McNally’s opposition to Bible bill may kill it for now

The fate of this year’s Bible bill has taken an unexpected turn — one that likely signals its death.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, long an opponent of perennial attempts by House Rep. Jerry Sexton to make the Bible the state book, has signed on as the Senate sponsor of the effort.

As of Friday, McNally, R-Oak Ridge, was listed as a sponsor for House Joint Resolution 150, which would “designate the Holy Bible as the official State book” and require that distinction be listed in the Tennessee Blue Book with other state trivia.

Sexton, R-Bean Station, has filed similar legislation for seven years, but this time opted to introduce it as a resolution rather than a bill. The resolution narrowly passed the House 55-28 on Monday, with seven members voting “present.”

It was awaiting a Senate sponsor to push it through the upper chamber’s committee system.

Given his vocal opposition to the resolution, McNally’s decision to sign on as a sponsor signals his likely intent to kill the effort by never allowing it to be taken up in a Senate committee.

In a statement, McNally’s office did not directly answer why he became a sponsor of the resolution, but noted the lieutenant governor has taken no action to move it through the Senate.

“The first senator to sign on to a House Joint Resolution received by the Senate becomes the prime sponsor,” McNally spokesperson Adam Kleinheider said. “Lt. Governor McNally was the first senator to sign on.”

Kleinheider noted that while the resolution has been referred to the Senate state and local committee, McNally “has not yet requested it be placed on a calendar.”

McNally, who is Catholic, previously said it makes light of the Bible by comparing it to other official state objects, such as the salamander as the state amphibian.

Repeated attempts by Sexton, a Baptist minister, to push the Bible bill have elicited groans and eye rolls from his fellow Republicans, as well as impassioned arguments by Democrats against designating any official religious book for the state.

After the Bible bill passed in 2016, former Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, vetoed the legislation. A veto override vote by the legislature was unsuccessful.

In addition to his own personal religious convictions, Sexton has also argued in favor of the Bible being the state book due to Nashville’s lucrative Bible-printing industry.

He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.