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We're chatting about the people, places, events, and flavors that make Johnson City, Tennessee a lovely place to live. An interview show hosted by Colin Johnson.
Proud member of the Maypop Media family of podcasts.
0:00:00 - (Colin Johnson): It is a beautiful fall day almost here in Johnson City, and I have the pleasure of hanging out with a longtime person in my life. I can say friend, probably. She's friends with my mom and dad a lot. They love her a lot. And I'm excited to welcome Rebecca Alexander to the podcast. Thank you for coming on the podcast.
0:00:19 - (Rebecca Alexander): Thank you for having me.
0:00:20 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, it's Johnson city living. So we hit you with the first question. What do you love most about Johnson City?
0:00:28 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, besides the beautiful mountains, I love the people. I love the people's hearts here. I love the hospitality here. I think it goes back to us being part of the Babel bell of the south. And our roots are spiritual and they're warm and they're loving and kind, which is what Jesus would want us to.
0:00:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think number one answer is the people, and number two is the mound. So you hit it.
0:01:04 - (Rebecca Alexander): Oh, really?
0:01:05 - (Colin Johnson): Right? Oh, yeah. Over and over and over.
0:01:06 - (Rebecca Alexander): Interesting.
0:01:07 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. And we get some other ones. Some people like hiking and that kind of thing. So they're like, oh, we like hiking and.
0:01:12 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right.
0:01:13 - (Colin Johnson): The seasons and weather's about season, so we got four seasons, but mainly our people are just awesome. And you're a big part of that.
0:01:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, thank you.
0:01:22 - (Colin Johnson): So you're a state representative from Tennessee, district seven. That's pretty exciting.
0:01:28 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, it was not what I expected to be doing in my retirement.
0:01:35 - (Colin Johnson): How long ago were you elected?
0:01:38 - (Rebecca Alexander): I've served four years.
0:01:40 - (Colin Johnson): I was gonna say it's been a little bit.
0:01:41 - (Rebecca Alexander): So I was elected in 2020. November. You know, I first. 1st November of 2020. Yes, 2020. So anyway, but four years, and it's been. I've learned a lot, and I've really enjoyed serving our community. And when people ask me, do you like it? Do you like what you do? I like. I like helping people.
0:02:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, same.
0:02:17 - (Rebecca Alexander): I love seeing our community get money that we've never gotten before. That thrills my heart. I like helping people get their own employment or get their disability or if they've got a problem with an insurance or they have a problem with a foster child. You know, I love, you know, getting some help doing those kind of things.
0:02:45 - (Colin Johnson): We're helping give my niece a. Like an award for being.
0:02:48 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, that's pretty all american girl.
0:02:50 - (Colin Johnson): I think it's cool. It's gotta be a lot of fun. Tell me, like, the life of a state representative. Cause you're in session for a couple of months out of the year, right?
0:03:01 - (Rebecca Alexander): We're in session from January to May.
0:03:03 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:03:04 - (Rebecca Alexander): So I leave home on Sunday night, um, because lots of times I have meetings Monday mornings then and I drive to Nashville and I'm there until Thursday night and I drive home on Thursday nights. So January to May, I have my weekends here and that's pretty much it. And as far as probably not just travel and then during when we're not in session, which is like right now, I'm in meetings a lot, you know, like with city government or with the county or, you know, today I presented a proclamation to AO Smith celebrating 115 years.
0:03:52 - (Colin Johnson): That's awesome. So I give you a water heater on the way.
0:03:56 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, I would like to. Yeah, I told him, I said thanks to you all, there's like a thousand employees at this event. You got amazing. I got a hot shower today. Yes, yes. So I spent the employees, 1200 people and manufacturing in that area. That's really wonderful for our area.
0:04:11 - (Colin Johnson): And people don't realize that. Yeah, we're one of the biggest water heater producers in the country.
0:04:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes, in the country. And today we honored two people who had worked for 51 years. That's the beauty also of northeast Tennessee is that we have great work ethic. So somebody that has been employed by the same company for 51 years, that's pretty remarkable. And that means Ao Smith's doing something right. And that means the people have great work ethic here, which is very important when we start trying to recruit businesses to this area, people, everybody wants to know how's your workforce?
0:04:49 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so that's very important.
0:04:51 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think we have a great workforce. We have great people that are hard workers and historically we've been hard workers as well because we started out as more of an agricultural area and somebody who grew up on a farm. You had a little farm life growing up.
0:05:07 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. And my dad taught us good work. Epic. Immediately.
0:05:10 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. When the sun gets up, you're getting.
0:05:12 - (Rebecca Alexander): Up, you're going up, you're getting up and it's 430 in the morning and you're going out together in the cows. So it's, yeah, it was a great way to be. It was a great way to come up.
0:05:22 - (Colin Johnson): Do you think any of that, I mean, I know we're changing as a culture and generations and stuff. I feel like maybe that work ethic isn't as strong in the younger generation and because of the ease of things now with technology and that kind of thing. Would you agree with that?
0:05:41 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes, I do totally agree. Of course, my parents generation and your grandparents generation, you know, was the greatest generation ever and, and they worked from sunup to sundown. And I do think that our younger generation has that desire as much. And I think you're right. I think sometimes things come a little too easy.
0:06:11 - (Colin Johnson): We want to take care of our kids, give them everything that we never had.
0:06:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): I remember Paul Harvey once said I wanted things to be easier for my children than they were for me growing up. And because of that, I've actually made it harder on them. And he said, so now for my grandchildren, I want them to bury their favorite pet. I want them to get a black eye, to stand up for something they believe in. I want them to work hard and earn their money to get to buy that new bicycle.
0:06:48 - (Rebecca Alexander): So there's a lot of truth in that. Yeah, there is, because I think the one thing I will say about people who work, we find a lot of our self esteem in our work. And when we enable people not to work, they lose their self esteem and who they are and what their purpose is in life.
0:07:11 - (Colin Johnson): I agree 100%.
0:07:12 - (Rebecca Alexander): Even biblically, we've learned how important it is for work.
0:07:18 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:07:19 - (Rebecca Alexander): You know, Jesus once said, you know, you don't work, you don't eat pretty easy. So, yeah, it's very, very important to get that back into our generation.
0:07:31 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. So you kind of glazed over what you do. You like, I drive to Nashville.
0:07:38 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes.
0:07:38 - (Colin Johnson): And then I have meetings and I drive back. I mean, I want to know, like, what do you do? Like, what does Monday morning look like? You've got meetings. You're, I mean, I'm, like, kind of excited about, like, oh, you're hanging out with Governor Lee, and you're going to the state Capitol and tell me about your role there and what you do and how much more time do you have as a state representative?
0:07:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, I'm running again right now.
0:07:59 - (Colin Johnson): Let's go.
0:08:00 - (Rebecca Alexander): So you should vote for us. So, yes. So make sure you go vote. But my day, lots of times I will have meetings every 15 minutes.
0:08:11 - (Colin Johnson): I like that.
0:08:12 - (Rebecca Alexander): So you like it when somebody else is lucky because you're constantly changing your thought. I'll have somebody coming in and saying, I want you to think about this. If you're writing this bill or somebody coming in and saying, I want to meet with you about your bill. I don't like that. So you've got constantly people coming into your office and youre, and then you got people from your area coming in.
0:08:41 - (Rebecca Alexander): So I'll look up, and I'd have six firefighters standing at my door, which I love. Or I might have all the real estate agents or the home builders, for example, or, and everybody wants to have some time with you. And then we go on the house floor on Monday nights, and then on Tuesday, Wednesday and Tuesday and Wednesday we're in committee meetings.
0:09:11 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:09:11 - (Rebecca Alexander): Currently I'm on commerce, commerce committee.
0:09:14 - (Colin Johnson): What are the commerce committee?
0:09:16 - (Rebecca Alexander): Everything to do with business.
0:09:18 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:09:18 - (Rebecca Alexander): And then I'm also on public service. I'm on state gov, I'm on city and county. I'm on local government. I'm on business and utilities subdivid, which is business, and utilities is a sub of commerce. So that's about broadband. And you know, what's going on with TVA and everything to do with electricity and power and.
0:09:49 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:09:51 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so those are the committees that I'm on right now that changes, the speaker of the house changes that. And he could leave me on. That's what I've been on for a while, but he could leave me on, or he can decide to pull me out of state Gov, for example, and put me in education.
0:10:12 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:10:14 - (Rebecca Alexander): So it's their choice. And he's trying to get a mix on that committee of people that have knowledge of people that have good common sense and people you know. So he's trying to come up with the right fit for a committee.
0:10:30 - (Colin Johnson): Here's our speaker of the House, current Cameron Sexton. Cameron Sexton. He's a local guy.
0:10:35 - (Rebecca Alexander): He's, what is he from our, he's from Crossville.
0:10:38 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. I've heard that name and I thought he was a little more local.
0:10:41 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. So Crossville.
0:10:42 - (Colin Johnson): So 15 minutes meetings, which I said I like because I think there's a lot of, hey, what'd you do this weekend? You know, there's a lot of hoopla, just wasted time. So 15 minutes, you're out here. Probably have some people that have helped coach them a little bit.
0:10:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. When usually it's, it's lobbyist and they're bringing in their client and their client has an issue or they're, they're wanting to say what they want.
0:11:08 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:11:09 - (Rebecca Alexander): What they are against bills that are coming down. And that all happens usually around sometime in February because bills all get filed in January.
0:11:18 - (Colin Johnson): Okay. So let's talk about, let's make a bill. Let's start a bill with you. Are you, have you had produced a bill that gotten passed? Okay, tell me that process or tell our listeners this process.
0:11:28 - (Rebecca Alexander): Okay. So.
0:11:29 - (Colin Johnson): And how does it even get started like that? Well, I see an issue or a problem and I want to fix it. Is that kind of, lots of times.
0:11:35 - (Rebecca Alexander): It'S somebody from our area. For example, I had a retired teacher who contacted me and said, rebecca, we need to change this bill so that retired teachers can go back into the school system and teach and not lose a retirement. Cause we were short on teachers at the time.
0:11:56 - (Colin Johnson): I gotcha. Yeah.
0:11:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so I wrote a bill and called the lawyers in and said, help me write this, what I want to do. And then they know how to write it, to put it in.
0:12:08 - (Colin Johnson): These are state employed attorneys.
0:12:10 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. We have a floor that's on lawyers. Floor of attorneys. That's lawyers that looks at our bills and writes them and puts them in the. In a legal format that would go into state code.
0:12:25 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:12:26 - (Rebecca Alexander): And then I take that bill. It has a number on it, for example, and then that gets filed. And then everybody that sees that file comes to my office and says, okay, so what are you doing with that bill now? What do you want to do with that?
0:12:43 - (Colin Johnson): What do you think this is doing?
0:12:44 - (Rebecca Alexander): Why do you think this is going good? That's what I have a concern on.
0:12:48 - (Colin Johnson): Do you go to other people's offices and say, hey, this is my bill, and I need you to vote?
0:12:53 - (Rebecca Alexander): I do.
0:12:54 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:12:55 - (Rebecca Alexander): When I get ready to present it.
0:12:56 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:12:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): It'll go in front of committee, and depending on what the bill is in regards to, for example, that bill, particular bill, went in front of education committee. Yeah, that makes sense. And so what I would do is I would go to every member on that education committee and say, this is a bill I'd like to run. This is why I'm wanting to run. It came from someone in my district. This is what I'm looking at.
0:13:22 - (Colin Johnson): And that one seems like a pretty easy one to get.
0:13:24 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. And we were able to get it. Get that one through. Yes. They don't always work that easy, but sometimes you run a bill a couple times before you can get it through.
0:13:37 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:13:40 - (Rebecca Alexander): I've had a lot of success with my bills, but I don't carry anything I'm not passionate about. And if you're passionate about something, you can easily sell it to somebody, for sure.
0:13:51 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. If you don't believe in it, who's gonna believe in it?
0:13:53 - (Rebecca Alexander): Because you're passionate about what you do in sales. Same way.
0:13:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I love helping people find a house. And when I find the right.
0:14:00 - (Rebecca Alexander): Find the right house, you get excited about it. I do. And they get excited about it, and that's how it works. So you pass it, but it's got to go. It's gotta pass three times.
0:14:08 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:14:09 - (Rebecca Alexander): So it's gotta go through three readings, three. Three committees, then it goes to the house floor, and then you've got to get it passed on the house floor.
0:14:16 - (Colin Johnson): So that's where you do a little lobbying.
0:14:18 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right. And you, you, you have to work your bills because not everybody has hurt your bill. So you want them to be prepared when you get to the house floor with that bill that they're not going to slam it and, you know, take it out from under you.
0:14:34 - (Colin Johnson): Right. Yeah. And I guess if there is funded through, I could see there's a play for funding and if it's like, oh, we're gonna need money for this to do this, but. Sure. Doesn't sound like it needed any.
0:14:46 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, but I. But it was, it had a very financial, it had a fiscal note on it. So this day, the treasury, I worked with the treasury on that. Listen, let's come up with something that you all can live with and that these teachers can live with and we can get teachers back in the classroom.
0:15:01 - (Colin Johnson): Retire the kids.
0:15:02 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. Help their kids. There are some teachers in this particular teacher. It was a phenomenal math teacher, and so some. There's some specialties that we sometimes need to hang on to those really good teachers if we can.
0:15:16 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Yeah. What's the learning curve like?
0:15:19 - (Rebecca Alexander): I mean, it was huge.
0:15:21 - (Colin Johnson): That would be like, for the first year, just probably sitting there.
0:15:24 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. Because I had not been in public office, I'd never been a commissioner, I'd never been a mayor or anything like that. It was a huge learning curve. You feel like you're drinking from a fire hydrant. It was so hard to process it all at first, but you get through those first few weeks and you go, okay, I get this.
0:15:47 - (Colin Johnson): Okay, I understand who that is and how that works.
0:15:50 - (Rebecca Alexander): How that works. And you have a lot of people that want to help you be successful and when you're down there. And so the key is hooking up to the right people.
0:16:01 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:16:02 - (Rebecca Alexander): And, you know, aligning yourself with good people that are smart, that been there a while and know the ropes, and they kind of help you walk through it.
0:16:10 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. Yeah. And so you're running again for another four year term.
0:16:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): No, it's just two year terms.
0:16:16 - (Colin Johnson): So two year terms.
0:16:17 - (Rebecca Alexander): So you basically get into office and you got to start running again.
0:16:20 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha. How do you feel about term limits?
0:16:23 - (Rebecca Alexander): I would like to see term limits as far as. Here's what I think would be great. And I wish this for DC as well.
0:16:33 - (Colin Johnson): Same. This is why I asked the question. It was leading.
0:16:36 - (Rebecca Alexander): I would like to see us get to four year terms.
0:16:40 - (Colin Johnson): Okay.
0:16:42 - (Rebecca Alexander): And then maybe limit those terms, kind.
0:16:44 - (Colin Johnson): Of like the president.
0:16:45 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. So for your terms, what happens in Washington and here is they just get to DC and they're already thinking about the next term and what we want them there is to get to DC and be thinking about what they can do for Washington county, what they can do for Tennessee, what they can do for the United States of America. But if they're constantly worried about running again, then it really ties their hands behind their back and it makes them spend more time doing that.
0:17:19 - (Colin Johnson): Do we have hope that would ever happen?
0:17:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): I don't know. There's a lot of, we've got the.
0:17:23 - (Colin Johnson): Guys who've been in there forever voting against themselves.
0:17:26 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right.
0:17:26 - (Colin Johnson): And so.
0:17:27 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right. It'll be tough. There is some, I had a great conversation one time with Congressman Rowe about this because there's some things that you can't get done until you've been there a while and you have the respect that you get over years. So we don't want to ever take that away. But we do not need people in office 30 and 40 years.
0:17:53 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I think if the president only gets eight, he can get a lot done. You should.
0:17:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:17:58 - (Colin Johnson): Probably cut it to eight.
0:17:59 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right.
0:17:59 - (Colin Johnson): And then you get new people and new ideas and new philosophies and sure, there's a lot of innovation there. Probably.
0:18:07 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes, I agree.
0:18:08 - (Colin Johnson): And I think there would be a little more of a, like you're saying you're not worried about your next term so you can get to work and you're probably a little more passionate because you're like, oh, I only have eight years to get it done. I only have four currently, and then I've got eight to get it done. And so it may give him a little more of a drive. Yeah. I pray for our presidency all the time. I would just want the Lord to put the right person in. For sure.
0:18:28 - (Rebecca Alexander): I do, too. And we want it to be God's choice.
0:18:30 - (Colin Johnson): Amen.
0:18:32 - (Rebecca Alexander): He knows in the future we don't.
0:18:34 - (Colin Johnson): He knows what we want or what we need. I don't know.
0:18:39 - (Rebecca Alexander): I pray about that, too. And encourage all of our people to pray in this community for, for our leaders. The one thing I will say is, you know, who you, who you elect really does matter.
0:18:54 - (Colin Johnson): It really does.
0:18:55 - (Rebecca Alexander): And, you know, your local, your local elections are more important than your presidential.
0:19:03 - (Colin Johnson): Elections, isn't it, president?
0:19:04 - (Rebecca Alexander): And it is very important because this affects your day to day life. This affects your taxes, your, everything you do. It's very important who you elected.
0:19:13 - (Colin Johnson): And our election's coming up, right. Pretty soon.
0:19:16 - (Rebecca Alexander): It is November 5, general election and I didn't.
0:19:20 - (Colin Johnson): We had a primary.
0:19:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes.
0:19:21 - (Colin Johnson): And it was like crickets around here. I think it was the lowest turnout ever. I didn't hear anything about it. I literally called Carly because I was like, I just saw a vote here sign. Because today they'll, you know, like, I was driving down the road and call her, and I was like, are we supposed to vote today? So do you feel like, what would be a good way to get voters out to the polls and get them registered now? I guess you have to register to vote now.
0:19:43 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. You have to be registered to vote.
0:19:45 - (Colin Johnson): And then get them out to the polls. What can we do to help?
0:19:49 - (Rebecca Alexander): You know, we advertise it, and this will be a paper, so it'll be a bigger. Everybody's almost probably sick seeing it on tv right now. We like to cut those commercials off, but the best way to get people out is to tell your neighbors, have you voted yet? You know, we have this wonderful opportunity of early voting that you've got three locations you can go to, and then you have the day of that just open.
0:20:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): That will open up October 16 16th. That's when that starts.
0:20:24 - (Colin Johnson): Gotcha.
0:20:25 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so we have. We just need to get people the importance. Tell people the importance of voting. I once heard recently from the last primary that if you took a church of 100 people, only twelve of them voted.
0:20:45 - (Colin Johnson): Isn't that crazy? What do you tell the guy who's sitting there going, it doesn't matter.
0:20:49 - (Rebecca Alexander): It doesn't matter. My vote doesn't count. Oh, it does count, because if you don't vote, you vote it the other way, and your vote does matter. And if you want to have an impact on your future, you will vote.
0:21:04 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I agree.
0:21:05 - (Rebecca Alexander): Because every vote matters.
0:21:08 - (Colin Johnson): I don't think we've missed one in the last 20 years. I mean, maybe longer than that. Ever since. I don't know. Ever since. Yeah, maybe when I was in college.
0:21:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. You like that? I was more worried about.
0:21:19 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Am I worried about other things, Rebecca?
0:21:22 - (Rebecca Alexander): Other things might have been.
0:21:24 - (Colin Johnson): Tell me a little bit about how you integrate your faith and your role, because I know you're a huge believer and you love the Lord and.
0:21:33 - (Rebecca Alexander): Absolutely.
0:21:35 - (Colin Johnson): How does that play out as a state representative for you? Because I know it can. From what I, you know, it seems to be. Everybody believes that there's this huge separation of church and state, and when it all started, it wasn't supposed to be like that. I don't think.
0:21:49 - (Rebecca Alexander): No, no. And I don't think our founding fathers meant for it to be like that.
0:21:53 - (Colin Johnson): Not when they're saying, God, we trust.
0:21:54 - (Rebecca Alexander): On the a lot of money. You know, they prayed before everything they did. I start out every day on my knees, literally praying, God, please help me. Help me have the wisdom to guide our community. Help me to know what they want. Help me to stand up for what you want me to stand up for, you know, help me to fight my battles and go before me, come behind me and hit me in. And so I pray every morning that. I pray every night, Lord, please.
0:22:35 - (Rebecca Alexander): I hope you know, I honored you today, and I've been able to incorporate that a lot. You know, interesting enough, when I first got elected, I was very afraid, afraid to go because I considered the Capitol as an evil place with horrible people, you know?
0:22:57 - (Colin Johnson): Well, it's kind of ominous, right? It's a state capital.
0:23:00 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:23:00 - (Colin Johnson): Big buildings.
0:23:01 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah. But I feel like it was like, you know, so it was very frightened to do that, to get into that world. It wasn't any world that I expected I would be in. So in that saying that when I got there, I learned there was a lot of great christian people down there, too, that loved their community, wanted the best, wanted what God wanted. It didn't take me long for people to figure out my faith. I'm in Bible study on Tuesday mornings.
0:23:40 - (Rebecca Alexander): I go to devotions on Wednesday mornings. But, and I've been very open about how I believe, and so I think people saw that in me, and I've been asked a lot on the Capitol floor, on the house floor, to give devotions, and I do that a lot on a regular basis. So that's been a real blessing in my life, because I think that's a huge testimony. Well. And I just think, oh, lord, if I do nothing else but give somebody a good word that's from you today, then I've done my job while I've been down here.
0:24:18 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, for sure.
0:24:19 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, that's right. So I firmly believe that I was there. I'm there for a reason. I'm not sure sometimes what that reason is, and I ask him that quite often, but I know that I'm there for a reason, and I know that he has a plan for our state, and I just wanted to be in that will.
0:24:40 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Yeah. I think it's paramount for me, you know, as a believer and as non believers, I don't understand, you know, as a. I have a hard time. And that's why I think we have a desire to tell everybody about Jesus because it's so peace giving and life giving, and it just drives passion and care and love for others. And so I don't know how other people operate without him.
0:25:05 - (Rebecca Alexander): I don't either. And I think that's what he meant when he said he came, that we might have life and we might have an abundant. And I think that's what he wants for us.
0:25:15 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Like you said, your best day is giving some, you know, praying with somebody, helping someone. Yes, helping someone, giving somebody something that they didn't have before.
0:25:23 - (Rebecca Alexander): Right.
0:25:24 - (Colin Johnson): You know, we're called to give our lives away like he did. And.
0:25:26 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:25:27 - (Colin Johnson): And so when we do, it just brings massive joy and you do a.
0:25:31 - (Rebecca Alexander): Great job of that and it shows and what you do.
0:25:34 - (Colin Johnson): Thank you for that, and I'm honored to. Well, I think it's. Call you back for sure. Well, thank you. Thank you. So let's say you get elected here in the fall. What are your plans for the next couple of years? What do you want to accomplish as our state representative? What do you see for our area and how you're going to help shape it?
0:25:51 - (Rebecca Alexander): I want to make sure we get broadband in areas that don't have it. That's a really big thing of mine.
0:25:57 - (Colin Johnson): On Jeff Dyke's ear all the time.
0:25:59 - (Rebecca Alexander): On Jeff Dyke's ear.
0:26:00 - (Colin Johnson): Let's go, Jeff.
0:26:00 - (Rebecca Alexander): Let's run some tyburn. He's on my ear wanting those grants. So it's a good, just a good mix.
0:26:07 - (Colin Johnson): He is such a good guy.
0:26:07 - (Rebecca Alexander): He is a great guy and very much a believer.
0:26:11 - (Colin Johnson): Yes.
0:26:12 - (Rebecca Alexander): Then I'd like to see us pass a bill that would take two step therapy away from people who have been diagnosed with staged cancer.
0:26:26 - (Colin Johnson): Tell me more about that.
0:26:27 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, when you have been diagnosed with stage cancer, sometimes the oncologist hands are tied what drugs they can prescribe. Really, because the pharmacy in big pharma would like them to use certain drugs. And sometimes there's something newer out there that they know can get. Could really, maybe someone with a stage one cancer protect them from getting to a stage three. But they got to try this other drug for like 30 days until they say, okay, that one didn't work.
0:27:01 - (Colin Johnson): Who's making that happen? You're saying big pharma and they're insurance companies. They're driving, though.
0:27:08 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so I'd like to see us and get to that place. I proposed that bill last year, and the Senate didn't have the stomach to take it up. They just weren't ready to do it. And so I've got to do some more work. I go back, I plead, I beg. And listen to this. Listen to the story, and I give them, you know, really good stories from oncologists and what they're dealing with and how many lives more we can save. We keep going back to that over and over again.
0:27:43 - (Rebecca Alexander): And, you know, it's, it's, it's a struggle when you're fighting insurance and you're fighting.
0:27:50 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I think we all are getting a, as a country, I think we're all probably getting tired of insurance. It's a necessary thing for sure. But yet the profit margins that they're making is just ridiculous.
0:28:07 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, and people pay a lot of money for insurance, and when you have a diagnosis of cancer, you should be able to get the drug you need 100%. That's my argument on that. So I'm going to go back to the drawing table on that one. I will run my cell phone bill again. We're going to try to get cell phones out of schools, especially during. Well, we have it in our area.
0:28:33 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, well, I was going to say there's my niece and nephew. They're like, we don't have a cell phone.
0:28:37 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, we have it in our area, and we have great superintendents here.
0:28:41 - (Colin Johnson): Yes.
0:28:41 - (Rebecca Alexander): And great principals and stuff that recognize the need. And they came to me and talked to me about doing a bill.
0:28:47 - (Colin Johnson): I think it's.
0:28:47 - (Rebecca Alexander): And we ran it last year, but it got stopped in committee. We had some people that don't agree with that, didn't agree with it at that time. They changed their minds, some of them. Oh, that's good. So we're going to run it again. And then, you know, it says chain because Tennessee could have been the first one to pass that bill. And now Youngkin passed it today from an executive order he put down from Bell ringing in the morning to bell ringing in the afternoon. You don't have a phone. That's great, period.
0:29:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): And I would like to see us get back to that, get back to those basic things and being able to walk down the hall and punch your butt and say, how was your date last night? You know, or, you know, hey, you did a, you threw a great pass that football game Friday night. You know, I would like to get us back to that, where we put down those phones and we, our kids learn how to communicate with each other and they learn how to write a letter or a thank you note and not do it via text or any.
0:29:54 - (Colin Johnson): Right now we voice text.
0:29:56 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:29:56 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I mean, I remember cursive class.
0:30:00 - (Rebecca Alexander): Exactly.
0:30:00 - (Colin Johnson): Lots of curses.
0:30:01 - (Rebecca Alexander): I can't do it now.
0:30:02 - (Colin Johnson): The other day, and I was kind.
0:30:03 - (Rebecca Alexander): Of like, oh, I gotta get back into writing. Yeah.
0:30:07 - (Colin Johnson): I was talking to another friend a few months ago, and he said he went to university high like I did. And I remember every morning we would say the Lord's prayer, and then we'd say the president of the elite or vice versa.
0:30:18 - (Rebecca Alexander): We need to get back that, and.
0:30:20 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I just.
0:30:21 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:30:22 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. I don't know how we've allowed the single person to take our loudest voice and take away things that shouldn't have been taken away.
0:30:32 - (Rebecca Alexander): It's shame on us christians that we.
0:30:34 - (Colin Johnson): Got to stand strong, and shame on us for not voting, are getting up and fighting it. Right.
0:30:38 - (Rebecca Alexander): And that's exactly right.
0:30:40 - (Colin Johnson): And, you know, I think some people maybe take the meek show, inherit the earth as what we should do sometimes, and I don't. I don't. I don't want the earth that we would inherit that.
0:30:50 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:30:50 - (Colin Johnson): You know what I'm saying?
0:30:51 - (Rebecca Alexander): Exactly. Exactly. We got to take all that back again.
0:30:55 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, we do. We do.
0:30:56 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah.
0:30:57 - (Colin Johnson): So what is some advice you could give to our. Our region or area on how we can help you or help our area as a whole? What would be something you'd say, this is something we can really work together on?
0:31:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): You know, I think we continue being good to people that move into here and make them feel welcome and to keep standing strong for what you believe in. You know, this region is very well known for our conservative values and our. And our religious values and don't compromise that ever. And then keep praying and keep working hard and just. I think that's pretty much it.
0:31:53 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. Just work hard and pray and then love each other well. Right.
0:31:57 - (Rebecca Alexander): Love each other well, that's like Jesus did.
0:31:59 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, I do. One. Two of them.
0:32:01 - (Rebecca Alexander): Love your neighbors.
0:32:01 - (Colin Johnson): Love your neighbor. Exactly. Exactly. Um, well, if I forgot to ask you something, what would you have asked yourself on this podcast that you wanted to share that we haven't covered? Maybe.
0:32:15 - (Rebecca Alexander): I don't know.
0:32:16 - (Colin Johnson): Let's talk about family a little bit, because I know you got an awesome husband. His name's Howie, right? Howard. Yes.
0:32:23 - (Rebecca Alexander): You know, there's an old saying that behind ever successful man is an incredible woman.
0:32:30 - (Colin Johnson): Amen.
0:32:30 - (Rebecca Alexander): Well, behind ever successful woman is an incredible man. Yeah, he's fantastic, and I've been very blessed to have him.
0:32:37 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah. How long have you guys been married now?
0:32:40 - (Rebecca Alexander): 33 years. No, 34 years.
0:32:43 - (Colin Johnson): 34 years. Awesome. Got two girls?
0:32:45 - (Rebecca Alexander): We have two girls.
0:32:46 - (Colin Johnson): Give them a shout out. What are they at?
0:32:48 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes. Madison and Whitley.
0:32:50 - (Colin Johnson): Where are they at?
0:32:51 - (Rebecca Alexander): Madison is in Dallas. She practices law. She does mergers and acquisitions. That's and Whitley, who had been in Washington, DC as press secretary in Washington for Congressman Mike Johnson, for Congressman Phil Rowe. Nice. Decided at 27 to go to law school.
0:33:08 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, good for her.
0:33:09 - (Rebecca Alexander): And so she's in her third year law school and is in Nashville in law school.
0:33:17 - (Colin Johnson): So you'll get to see her a little bit.
0:33:19 - (Rebecca Alexander): I do get to see her quite often, so that's wonderful.
0:33:22 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, yeah. And, well, I jokingly say as we have lots of people moving here, hey, don't just check us out, feel us out for a few years. Don't vote, but I'm going to change that to now go ahead and check us out, feel us out. But only vote for Rebecca Alexander.
0:33:40 - (Rebecca Alexander): Thank you.
0:33:42 - (Colin Johnson): And that's the only vote you can do because I think a lot of people want to come and change. They come in and they're like, oh, we can make it better.
0:33:50 - (Rebecca Alexander): We want people to come.
0:33:51 - (Colin Johnson): We want innovation, we want that. But I feel like the Lord is calling a lot of people here and I think it's going to be interesting to see how we impact them and they impact us. But I think it's going to be a great, great marriage of ideas and it can be just awesome.
0:34:05 - (Rebecca Alexander): It has a really exciting time in our state.
0:34:07 - (Colin Johnson): It really is.
0:34:08 - (Rebecca Alexander): We are growing like crazy. Like crazy.
0:34:10 - (Colin Johnson): What kind of stats over the last four years, how many people have been moving to Upper East Tennessee?
0:34:16 - (Rebecca Alexander): But I know that Washington county grew, has grown more than anyone and I, and I'm not sure what the exact number is. Yeah, we need to ask Jim there, Joe grand. But we are growing. It's an exciting time. And the thing we've got to work on the most in this community is that we continue to grow our infrastructure to be able to handle the growth. So exactly. For example, if you as a developer or in real estate, you want to develop a neighborhood, we got to make sure we've got the roads to get into that neighborhood. We've got the schools to support that neighborhood.
0:35:01 - (Rebecca Alexander): So infrastructure is really what we've been working a lot on in this past year with the city and the county developing a master plan, developing master plans.
0:35:11 - (Colin Johnson): That we 1020 years out. I mean, because it's going to be here a lot faster.
0:35:14 - (Rebecca Alexander): It's going to be here faster than we know for the people moving in. We're glad they're coming, but we want Tennessee to stay Tennessee. So if you want to come here and bring your old state with it, we don't want that. We want you to come here because you wanted something different.
0:35:34 - (Colin Johnson): Well, and there's a reason you're leaving.
0:35:36 - (Rebecca Alexander): And there's a reason you got a.
0:35:37 - (Colin Johnson): New job in Tennessee. Right?
0:35:39 - (Rebecca Alexander): There's a reason you want to come here, and we want Tennessee to stay. Tennessee.
0:35:43 - (Colin Johnson): I agree 100%. Well, thank you. Thank you for being on the podcast. It's an honor for our district, our area. Thanks for bringing in all the funding for the infrastructure. I'm sure that's just a huge undertaking.
0:35:54 - (Rebecca Alexander): It is.
0:35:54 - (Colin Johnson): Maybe Tim Hicks helps you out a little bit.
0:35:56 - (Rebecca Alexander): Tim Hicks helps me out a lot. He's a great partner.
0:35:58 - (Colin Johnson): He is a great guy.
0:35:59 - (Rebecca Alexander): He is a great guy. We're very blessed. Our whole region has a great delegation, and Tennessee is very proud of northeast Tennessee caucus and what we represent.
0:36:12 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah.
0:36:13 - (Rebecca Alexander): What we stand for.
0:36:14 - (Colin Johnson): We have an amazing state, and it's.
0:36:16 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yes, we do.
0:36:17 - (Colin Johnson): It's just because of the people.
0:36:18 - (Rebecca Alexander): That's right. It's called the great state of Tennessee for a reason.
0:36:21 - (Colin Johnson): That's exactly right. And I think our parts are a little greater than.
0:36:24 - (Rebecca Alexander): Yeah, that's exactly right. We can't beat these. The mountains.
0:36:28 - (Colin Johnson): It can't beat the hills. It can't beat the people. It's just awesome. It's awesome. So thank you so much.
0:36:33 - (Rebecca Alexander): Thank you. Thank you for everything you do.
0:36:35 - (Colin Johnson): Oh, well.
0:36:35 - (Rebecca Alexander): To help grow our state.
0:36:36 - (Colin Johnson): Yeah, it's a pleasure. And it's. Luckily, I get. It's my job, so. So if you guys are thinking about moving to our great state, our great area, and you want to hang out with Rebecca and have her as your representative, we'd love to help you with that. Connect with us. We help people build wealth through real estate. We manage a ton of property, and we'd love to do that, too. Till next time, I'm Colin Johnson with the Colin and Carly group and Keller Williams Realty.
0:37:00 - (Colin Johnson): Thank you for listening to our 200th episode. Thanks and have a great day.
0:37:07 - (Rebecca Alexander): Thanks.