Rep. John Holsclaw seeks re-election to State House

Published 1:04 pm Sunday, April 12, 2020

State Rep. John Holsclaw (R-Elizabethton) announces he is seeking reelection to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2020. In recent years, Holsclaw has helped secure more than 130 new jobs and 41 grant awards totaling almost $8 million in funding to support community and rural economic development in Carter and Unicoi counties.

“It has been an incredible honor serving the citizens of District 4, and I will never stop fighting for additional resources to support our citizens and our communities,” said Holsclaw. “ I pledge to continue to uphold the conservative, Tennessee values and principles that make Northeast Tennessee and this state the envy of our entire nation.”

Holsclaw was first elected to serve the citizens of House District 4 in 2014. During his tenure in our General Assembly, he has been a strong voice for our students, teachers, and schools. He has also strengthened protections for our unborn children, and has staunchly defended the second amendment rights of all law abiding citizens. Holsclaw has also supported the creation of new jobs, and has fought to eliminate burdensome taxes on residents and job-killing regulations on Tennessee businesses.

In 2019, Holsclaw worked to improve safety on Tennessee roadways by successfully sponsoring passage of House Bill 164. It prohibits the use of hand-held cellphones while citizens operate motor vehicles. According to recent data, Tennessee has one of the highest rates of distracted driving deaths in the entire nation, and House Bill 164 is designed to reduce instances of distracted driving in our state.

Additionally, Holsclaw stood with our students, teachers and schools last year by voting against a measure that creates the Tennessee Education Savings Account Program. This year, he safeguarded these very important groups through House Bill 2818. The measure holds students, teachers, and schools harmless as it relates to TNReady testing, teacher evaluation growth scores, final grades, school and district accountability assessments, BEP-related requirements, and post-secondary readiness assessments for the 2019-2020 school year because of the March tornado outbreak and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee.

“What we are seeing in communities across our state and our nation during this ongoing public health emergency is unprecedented,” added Holsclaw. “Our teachers, students, and schools will be a major part of Tennessee’s comeback, and we will continue to support them and ensure they have the resources needed to remain successful.”

Holsclaw has also joined with his colleagues to begin transforming our health care system so it puts patients first by improving access to high quality care, while lowering overall costs. In 2020, he successfully co-sponsored House Bill 1699, which protects existing tele-health arrangements that do not require an existing doctor-patient relationship. The measure also creates a structure for all providers to use telemedicine with established patients who have been seen in their practice in the last 18 months for follow-up care at home, in the work place or other mobile locations as long as the provider has access to relevant public records.

“House Bill 1699 will help more of our citizens who might not be able to visit a doctor’s office for a wellness visit or during a non-emergency situation address their important health needs. This bill is a key component of our much larger plan to transform health care delivery in Tennessee, and I was proud to support it,” Holsclaw continued.

Rep. Holsclaw is grateful for the overwhelming support he and his family have received, and he humbly asks for the citizens of District 4 to support them again this year. He and his House Republican colleagues will ensure Tennessee remains the best place in the entire nation to live, work, raise a family and retire.

Holsclaw serves as the chairman of the House Employee Affairs Subcommittee. He is also a member of the House Agriculture & Natural Resources, House Commerce, and the House Consumer & Human Resources Committees, as well as the House Business Subcommittee. Holsclaw represents Tennessee House District 4, which includes Unicoi and parts of Carter counties in our General Assembly.