Tennessee State Rep. Scott Cepicky Weighs in on MLB Gone Woke and the Coming Agenda in the General Assembly

Tennessee State Rep. Scott Cepicky Weighs in on MLB Gone Woke and the Coming Agenda in the General Assembly

 

Live from Music Row Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Congressman Scott Cepicky to the newsmakers line to weigh in on Major League Baseball’s decision to withdrawl from Georgia, cancel culture, and the upcoming agenda in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line, by our good friend, state Representative Scott Cepicky from Maury County. Scott, welcome to The Tennessee Star Report.

Cepicky: Michael, how are you doing today?

Leahy: Well, I’m doing great. You are, of course, our favorite state legislator who is a former professional baseball player. You played for the AA Nashville Express and the AAA Nashville Sounds and almost made it to the bigs had not been for a trade between the Chicago White Sox and the Montreal Expos that brought Tim Raines to Chicago. I just got to ask you, what are they thinking in Major League Baseball to cancel the All-Star Game in Atlanta?

Cepicky: Well, you know, Michael it is very troubling what’s happening in professional sports right now and the hypocrisy of all of these other corporations. So you know as well as I do and your listeners, let’s talk about Delta Airlines. If you’re going to go pick up your ticket at Delta Airlines the first thing they ask you for is your ID. Or if you’re going to go to a Nashville Sounds baseball game and you are going to pick up your tickets at will call the first thing they’re going to ask you for is your ID to prove who you are.

I think Georgia has done just common sense. What people are wanting is, hey, we’re not denying anybody the ability to go vote. Just make sure you bring your ID to prove who you are so you’re able to vote. And I think Major League Baseball is really overstepping the boundaries here. And then you mentioned how they are going to Coors Field in Colorado that has voter ID laws.

Leahy: It doesn’t make any sense to me. And what’s troubling to me, you are a member of the Tennessee General Assembly, and according to the United States Constitution and the Tennessee Constitution, election procedures and election laws are the responsibility of the Tennessee General Assembly for federal elections and for state and local also for the Tennessee General Assembly and the governor. What is it with these Fortune 500 companies that are so woke and they think they are the ones who set the rules about elections? What’s happening with that?

Cepicky: Well, my dad taught me a long time ago, he said, Scott, always understand what role you play and stay in your lane. And you’re right. The General Assembly is the one that affects the laws on elections. And the corporations are the ones that hire people to work in Tennessee. Michael, the last time I checked, we don’t have a problem with corporations or people moving to Tennessee because of the laws we have and the lack of oversight of laws.

We have no state income tax and the loan tax structure here in Tennessee is very attractive for corporations to move here. And for that matter, if you look at Georgia with the environment they have Coca-Cola is there. Delta Airlines is there. CitiBank is there and major corporations are there because of the laws that they all live under, but they’re very quick to bite the hand that provides those opportunities.

Leahy: What is the general attitude among your colleagues in the Tennessee General Assembly when they see a woke ridiculous decision by Major League Baseball, by Delta, and by Coca-Cola, to try and force sovereign states to do things that they think are better for the general population?

Cepicky: Well, I don’t speak for all the members, but I know a great deal of us are concerned about how this whole culture is and this cancel culture. If you disagree with them, they want to shut you down right away. And that’s not the way our country was founded. We were founded on differing opinions and trying to find the middle ground. And now there’s no middle ground either.

If you agree with them, then they give you the thumbs up. If you disagree with them, then they want to cancel you out and they want to call you a racist or a bigot. I think we’ve got to get past that as a country. I mean, do you see the poll just like I do? This is probably the most divided our country has ever been, and we need to start to work together towards making our country as great as it used to be.

Leahy: Yeah, I agree with you completely. If I can turn the corner a little bit on that topic and go to the Tennessee General Assembly. I think the chairman of the Education Committee is doing a great job there. What is going to be happening in the last couple of weeks of the Tennessee General Assembly? What’s on your agenda?

Cepicky: Well, in education we worked very hard to make sure that we just don’t overburden our teachers and administrators with just more things to do. We are laser-focused on K-3 education, trying to make sure that all kids, no matter where they come from, no matter what background they have, all children will be able to read, write, and do math so that they can prosper in the four through 12-grade levels.

We are working on textbooks, making sure that they align with our standards and curriculums are aligned to our standards. And lastly, the supplemental materials that you hear that teachers will inadvertently pull something off the Internet that’s confrontational or questionable, and it gets the LEA in trouble that now supplemental materials will have to align the Tennessee standards and our values.

So a lot of work has been done in education. We had a special session with literacy and going back to summer school and getting kids help with tutoring. We are all in. We are all in with making sure our kids know how to read, write, and do math. And then yesterday on the House floor I thought we did something rather appropriate as we recognized Dolly Parton as the first lady of literacy in Tennessee with all she’s done with the Imagination Library.

I think over 152 million books have been distributed through the Imagination Library and 1.7 million Tennesseeans have had the opportunity to experience Imagination Library, including my two children. So a lot of things happening. We’re probably four weeks away from wrapping up the session.

Leahy: You mentioned Dolly Parton. It’s interesting because Scooter and I were talking a little bit about Dolly Parton. Everybody in America thinks highly of Dolly Parton. She’s done a remarkable job not just for the state of Tennessee, but for the country with her literacy efforts.

Cepicky: Oh, absolutely. I mean, as an elected official, I don’t want to get caught up in your position here. I can talk for two hours on education, but Dolly Parton can come up to a microphone and speak for two minutes which weighs 10 times more heavily on literacy. And so we just wanted to make sure that Dolly knew that we appreciated her efforts in education. She knows how important it is for Tennessee to be able to read, write, and do math. And we just wanted to make sure that she felt appreciated by the state of Tennessee.

Leahy: What other big things do you see happening in the final three or four weeks of the Tennessee General Assembly?

Cepicky: Well, you know, the permitless carry. And I’m going to say its permitless carry has passed the House and Senate. It’s gone on to the governor’s desk. There are other bills. Criminal justice reform. There’s a bill coming through the pipeline.

Leahy: I have one question for you. I saw that the House passed what I think is a very good bill yesterday to provide a formal review process for the constitutionality of executive orders from the president. What’s your take on that?

Cepicky: You read my mind. That was the one I was trying to remember. Government operations, the House passed and we’ll have the ability to look at all the executive orders or, for that matter, any law that’s passed by the federal government to make sure it doesn’t infringe on our Tenth Amendment rights or, for that matter, it’s constitutional. There was another bill that’s making its way that will be filed here shortly on vaccine passports opposing those in the state of Tennessee.

Leahy: I saw the bill to review the constitutionality of executive orders coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the office of the President. The bill passed 70 to 23, mainly along party lines. But there were two Democrats who voted for the bill. State Representative Johnny Shaw from Boliver, but also John Mark Windle. What a great guy he is.

Cepicky: He has been there, I think since Abraham Lincoln was born. (Leahy laughs)

Leahy: I will tell him you said that if we get him in here.

Cepicky: He has his principles and he will not be swayed from his principles, which is very admirable to him. And sometimes his principles do not align with this party, and he’s not afraid to stand up and take that vote. And he sits two spaces in front of me on the House floor. He’s very well respected up there, the General Assembly. And obviously, he’s well respected by his constituents because they keep sending them back up there year after year after year.

Leahy: When you sit down next to him today on the House floor, just say tell him, hey, please, come in. Michael Patrick Leahy wants you to come in studio on The Tennessee Star Report. Will you do that for us?

Cepicky: I will do that Michael.

Listen to the full second hour here:

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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio. 

 

 

 

 

State Rep. Michael Sparks Talks About His New Bi-Partisan Bill Making Amazing Grace Tennessee’s Official State Hymn

State Rep. Michael Sparks Talks About His New Bi-Partisan Bill Making Amazing Grace Tennessee’s Official State Hymn

 

Live from Music Row Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Representative (R) Mike Sparks of Smyrna to the newsmakers line to discuss the motivation to introduce his bi-partisan bill which would make Amazing Grace into the official Tennessee state hymn.

Leahy: We are joined on our newsmaker line by a good friend State Representative Mike Sparks. Last time we talked Mike you were in the studio. You had braved the sleet and the snow and the ice and made it into the studio at 5 a.m in the morning. It’s a little safer this morning than it was back then. but you are a brave man to make it through all that snow and ice.

Sparks: Yes sir I had a great time and I got stuck out front on music row for just a few minutes. The only fear I got here is if my coffee gets a little lower I’ll stub my toe here on my chair. (Leahy laughs) But I appreciate you having me in. I had a great time.

Leahy: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. So now you’ve got a very interesting bill that we want to talk about. Tell us about what you want to do here.

Sparks: Well House Bill 938 it’s asking for the hymn Amazing Grace to be an official state song or hymn if you will. A lot of folks at first glance may not think this is important. You see a lot of things that get in the news and sometimes I just shake my head at some of the things that the media covers. But I see the media a lot of time stirring up the pot trying to create a race war. Trying to create so many problems.

And that’s not an attack on 1510 or other stations. I don’t see that with you all. But I see the false narratives. I see what I call the agenda-setting theory. But where this originated at MTSU about four years ago I spoke about some of the histories to all the protesters out there at MTSU. And I just start talking about history. And I talked about John Newton who was a former slave ship captain.

He had a redemptive story, a powerful story of redemption. And he influenced the lawmaker named William Wilberforce in Great Britain and they fought tirelessly to end slavery. And it just shocked me that all these students that have a college degree or about to have a college degree didn’t know anything about history. And it’s just really surprising.

But was kind of cool and this is what I call this a God thing. the main protestor I’m talking to main Hellraiser. You just go to YouTube channel five and you could probably pull them up. He comes up with two frat brothers. He’s with Alpha Phi Alpha and he says representative is that why there’s William Wilberforce University in Ohio? And I said well, I would think so.

He said it was created by abolitionists. He said can I be your intern can I work for you as an intern? It was an odd question from the protester and I was like, yeah, let me check on this. And I checked around and somebody that interned a year earlier said  I think that young man is searching. I think he’s searching and didn’t really have a father in his life.

And so we just kind of connected. but I told him I said if you’re going to protest don’t do that crazy don’t be part of no buildings or tearing up police cars. And we just hit it off. And we got along great. and I just see the state of affairs in America that worry me and concern me as a Christian. I think that we got to get back to some basics and it’s not just me saying so it’s others saying it. That’s kind of the essence of the bill.

Leahy: And so how many states have state hymns. Do you know?

Sparks: I’m not aware of state hymns. There are 10 different state songs in Tennessee and very few of your listeners have probably ever sung any of them. I think Tennessee Waltz and Rocky Top. But this song right here almost everyone has sung.

Leahy: Let’s hear Amazing Grace here. We’ve got it ready to go. Here it is.

(Amazing Grace plays)

Leahy: And State Representative Mike Sparks. That’s the beginning of Amazing Grace sung by Tennessee’s own Dolly Parton. Love that song.

Sparks: Amen. Yes.

Leahy: So are you introducing this bill? Is it to become the 11th state song of Tennessee or is it to become the official hymn of Tennessee?

Sparks: Well, we have it written as an official hymn. and the idea for Dolly Parton and it really wasn’t even my idea my assistant who’s a young African-American guy he’s not but about 26, Marvin Williamson it was really his idea because we kept thinking who out there? Because I wanted to make sure I covered everybody like Elvis, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Richard III, Oak Ridge Boys, Alan Jackson, Garth Brooks, and the Memphis Spirit of the Memphis Quartet.

And I had a lot of famous people in here that’s mentioned in here as well as Dolly Parton. And my assistant brought up Dolly Parton. Another news source called me from Atlanta and I won’t say their name. But I didn’t really care to do the interview, but I just left them a recording and hopefully, they’ll be fair. But as I said the idea for Dolly Parton, it really wasn’t my idea. That was his idea.

Leahy: When you say Dolly Parton is Dolly Parton mentioned in this bill particularly.

Sparks: Yeah, it is. It just says Amazing Grace by John Newton and as sung by Dolly Parton as an official hymn of the state of Tennessee.

Leahy: Oh, okay. So it’s as sung by Dolly Parton.

Sparks: With the words and because I guess I’ve heard that there are different words that could be different in different ways people have sung the hymn. So we want to kind of nail that down.

Leahy: Did you see the movie that came out on Amazing Grace about 10 or 15 years ago?

Sparks: About William Wilberforce?

Leahy: William Wilberforce.

Sparks: Yes. It’s a powerful story these stories are powerful and stories that need to be told especially one that’s enriched with a strong conviction of John Newton. Because I had a choir come up and sing this about four-five years ago. And the story if you’ve watched the movie talks about John Newton being so bad that he could out cuss any sailor. And he was even sold into slavery himself and had to be bought back from his father. They sent a crew down to Sri Lanka if I’m not mistaken. But it’s a powerful story if folks want to know more just go to YouTube and type in Amazing Grace and Wiliam Wilberforce it should pop up.

Leahy: And by the way, I bring that up because there was a songwriter I think they were from Nashville who was commissioned in that movie to write a couple of new verses of Amazing Grace, which was quite a thing to do. Those new verses I thought were quite good. But what’s interesting to me and to ask you State Representative Mike Sparks is this. What sort of opposition is your bill to make Amazing Grace as sung by Dolly Parton the official state hymn of Tennessee? What sort of opposition is that bill receiving?

Sparks: Great question. None so far. But what concerns me is is the media because I’ve seen them create fake news. I’ve seen them lie. I shared with you Michael that I’m going back to school to MTSU to learn journalism to combat some of the fake news some of the false narratives out there. But I’ve always said, the good Lord will direct you if you really call on him. And at MTSU I’ve got to give Dr. Greg Reish some kudos. He’s with the MTSU Center for Popular Music. I reached out to him for some advice.

Leahy: The Center for Popular Music is a great center there at Middle Tennessee State University.

Sparks: They are. And I brought this up last year that I wanted to look at doing this. So this wasn’t some knee-jerk reaction. This was going back last year. But the book that he recommended me to get if anybody wants to get this, it’s called Amazing Grace: The Story of America’s Beloved Song by Steve Turner. Well, I didn’t know who Steve Turner was so I got the book and I started reading the back of it.

Well, Steve Turner had written it for Rolling Stone Magazine. But I want to give you a quote real quick Michael and you’ll trip out when you hear who this quote is from. It says, “Steve Turner is a tough-minded poet with an ear for the psalms and an eye for the miracles in the mundane and an understanding of how despair can break the ground for joy to take root.” Guess who said that?

Leahy: Willie Nelson?

Sparks: No. Bono.

Leahy: Bono!

Sparks: Yes, of U2. I went to YouTube pull it up and I just typed in Bono Amazing Grace and here’s where I got confirmation. Bono is singing Amazing Grace in Nashville, Tennessee. Now, I’ve reached out to Bono and sent a little email.

Leahy: Do you think Bono might be a little upset that it’s Amazing Grace as sung by Dolly Parton and not sung by Bono?

Sparks: He might. (Leahy chuckles) It’s sad we have to be aware that somebody will try to take something and turn it into a negative. That young man, that protester really, it was the hymn that connected us. I’ll argue that that hymn has probably turned more hearts and more lives around than any other song ever sang.

Senator Akbari out of Memphis is carrying it. She’s an African-American Democrat, so and I didn’t even ask her. She stepped up to do it. And Malik her assistant has been involved with it. And so I just want to thank Malik and my assistant Marvel Williamson for their efforts to be so supportive. They are a group of young believers.

Leahy: It sounds like it’s bipartisan.

Listen to the full first hour here:


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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.