Governor Lee’s Building Safety Month does little to make Tennesseans safer.

One has to wonder about Governor Lee’s priorities when he declared May to be "Building Safety Month." Tennessee’s safety problems extend far beyond building codes, given that we’ve been officially declared among the top five most dangerous states in the nation and 10^th highest for number of women killed by men. Added to those “safety” issues would be Tennessee’s ranking as 5^th highest number of people shot in road rage incidents.

How about addressing some real “safety issues” by designating months to causes that matter? Causes like:

1. Save a Woman’s Life Month - Tennessee ranks 41^st in the health of its women and children. For every 100,000 births, 24 women will die from maternity-related complications largely attributable to inadequate medical care.
   
   
2. Adopt a Foster Child Month – 8,000 children & adolescents are in foster care in Tennessee. Those numbers will undoubtedly increase as more unwanted babies are born after Roe v. Wade is reversed.    
   
   
3. Drive Safely Month – Reckless driving in Tennessee results in 400 collisions daily. Which begs the question:  What are these people so angry about? Could it be increased gas prices? Masking? Trump’s stolen election?
   
   
4. Shelter a Homeless Person Month – There are approximately 7,256 homeless individuals in Tennessee making us 23^rd highest in the nation. Since it is now a criminal offense to sleep on public property, our jails could effectively become “debtor’s prisons” overflowing with those forced to sleep on a city park bench.       
   
   
5. Practice Birth Control Month – 50% of all pregnancies are accidental. Since 1/3 of babies born are unplanned, unaffordable and unwanted, the loss of reproductive rights makes affordable, accessible birth control a necessity.  
   
   
   
6. Support Public Education Month – This administration seems committed to making private education a priority in Tennessee bringing in for-profit charter schools to compete with public schools for already insufficient public tax dollars. Irrelevant is the fact that charter schools often exclude special needs students from attending and usually offer no better education than public schools.        
   
   
7. Keep Your Guns Secure Month - More guns than ever before are being stolen from cars - 1300 alone in Nashville. One in three homes stores a loaded and unlocked firearm resulting in Tennessee becoming 8^th highest for number of children dying from gun accidents. 
   
   
8. Avoid Debating Democrats Month – Why is it that the Republican Party has made it party policy for their candidates to refuse to debate Democratic opponents? Is it because the GOP no longer subscribes to a democratic form of government and has no platform to present to voters? 

So given that building safety codes are the least of our worries, let’s we as voters declare November to be the month when we go to the polls and elect candidates who will “Make Tennessee Safe and Sane Again.”   

Tennesseans for Legislative Change (TLC) - A group of civic-minded voters residing in Murfreesboro 37128