Republican Sen. Doug Overbey took the road less traveled this year when he sponsored Insure Tennessee at the request of Gov. Bill Haslam.

Despite the legislation’s failure in special and regular sessions, he has no regrets and looks forward to continuing the fight in 2016 for a market-based plan to obtain roughly $1 billion annually through the Affordable Care Act to provide coverage to some 280,000 Tennesseans who are caught in a gap between TennCare and the federal plan.

In short, he hopes that makes all the difference.

Overbey, of Maryville in East Tennessee, took a moment recently to discuss the year’s session and his outlook for the next one.

Insure Tennessee looks like it’s got some pretty long legs. You’ve probably heard the request from some of the legislative Democrats for Gov. Haslam to call a special session on Insure Tennessee this summer. Do you think there is any possibility of that happening?

Overbey: “I really don’t think that’s going to happen unless there is something that changes my colleagues’ position. And I’m not sure what that something might be. It could be that a hospital would go out of business because of the lack of reimbursement. That could be a change that might motivate folks. But right now I don’t see that a special session would really accomplish anything because I think the attitudes and the positions have not changed.’’

You sponsored the Insure Tennessee measure during a special session and then carried it to committees during the regular session. Do you think it received the amount of debate it needed, or do you think senators’ minds were made up?

Overbey: “I think in the special session, it got a fair hearing in the Senate Health Committee. It might have been good if the House Health Committee would have taken it up as well.

“Oftentimes, one house votes differently than the other, or maybe insights are gained from one house to the next. … I think by the time we ran the bill in the regular session, minds were pretty well made up. From what occurred in the special session and the continued discussion, I think attitudes were fairly fixed by that time.’’

What do you think the biggest stumbling block was?

Overbey: “I think we were never able to explain that Insure Tennessee is not Obamacare, that it was not an expansion of Medicaid. I know that’s a hard argument, but it’s one I believe is accurate. Expansion would have been something we could have done two years ago by simply adding folks to the TennCare rolls. The people who qualified for Insure Tennessee were not going to be on the TennCare rolls. They were going to have skin in the game with deductibles and co-pays, so I think it was markedly different. We were just unable to get over that high hurdle.’’

Considering the amount of Republican opposition to Insure Tennessee, do you think you’re going to feel any political repercussions for sponsoring it? (Overbey is in the midst of a second four-year Senate term.)

Overbey

Overbey: “I’m sure there might be, although the comments I continue to receive in the district I’m privileged to represent, the emails, the letters, are overwhelmingly positive. And I think that’s reflected in the polls, that Tennesseans actually do support Insure Tennessee and so will there be repercussions? I supposed it could be a motive for someone perhaps to run, but I think overall I would rather be on this side of the issue than on the other side.’’

It’s probably going to come up again in 2016. I don’t see it dying yet. Are you going to carry it again?

Overbey: “If the governor asks me to, I will.’’

On another issue, the Legislature spent a considerable amount of time dealing with guns-in-parks legislation. Do you feel that’s more of a philosophical battle than one where you’re going to have a lot of instances where people would bring guns into parks, because it’s for conceal-carry permit holders?

Overbey: “We have spent a lot of time over the years on Second Amendment issues and perhaps rightly so. My position on guns in parks is that the entity that created the parks, owns the parks, pays for the parks should be the entity that makes that decision. And, it’s not just the state Legislature that can weigh Second Amendment issues.

“Certainly the federal government has with regard to the national parks, and I think the state can make that decision with regard to state parks, and local government should be allowed to make that decision with regard to the local parks. … That really seems to have worked because some local governments decided to allow guns in their parks and some decided to put on restrictions.’’

The Legislature spent a lot of time debating whether the Bible should be the state book. How did you come down on that and do you feel it was worth the Legislature’s time?

Overbey: “I could not support that proposal. … The Bible doesn’t need an endorsement from the state of Tennessee to be a holy book or a book that people look to for guidance. I don’t doubt the sincerity of the sponsors, and I’m sure they had constituents urging them to do so. But I think there’s a clear First Amendment issue here. I can’t imagine someone in church getting up in their church on Sunday morning and saying I want to read to you from the state book of Tennessee. I think they want to say I’m going to read from the Gospel of Matthew.’’

Where did you stand on regulations for abortion clinics and waiting periods?

Overbey: “I supported and voted in favor of those bills. I think the people of Tennessee in passing Amendment 1 spoke very clearly they wanted to reinstate the regulations that were invalidated in the Planned Parenthood vs. Sundquist case.’’

I see where you sponsored the legislation prohibiting people under 18 from using vapor products or e-cigarettes and it also calls for study on the health effects. Why do you think that’s so important?

Overbey: “We originally passed prohibiting e-cigarettes’ sale to people 18 and under, we actually passed that a couple of years ago. This year’s bill was more of a clarification. At that time, you called it electronic cigarettes. Now it’s more vapor products. … Also I think a key part was the canister to require child-proof caps. It seems with the different flavors, those that make vapor products were trying to make it more appealing to our youth, so I think it was important to treat vapor products like cigarettes and put the same constraints in place.’’

You also sponsored legislation to raise the income amount on the Hall income tax. Are you concerned about the state losing revenue and the possibility of taxpayers sending more of their taxes to the federal government on that?

Overbey: “That’s a good question. I think there continues to be a push to totally eliminate the Hall tax. Certainly, I hear from constituents quite often they would like to see it eliminated. But it’s been clear to me the past two years that total elimination was not going to be the fiscally responsible thing to do at this time.

“So to me it’s that we keep making progress on that issue, and one way to make progress is to raise the income limits on those 65 years or older. Next year, I would like to file a bill that would raise the overall exemption. Right now, $2,000 of income from dividends and interest is exempt. I think one thing we can do is raise that by some amount.’’

What do you feel was the most important piece of legislation you pushed for this session?

Overbey: “It would be hard to say it was not Insure Tennessee. It was a program developed over the course of about 18 months by Gov. Haslam. It got the approval of (TennCare) for the program. It would have made a significant different in the lives of 280,000 Tennesseans.

“The second bill would have been the Cancer Patients Choice Act, which was a bill I sponsored to require insurance companies to cover proton therapy cancer treatment to the same extent they cover traditional radiation therapy. Unfortunately, it didn’t pass either.’’

What will you push for next session? What will your focus be?

Overbey: “I really haven’t started thinking about legislation for next session, other than continuing to raise the exemption on the Hall income tax. I’m sure, as you noted, we will carry forward with Insure Tennessee legislation, and I hope to carry forward with the Cancer Patients Choice Act. I very much believe in those issues and will continue to push.’’