Editing Tim Burchett (section)

==Tennessee General Assembly==
Burchett's first election to public office was in 1994, when he won a seat in the [[Tennessee House of Representatives]]. He served in the House for two two-year terms, from 1995 to 1998.<ref name="99th General Assembly House members">{{cite web |title=Tennessee House Members 99th GA |url=https://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/archives/99GA/Members.htm |website=house.tn.gov |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="100th General Assembly House members">{{cite web |title=Tennessee House Members 100th GA |url=https://www.capitol.tn.gov/house/archives/100GA/Members.htm |website=house.tn.gov |access-date=14 July 2021}}</ref> In 1998, he won a four-year term in the Tennessee State Senate, representing the 7th district. He succeeded Clyde Coulter "Bud" Gilbert.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=281411|title=Our Campaigns – TN Senate 07 Race – Nov 03, 1998|website=www.ourcampaigns.com|access-date=January 6, 2019}}</ref> He was reelected twice, serving a total of three four-year terms, from 1999 to 2010.<ref name=105GA/><ref name=MayorBio/>

In 2006, while a state senator, Burchett failed to report six political action committee checks totaling $3,300. The Registry of Election Finance did not fine him.<ref name="Knoxville News Sentinel">{{Cite news|last1=Ebert|first1=Joel|url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/01/sources-fbi-asks-questions-knox-county-mayor-tim-burchett-mayor-says-no-truth-any-it/909061001/|title=Sources: FBI asks questions about Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett; mayor says 'no truth to any of it'|date=December 1, 2017|work=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]|access-date=August 5, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814020239/https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/01/sources-fbi-asks-questions-knox-county-mayor-tim-burchett-mayor-says-no-truth-any-it/909061001/?from=new-cookie|archive-date=August 14, 2018|last2=Boucher|first2=Dave}}</ref> In 2008, while still a state senator, he was fined $250 for failing to disclose three PAC contributions that totaled $1,500.<ref name="Knoxville News Sentinel" />

In 1999, Burchett received national media attention for sponsoring a bill to legalize the eating of [[roadkill]], wild animals killed by vehicles, before notifying the county game warden.<ref>{{cite news|author=Barker|first1=Scott|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/20/burchett-plans-run-for-knox-mayor/|title=Burchett plans to run for county mayor|date=August 20, 2008|newspaper=Knoxville News Sentinel|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127154702/http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/aug/20/burchett-plans-run-for-knox-mayor/|archive-date=January 27, 2013|last2=Keim|first2=David}}</ref><ref name="NYTjokesters">{{cite news|author=Firestone|first=David|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/14/us/statehouse-journal-a-road-kill-proposal-is-food-for-jokesters.html|title=Statehouse Journal; A Road-Kill Proposal Is Food for Jokesters|date=March 14, 1999|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325010133/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/03/14/us/statehouse-journal-a-road-kill-proposal-is-food-for-jokesters.html|archive-date=March 25, 2019|url-access=limited}}</ref> He defended the proposal as a "common-sense thing" intended to prevent edible meat from being wasted. Eating roadkill was already legal – as it is in most places – but required prior notification of the county game warden. Burchett's bill allowed processing and consumption of roadkill before notifying the warden. Burchett proposed the bill after being contacted by a constituent who had been penalized for giving a needy family the meat from a deer his vehicle had accidentally hit.<ref name=NYTjokesters/>

=== Proposal of salvia ban ===
{{see also|Legal status of Salvia divinorum}}
Burchett sponsored a bill in 2006 to make illegal "possessing, producing, manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to produce, manufacture, or distribute the active chemical ingredient in the hallucinogenic plant ''[[Salvia divinorum]]'' in the state of Tennessee."<ref name=Salvialaw>{{cite web|date=May 2006|title=Senate Bill No. 3247; An Act to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 4, relative to certain hallucinogenic plants|work=Public Acts 2006, Chapter 700 |url=http://tennessee.gov/sos/acts/104/pub/pc0700.pdf|publisher=General Assembly of the State of Tennessee|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071004232218/http://tennessee.gov/sos/acts/104/pub/pc0700.pdf|archive-date=October 4, 2007}}</ref> He said, "We have enough problems with illegal drugs as it is without people promoting getting high from some glorified weed that's been brought up from Mexico. The only people I’ve heard from who are opposed to making it illegal are those who are getting stoned on it."<ref name=NashvilleBureau>{{cite journal|author=Nashville Bureau Reporter |date=April 2006|title=The Senate passed (290–0) SB 3247 |volume=8|issue=32|publisher=Nashville Bureau}}</ref> The bill was signed into law on May 19, 2006, and went into effect on July 1, 2006.<ref name=Salvialaw/> Burchett originally wanted to make violations a [[felony]] offense, but the bill was amended during its passage to make it a Class A [[misdemeanor]].<ref name=SiebertLegalStatus>{{cite web |last=Siebert |first=Daniel |title=The Legal Status of Salvia divinorum |publisher=The Salvia divinorum Research and Information Center |url=http://www.sagewisdom.org/legalstatus.html |access-date=March 4, 2007}}</ref>

In a news report published shortly before the signing of the bill by Governor [[Phil Bredesen]], Burchett was quoted as saying, "it's not that popular but I'm one of those who believes in closing the barn door before the cows get out.... in certain hands, it could be very dangerous, even lethal."<ref name=ORourke2006>{{cite news|last=O'Rourke|first=Shea|title=Smoking Out – Tennessee bill bans hallucinogenic herb salvia|url=http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A16106|work=Memphis Flyer|date=May 24, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614015638/http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid:16106|archive-date=June 14, 2011 |url-status=live|access-date=September 9, 2008}}</ref> A store owner who had stopped selling the herb due to Burchett's bill said that he saw little point in banning salvia, "I have no idea why it's being outlawed. It's a sage. People in South America have been using it for years and years." The same report also gave the general counterargument of salvia proponents that legislation banning ''Salvia divinorum'' reflects a cultural bias, as there are fewer prohibitions on more addictive substances such as alcohol and nicotine, and questioned how effective the bill will be, pointing out that ''Salvia divinorum'' has no odor and is easy to grow, so enforcement will be difficult.<ref name=ORourke2006/>