about. They were concerned about education. They were concerned about the high unemployment rate and the job losses we were experiencing. They were concerned about their health care options. They were concerned about something other than what I think the legislature spent so much time focusing on. That concerns me greatly, and we need to move forward and focus on the important issues as opposed to spending an entire legislative session on issues that I didn't think really benefitted most average Tennesseans. So I was somewhat disappointed by that."

That said, Ms. McMillan noted that when she was in the legislature she supported the ability to obtain a handgun carry permit and that in fact she has a handgun carry permit herself. But, she says, "I was opposed to the efforts to mix guns and alcohol and I was opposed to the efforts to mix guns and children, and that's what concerned me about the legislation." She said this legislation came up several times while she was on the House Judiciary Committee, and she voted against it "because I believed that guns and alcohol don't mix. I also believed law enforcement when they told me it was a bad idea. I believed restaurant owners who told me 'we don't want this.' So while I believe in a person's ability to get a handgun carry permit and I believe they are law-abiding citizens, when we start talking about where we want to start proliferating those weapons, places where alcohol is present, places where children are present, places where people's safety could be in danger, that concerned me and I opposed that."

She also noted that because she has a permit she knows exactly what kind of training permit holders get. "I can tell you that while it is very worthwhile it is not the same as what law enforcement officials go through. It's very different from the POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) training that they receive. They learn things that you don't learn when you get your handgun carry permit. Like how to react in a crowded situation, or how to react when children are present. So I believe that if we're going to have weapons in all these places, where children are present, in crowed situations, in a crowded restaurant, we need to start considering the training required of individuals who get the permit."

Next we talked about SJR127, and if it is ratified how she might approach any legislation restricting abortion rights.

Ms. McMillan said that her position has been the same her entire life and since she first ran for office in 1994: "I have supported a woman's right to choose in consultation with her significant other and with her doctor. So I was obviously opposed to SJR127. In my opinion was unnecessary because we are guided by Roe v. Wade and that is the law of the land. So even if SJR127 were to pass it would make no difference in the current status of the law in Tennessee. And that concerns me too, that we're spending so much time talking about something that has no affect on the law in Tennessee. When I was in the legislature I opposed SJR127 because I felt it took away from those rights that women and other individuals in Tennessee have and that's the ability to make that decision without government intervention."

Moving on to other legislative issues, we asked her thoughts on judicial selection and the Tennessee Plan, and the changes made by the legislature this year.

Ms. McMillan: "I am a supporter of the judicial selection plan, I always supported that when I was in the legislature and tried to resist efforts to change it. I think the changes they made this year did not modify the ultimate goal in Tennessee, which is to have a merit selection system of our appellate court judges. I do not believe that politics should be involved in the decision of who ought to be interpreting our Constitution, at the Supreme Court level or even the appellate court level. The system we have works well. It provides a system where we can make sure that the judges sitting on our appellate bench and the Supreme Court are the most qualified. That's ultimately what we want, and not have politics rule that system. States where they have direct elections for Supreme Court, we've seen a number of specific problems that show the dangers we run in to when we insert politics into our judicial system."

Next we asked her thoughts about "tort reform."

Ms. McMillan: "There is a time and a place for certain reforms to our judicial system. I do not believe, in my opinion as a lawyer and someone who has seen this happen, that putting specific limits on how much somebody can recover for damages is the way to curb the problem. Tennessee took a very good step in the last legislative session that didn't get a lot of publicity, but it's important and it is tort reform. Where you start the reform is on the way that lawyers and others go about filing lawsuits. If people want to argue that it's all a matter of frivolous lawsuits, well, you can stop the frivolous lawsuits so that lawsuits filed in Tennessee where people go forward with legitimate issues for people who have been injured actually have the opportunity to be heard and I think that's important.

"There was a bill that was passed that restricted plaintiff's attorneys ability to file lawsuits. They have to now prove a substantial amount of information before they can even file the lawsuit, identify experts, put up certain information that previously didn't have to be filed. We have a rule called Rule 11 that applies to all lawsuits, lawyers, and those involved in the judicial process that asserts penalties against individuals who file lawsuits that are unfounded. That's the way you can stop the frivolous lawsuits if that's the argument, rather than trying to hurt innocent people through no fault of their own have been injured and are just trying to seek compensation."

On the environment, we asked if TDEC should have more authority to regulate developers, coal miners, and polluters, and if there are any specific regulations she would support.

Ms. McMillan said she believes in TDEC's role and thinks it could always be expanded. "The natural environment and natural resources we have here in Tennessee are second to none, and we need to do everything we can to protect them. Tennessee is known for a lot of the natural areas we have that are so precious to all of us. As governor, I will do whatever I can, including arming TDEC with whatever resources they need to protect our environment, because it's all that we have left to leave our children."

We asked if she had visited the TVA coal ash disaster site in Roane County. She said she had not been on an official tour, but had been there and seen the damage and that it's "horrifying." She said she is keeping informed on what's going on and it's "something we can't forget about, we can't put it behind us because it has been very detrimental to the area." She said that the state's lack of jurisdiction over all of the different aspects and working through so many bureaucracies is frustrating and that we have to be "determined and never give up."

Regarding state party politics, we asked her thoughts on the state Democratic Party's restructuring and rebuilding.

Ms. McMillan: "The state party, through the leadership of the new chairman, Chip Forrester, is doing a great job. I have been part of a number of different forums they're holding in different parts of the state to get more people involved from a grassroots level and effort. The one thing that we learned, even though Tennessee did not vote for President Obama, is that grassroots is important. People at all levels are important. We can never forget the people at the bottom, just like we don't need to always focus on the people at the top.

"The more people we can get involved in the political process, and that's old people, young people, people of all races, creeds, and colors… I'm especially concerned with the lack of participation, quite frankly, of women in our state. We've been ranked as 49th in the level of political participation by women in our state. We need to do something to encourage that to change. We need for women to take part in their political process. And it's not just running for office. It's also voting, it's voter registration, and other efforts that go into that ranking.

"I'm hoping that my candidacy as one of the few women running for statewide office can spur women into realizing that they need to take part in their political future and the future of their state, for their children and their grandchildren. That's what I hope to do. That's what the state party is trying to do on the Democratic side, really say 'let's get everybody involved, let's let everybody have a seat at the table.' Let's say 'you can play role in your future,' and you do that by becoming involved."

Posing yet another hypothetical question, we asked if she had a blank check and a mandate to spend it any way she wanted, what one thing would she invest in for the state?

Ms. McMillan: "Well, it would have to be education. Education is the bedrock to everything that we do. We see that on a daily basis, how involved the education levels are in job creation, job retention, our health care decisions, in just about every aspect of state government. We have got to do everything we can to make sure that Tennessee has a world class education system so that our children, when they get out of high school, number one they are prepared to go to higher education, number two they can attend because it's affordable, and number three they want to stay right here in Tennessee because our schools in Tennessee are ranked nationally to compete with the schools even in some of the other Southeastern states that sometimes draw our students away. It's gotta be about education because that is, as I said, the underlying bedrock to everything that we do."

Our serious questions wrapped up, next we asked what newspapers she reads.

Ms. McMillan laughed. "You're thinking about the Sarah Palin questions now." She said she reads a whole bunch of them. "I start with the Leaf Chronicle, which is my local paper here in Montgomery County, and I read the Tennessean. I read those on a daily basis because they come to my mailbox." She also gets the Wall Street Journal and reads other papers around the state online, including the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Commercial Appeal, and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. She also mentioned that she reads some blogs from time to time, including KnoxViews.

Regarding the last book she read, she said she's reading several but the last ones she finished were "Pearls, Politics, and Power," and "Living a Political Life" by Madeleine Kunin, the first woman elected governor of Vermont. "It's one of the first women governors to tell her story, and I'm trying to become the first woman governor of the state of Tennessee, so it's important to me to see what other first women governors had experienced during their career."

We asked if she knew Pat Summit, and she does. "She's wonderful. One of the reasons I know her is that I'm a big UT fan having gone to UT undergraduate and UT law school, and my father was a professor at the university for years, and having grown up in Knoxville I was very familiar with her. But when I moved to Clarksville and ran for the legislature, my fellow representative from Montgomery County was Tommy Head, who is Pat's brother. He introduced me to her and I was able to get to know her. She has done a fantastic job, and not just with the Lady Vols. The thing that really is wonderful about Pat, and it's the first thing that she says when you meet her, is that yes I'm very proud of my accomplishments on the basketball court and I'm proud of my team's accomplishments, but the thing I'm most proud of is that she has graduated every student that she's had."

We talked some more about her Knoxville, and South Knoxville connections. She went to South-Young, so we know she is younger than the Mrs. and me because when we went to high school there wasn't a South-Young, there was South and there was Young. She may be the youngest candidate running for governor.

Wrapping up, Kim McMillan wanted people to know why she's running for governor:

"The reason I'm running and that I think that I would be the best candidate for governor is quite frankly because of my experience. I'm the only candidate who has been in all the branches of state government. I spent a long time in the legislative branch, I spent a significant amount of time in a substantial leadership role as Majority Leader, then spent time in the executive branch with Gov. Bredesen in a senior level cabinet position. And now I've been at Austin Peay State University so I've been in a higher education institution. I'm a lawyer and my husband is a judge, so I figure I've got the judicial branch covered too.

"Because of all that experience, and the reason it's important, is because we know the economic times we are going through right now, and it's a little bit frustrating for people. We need somebody who can step in on day one who understands state government. We don't have time for a learning curve now. We need somebody on day one who understands how state government works, understands the relationship between the legislature and the executive branch, understands how to get things done, how to get things passed that matter to people in Tennessee. I can do that. That's what I think is really important to people, and that's what I've been trying to get across.

"Sometimes people like the outsider, but this is not the time for the outsider. Even though I'm somewhat of an outsider because I'm the only woman, so I will have something different from all these other candidates who are all men. People say how can you do this as a woman, will people accept women candidates. I've always felt like in order to make change, in order to get things done, in order to do things that help people in Tennessee, you have to have a seat at the table. I'm willing to do what it takes to have that seat at the table. I've always done that.

I've run for office six times and been elected six times in a district where people sometimes said a Democrat couldn't get elected. But I ran because I was for doing the right things for the right reasons. And people saw that, and they saw through the party affiliation, they saw through the gender issues, and they said 'that's the kind of person we want,' somebody who gets up every morning and is willing to work as hard as they possibly can to do the best job they can. That's what I've always done and that's what I'm ready to do as the next governor."

WEBSITE: Kim McMillan for Tennessee