Randy McNally (Submitted photo)
The Tennessee Senate on Tuesday elected Senator Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge Republican, as Tennessee’s 87th speaker of the Senate. In Tennessee, the speaker of the Senate is also lieutenant governor.
McNally is only the second Republican Tennessee Senate Speaker in modern history and the first from Anderson County in nearly 150 years.
The Senate’s 33 senators met at noon Tuesday, the first organizational day of the 110th General Assembly, to elect their speaker.
McNally spoke to his colleagues and Tennessee residents after his election.
“I am truly humbled at the trust you have placed in me,” McNally said. “Over the last 10 years, our Tennessee Senate has developed a strong reputation as an efficient and fiscally responsible legislative body. It is a well-earned reputation that I plan to build on.”
McNally said Tennessee has “been blessed” with outstanding political leadership during the last decade.
“Tennessee has cut taxes, eliminated wasteful spending, and kept public debt to a minimum,” the senator said. “Our nation’s credit agencies have rewarded Tennessee with AAA ratings. These ratings are a direct result of our fiscal discipline and strong economic policy.”
He said the “path to success” is clear because it has been laid out and legislators have “already walked it.
“We must continue our journey,” McNally said. “We must have the strength and courage to stay on course to ensure Tennessee remains the greatest state in the nation to live, work, and raise a family.”
As chairman of the Senate’s Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for a decade, McNally oversaw the General Assembly’s only constitutionally proscribed duty: the passage of a balance budget. Recognized across the state as a finance and budget expert, McNally’s leadership has been critical in keeping Tennessee budget in balance and its credit “Triple-A” rated, a press release said.
In addition to his 26 years on the Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee, McNally also served as chairman of the Senate Education Committee in the 102nd and 103rd General Assemblies.
A legislative leader for nearly 40 years, McNally has been recognized for his both his work in the General Assembly and in his community, the press release said. McNally counts among his many achievements the American Conservative Union Conservative Achievement Award, NFIB’s Guardian of Small Business Award, the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police Legislative Award, and the Tennessee Press Association Open Government Award.
McNally received his bachelor’s degree from Memphis State University in 1967 and graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in 1969. He served as a hospital pharmacist at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge from 1979 until his retirement in 2010. McNally and his wife Janice have two adult daughters, Melissa and Maggie, and three grandchildren, Haley, Morgan, and Trent.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.
Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Mark Caldwell says
Let’s hope Randy, at the very least, can get a little more state money directed towards Oak Ridge. And Randy, quit listening to Anderson County Mayor Terry “Sovereign Citizen” Frank; she’s bad news.