Issues
Building a brighter future by working to address the daily challenges facing our families, create opportunity and strengthen local economies across our state. Our future starts now.
John Ray's legislative priorities are guided by his ongoing conversations and feedback from residents, educators, business leaders, civic groups, medical professionals, members of the faith community, local officials, and most of all – hard-working Tennesseans like you.
If we’re willing to listen, learn and work together, we can overcome any challenge and solve any problem.
Health Care
Health Coverage
We cannot afford to give up the fight to provide all Tennesseans access to quality, affordable health care. We must protect and provide for our seniors, strengthen and expand TennCare for struggling families, and ensure that all children - regardless of income - have access to health care.
By failing to expand TennCare, we have lost billions of our own tax dollars to other states and deprived hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans in the “coverage gap” of health coverage. The resulting closure of rural hospitals across our state has devastated local economies by eliminating jobs, local tax revenues and vital health care services for local residents.
Mental Health, Substance Abuse & Wellness
Mental health has been a focus of John Ray's since day one. For his legislative efforts, he has been honored with a "Policy Award" by NAMI Tennessee and "Appreciation Award" by the Tennessee Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
John Ray's work for mental health care parity and substance abuse equity continues as we work across the aisle and with multiple advocacy groups on this important issues facing Tennessee families. The state's enactment of two laws initiated by John Ray were made possible by bipartisan support and provided much-need momentum to this important issue. However, our state still has a long way to go to fully and effectively provide Tennesseans the care they need and deserve by adequately regulating insurance carriers.
Overall wellness of Tennesseans is also a priority. Obesity and toothlessness issues are continue to plague too large of a percentage of our population and increase costs to our families and state. John Ray helped lead an effort to enact a law that eliminated the burdensome "wellness tax" or "fitness tax" on individuals attempting to improve their health at gyms, yoga studios and fitness/recreation centers. Tennesseans should never be taxed for improving their health and leading an active lifestyle. We must continue to promote policies that help Tennesseans improve their health and quality of life.
Opioid Crisis
The opioid crisis continues to plaque our state. With John Ray's support, the state has taken steps to provide more oversight of pain prescriptions and eliminate "pill mills," but these cannot be the only actions taken to combat this crisis. It requires a major governmental commitment to ensuring access to treatment services and the availability of alternative medicines and solutions. Every Tennessean deserves our support and an opportunity to rebound from addiction.
Hemp, Cannabis & Marijuana
There continues to be much debate and misunderstanding about cannabis, hemp and marijuana, even among legislators.
Our state has legalized hemp production, and we are working to grow the market for this fledgling agricultural industry.
It is past time to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and end criminal penalties for simple possession. John Ray fully supports legalization legislation that addresses health care needs, boosts rural economies and family farms, and provides much-needed revenues for the benefit of Tennessee families and local economies.
Education
Quality Public Schools
As the parent of three children in Metro public schools, John Ray knows firsthand the challenges our schools and students face every day. Every child in every neighborhood in every part of our state deserves an opportunity to succeed.
Including teachers and administrators in the education debate is paramount to ensuring the best possible outcome for every student. Those who have committed themselves to educating our children deserve more respect, more support and higher salaries. The most effective way to ensure a promising future for our families, our communities, and generations to come is to sufficiently invest in public education.
John Ray regularly works with educators and leaders of Vanderbilt's Peabody College, which is located in District 55, to evaluate education reform legislation and efforts. In recent years, they have worked together to draft and introduce legislation designed to increase classroom-based teacher training, improve teacher retention rates and assist schools in meeting RTII requirements.
John Ray has also served as a long-time champion and sponsor of "anti-lunch shaming" legislation to protect students who incur meal debts from undue discipline, stigmatization and bullying.
The Tennessee Department of Education must be held accountable for its repeated standardized testing failures, and John Ray has worked across the aisle to protect teachers from being faulted for a flawed testing system and other circumstances beyond their control.
Creating Safe Learning Environments
We must protect our children. Common sense gun safety laws near our schools, ballparks and public libraries are necessary. Our children deserve to be able to learn, grow and play in a safe environment without fear.
Jobs & Economy
Quality Job Creation
Tennessee can be more competitive in attracting companies with high-paying jobs and employee benefits and protections, while nurturing existing small businesses that have contributed to our community’s success.
Educating and developing local talent through workforce training and apprenticeship programs is imperative to recruit jobs and strengthen local economies across our state.
We must work to create an inclusive environment and support entrepreneurs who strengthen our communities, foster innovation and ultimately spur quality job growth.
John Ray has been honored with a "Legislative Leadership Award" by the Tennessee AFL-CIO for this work to create jobs and strengthen local economies for Tennessee families.
Outsourcing & Privatization
There is no proof that outsourcing jobs at state parks or colleges and universities is more efficient or cost-effective. This is why John Ray led the effort to combat recent efforts by our state to outsource state jobs at colleges and universities and privatize our state parks.
As a lawyer in private practice and as a state legislator, John Ray has consistently been a strong, leading voice against the many ills and perils of privatized prisons.
Equal Pay
The gender pay gap is real and it continues to this day in our state. Paying women less than men has a direct, negative impact on Tennessee families, businesses and every community. Enforcing equal pay for equal work in a meaningful way is long overdue. John Ray has introduced the Tennessee Pay Equality Act every year he has served in the state legislature, and the AAUW of Tennessee has recognized him for his continued efforts to eliminate the gender pay gap.
Equality
Fighting Hate & Discrimination
Tennessee deserves leaders who will take a stand against legislation and policies that target immigrants, refugees, the LGBTQI community, religions, and minority groups. John Ray is routinely called upon to lead the opposition against legislative efforts targeting Tennesseans. He works with advocacy groups across the state to combat hate and discrimination and promote equity and equality. For his efforts, Nashville PRIDE honored John Ray with an "Ally Award" in 2016.
Voting Rights
Tennesseans continue to suffer from voter suppression laws designed to disenfranchise minorities, low-income workers and people with disabilities. We must work together to remove barriers to the ballot box. John Ray has introduced and cosponsored multiple bills to make voter registration easier and voting more convenient.
Elections
In Tennessee, many counties provide no verifiable, auditable paper trail and lack necessary software to protect computer-based votes. For 19 years, Tennessee has sat on tens of million of dollars in federal HAVA funds designed to improve and protect the integrity of our elections. Refusing to invest in the protection and integrity of our elections is nothing short of a betrayal of public trust.
Infrastructure
We are not investing enough in infrastructure.
Transportation
Most infrastructure investments in Tennessee tend to be transportation related. Our state continues to utilize a 98-year old "pay-as-we-go" funding model that has allowed us to operate debt-free for several decades.
As our highways, railways, airports and bridges continue to age, adequate funds continue to be in short supply. With a set amount of dollars, structural integrity and Tennesseans' safety is at risk.
John Ray worked across the aisle to pass the IMPROVE ACT. This funding bill and his legislative efforts ultimately resulted in the funding and completion of the I-440 project, which was completed on-time in July 2020.
The hard truths about transportation infrastructure:
- Investing is 100% necessary.
- Tennessee's funding model must be modernized to account for decreasing gas and diesel tax revenues.
- Continued economic growth is impossible without infrastructure investments.
- All investments must be thoughtfully executed with a well-designed, inclusive and equitable plan.
- Sufficient investment doesn’t happen without strong, courageous and forward-thinking leadership.
- Unanimous consent on funding increases is unlikely, but we can and must work together to make fiscally-responsible investments.
Underground
Our infrastructure investment needs are both above and below ground. For instance, in Nashville, our wastewater pipes are archaic and crumbling. It is imperative for our state to assist local governments with overdue infrastructure needs and push the federal government for additional resources.
Broadband Access
Fast, affordable, reliable broadband access is essential to economic growth and equitable opportunity. Companies invest in communities with a strong infrastructure, and in today’s world, that includes quality broadband and fiber access. If the state is to continue its current model of relying of electric cooperatives to serve rural communities in this manner, we must provide more grants to more cooperatives. John Ray has demonstrated that he is committed to leading this effort.
Net Neutrality
Equity, opportunity and freedom can only be achieved if we all have access to a free and open Internet. Tennessee families should not be exposed to the will of large Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for access, nor should our personal information be sold to the highest bidder. An ISP can track your every move online or throttle your service and access to certain online content. Tennesseans deserve privacy protections and access to the Internet without having to worry about the invasive interference of ISPs. For this reason, John Ray has repeatedly introduced net neutrality legislation.