Sen. Ed Jackson to focus on healthcare, law enforcement, workforce development
Providing rural communities with improved access to health care, continuing to foster West Tennessee's rapidly expanding workforce, and prioritizing the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers are all key focuses for Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, in 2024.
A week following his return from Nashville in the first legislative session of the new year, Jackson shared the issues at the top of his agenda for the counties of District 25 (Crockett, Decatur, Dyer, Henderson, Lake, Madison, and Perry).
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He reflected on the August special session, in which more than 100 bills were introduced and ultimately failed, in preparation for regular session.
"Many of those bills have been refiled or have stayed filed," he said.
Health care access
Tennessee has experienced the second-highest rate of hospital closures in the country, with 16 closures since 2010, according to the Tennessee Hospital Association (THA). Of the 16 closures, 13 were in rural regions.
With rural populations comprising 82% of the state's 95 counties, Jackson is aiming to restore the community's proximity to the services they need, specifically addressing concerns over access to emergency care.
Jackson says he's working alongside hospital management groups, like one in Decatur County that is gearing up to re-open its doors upon completion of renovation.
"Of my seven counties, Madison is the largest population. It's a medium-sized county, but all the rest of them are small, rural counties, especially Lake and Perry counties," Jackson said.
"Hospital healthcare is one of the most important things that you can have to have those counties grow and prosper."
Workforce development
A number of industries made their move to West Tennessee in recent years, prompting discussions of maximizing and supporting the rapidly growing workforce.
From Georgia-Pacific's Dixie manufacturing plant in Jackson to Ford's BlueOval City mega-site in Stanton, the state is fostering its workforce development through technical training investments.
"We've put over a billion dollars towards technical schools, upgrading the TCATs in West Tennessee and across the state," Jackson said.
Jackson says investments into vocational training will continue as the new industry brings in competitively paying jobs requiring skilled labor.
Law enforcement
In what characterizes a nationwide issue, the shortage of law enforcement officers continues to be a top priority for local officials like Jackson.
"Law enforcement has taken a lot of hits and law enforcement has gotten very little respect across the country in the last several years, so it's not as attractive of a job as it used to be," he said.
U.S. Rep. David Kustoff, R-Tennessee, 8th District echoed similar notions at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 3, sharing that "people don't want to go into law enforcement like they did a number of years ago for a number of reasons and that's tough."
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In Madison County, the Jackson Police Department along with City Council continue to incentivize recruitment and retention, raising starting salaries for JPD officers to $50,000 in September 2022.
'We have a tremendous shortage of law enforcement officers in Tennessee and especially in a lot of the rural, smaller counties but also the larger ones too," he said. "We want to do everything we can to try to attract good, qualified, law enforcement officers."
Responsible for establishing and upholding law enforcement standards and training, Jackson is a member of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission. The commission is made up of 15 members and serves as the state governing body for law enforcement.
"What we're trying to do is keep our standards high, and this is me talking from the POST Commission, we don't want to lower our standards at all," Jackson said. "We want to be sure that we support our law enforcement officers also and make sure that they know we have their back."
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Sen. Jackson reveals top priorities in TN General Assembly
