Matthew Hill

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This article is about the Tennessee politician, for the English football (soccer) player, see Matthew Hill (footballer).

Matthew Hill is an American Indian ^[1], Tennessee politician, and elected as a member of the Tennessee General Assembly (104th 2005-2006; 105th 2007-2008).^[2]

Contents 1 Early Career 2 State Representative 3 Political connection to Altace, pharmaceutical industry 4 References 5 External links 6 See Also

[edit] Early Career

Matthew Hill earned an associate's degree from Northeast State Technical Community College and later received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication from East Tennessee State University. According to his archived campaign website (2004), Matthew Hill was also at one time concurrently working as the host of "Good Morning Tri-Cities" on the WHCB "sister station" PowerTalk 870 AM for seven years. ^[3]

Hill is employed by his father, Rev. Dr. Kenneth "Ken" C. Hill^[4][5], as Information Communications Corporation, Inc. Vice President and Independent Methodist broadcaster with WHCB 91.5 FM.^[6][7] Dr. Kenneth Hill is currently (2005-2006) serving as a Sullivan County State Executive Committee Member to the Tennessee Republican Party^[8] and president of the State of Franklin political action committee. Dr. Kenneth Hill was nominated by then U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in late 2005 for appointment as commssioner with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).^[9]

[edit] State Representative

Hill was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2004 as a member of the Republican Party and represents the 7th district, which is part of Washington County. He is a member of the Children and Family Affairs Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Domestic Relations Subcommittee, and the Public Safety and Rural Roads Subcommittee.

A 2005 article within Business Tennessee Magazine cited Hill as a "...firebrand political conservative," who "...championed social issues to recently get elected to the state House of Representatives representing Johnson City and Washington County."^[10]

Among the 2006 legislation sponsored by Hill in the Tennessee General Assembly is HB2921 authorizing (upon passage) "...the display, in county and municipal public buildings..., of replicas of historical documents and writings" including the Ten Commandments religious displays found contrary to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court affirmation of McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. ^[11]

Former Rep. Jerome Cochran of Carter County introduced HB2921 in the Tennessee House Constitutional Protections subcommittee^[12] --- of which Hill is not a standing member --- and Hill's HB2921 legislation died peacefully in subcommittee. ^[13]

Another unconstitutional 2006 bill introduced by Matthew Hill, HB2924^[14], would make child rape a capital offense, punishable by death or life imprisonment and would cost Tennessee taxpayers over $15 million each year to carry out the proposal.^[15]. Hill's HB2924 failed in both the House and the Senate during the 2006 legislative session. The Senate version of Hill's child rape bill --- SB2490 --- was sponsored by State Senator Raymond Finney. Finney has stated since the defeat of both HB2924 and SB2490 within the Tennessee General Assembly that he "...does not plan to continue with his bill."^[16]

During the 2004 7th House District election, Hill was quoted by a local newspaper stating that he "would only vote for an income tax if there was a war."^[17]

Hill defeated former Washington County Sheriff and Tennessee Department of Safety Director Fred Phillips in the November 2006 general election. ^[18][19]

[edit] Political connection to Altace, pharmaceutical industry

During both of his political campaigns for state office, Hill has accepted many generous campaign contributions from former King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO and current Leitner Pharmaceuticals, LLC CEO John M. Gregory, Gregory family members, and corporate executives employed within both the King Pharmaceuticals, Leitner Pharmaceutical, and SJ Strategic Investments compnaies founded by Gregory. Gregory is also noted as an important campaign contributor to conservative Republican and anti-abortion political action committees in Tennessee such as the Tennessee Right To Life PAC^[20], the State of Franklin PAC]^[21], and the Tennessee Conservative PAC.^[22] Gregory financed and founded the Tennessee Conservative PAC as the political action committee's original president^[23].

During 1994, the U.S. National Right to Life Committee announced a U.S. boycott of all Hoechst pharmaceutical products including Altace and by September 17 the anti-abortion organization, Pharmacists For Life International, joined the NRLC boycott, "...against the American subsidiary of Hoechst, AG Hoechst-Roussel, Hoechst-Celanese, its generic subsidiary Coply Pharmaceuticals and the agricultural Hoechst subsidiary" while asking U.S. consumers to "...focus on key Hoechst drugs which have the most economic impact rather than taking an across-the-board shotgun approach" and specifically targeting Altace as a boycott list item.^[24][25]

Hoechst merged with Marion Merrill Dow of Kansas City, Missouri in 1995, forming the Hoechst U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel (HMR). Altace was bringing in under $90 million in U.S. revenues for HMR and Hoechst had stopped promoting Altace within the United States.^[26], and King Pharmaceuticals President Jefferson "Jeff" Gregory (brother of then King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO John M. Gregory) also began negotiations in 1995 with Hoechst to acquire U.S. distribution rights to Altace.^[27]

Hoechst underwent a 1997 realignment wherein its various businesses were transferred to independent companies, including Nutrinova on April 2, and the anti-abortion group Concerned Women For America announced during a National Right To Life Committee press briefing at the National Press Club that the anti-RU486 boycott against the U.S. subsidiaries of Hoechst AG & Roussel Uclaf by the NRTLC "...will be more narrowly focused onto the HMR prescription drugs Allegra, Cardizem, Seldane, Claforan, Lasix, DiaBeta, and Nicoderm" - and Altace is auspiciously no longer included by Concerned Women For Americas as a boycotted Hoechst Marion Roussel product.^[28]

The King Pharmaceuticals wholly owned subsidiary Monarch Pharmaceuticals, Inc. --- then under the leadership of Joseph R. Gregory (brother of John M. Gregory), former Vice Chairman of King and former President and Chief Executive Office of Monarch Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of King --- acquired ownership of the U.S. distribution and marketing rights to Altace and other Hoescht products from Hoescht AG subsidiary Hoechst Marion Roussel of Kansas City, Missouri on December 18, 1998, and ^[29] following a January 1999 merger with Rhône-Poulenc, Hoechst assummed the new corporate identity of Aventis.

Then State Senator Ron Ramsey organized an August 1999 lobbying airlift from Northeast Tennessee aboard King Pharmaceuticals owned corporate aircraft and flew to Nashville meeting with TennCare Director Brian Lapps that was also attended by State Representatives Jason Mumpower, Steve Godsey, and David Davis at the request of King Pharmaceuticals lobbyist^[30] and former Tennessee State Senator James "Jim" L. Holcomb. The meeting was successful in placing the recently acquired Monarch Pharmaceuticals (a King Pharmaceuticals subsidiary) branded drug Altace onto the TennCare Preferred Drug List within only 33 days.^[31] Lapps resigned as TennCare Director on September 27, 1999.^[32] Lapps resigned as TennCare Director underdate of September 27, 1999.^[33]

Both the studion and offices of the 5019c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit Appalachian Educational Communication Corporation (AECC) --- d.b.a. WHCB 91.5 FM and the Cameo Theatre --- and the for-profit Information Communications Corporation (51% of the ownership is held by Dr. Kenneth C. Hill; the remaining 49% per cent of Information Communications Corporation is owned by AECC) --- d.b.a. WPWT 870 AM, WHGG 1090 AM, WABN --- are located within the Leitner Pharmaceuticals Building at 340 Edgemont Avenue, Bristol , Tennessee. The Leitner Pharmaceuticals Building is owned SJ Strategic Investments, a private investment company controlled by managing partner John Gregory.^[34] The record of address for the Tennessee Conservative PAC is also within the Leitner Pharmaceuticals Building.

Aventis went on in 2004 to merge with Sanofi-Synthélabo, forming Sanofi-Aventis as the third largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

Former King Pharmaceuticals lobbyist Holcomb was later hired during February 2004 "... to manage the firm's governmental affairs" by the Gregory controlled SJ Strategic Investments, LLC on Februaury 2, 2004.^[35][36] Holcomb is an associate of Rep. Hill (their offices are located within the Leitner Pharmaceuticals Building) and Holcomb has previously co-hosted the WPWT 870 AM "Rightly Speaking" talk radio^[37] show with Dr. Kenneth C. Hill.

[edit] References

[edit] External links