Harris proves a quick study in legislating, learns on the fly
NASHVILLE — As he neared the end of lunch here one day this week, state Sen. Lee Harris , the Memphis Democrat, reflected on the head of steam he brought here just three months ago, the desire to play offense in legislating even with the odds stacked firmly against his party. And now?
“As I’m in this role, it seems to me that really what I should spend a lot of my time thinking about is defense,” Harris said. “Because it’s not about, really — these initiatives, those initiatives. We’re too far deep in the minority to get big things done.
“I can nibble at the edges, I can get some bills passed, blah blah blah. But I’m not going to dramatically change the budget. That’s just the reality.”
Such is life for the top Democrat in the state Senate, where there are just five members — and 28 Republicans. That Harris is even the minority leader speaks to the caucus’ size. Three months ago, he was a Memphis City Council member, and a relatively new one, at that. Then he ousted Ophelia Ford last August in the District 29 primary, and here he is, learning the ropes and encountering everything new about legislating at the state level.
Harris’ quick ascent — he’s 37 years old — leads to plenty of speculation about his political future. If he has a brighter one, it’ll be formed in the kind of work he can accomplish here.
He’s passed a bill encouraging recycling in state facilities
and a bill that authorizes TennCare to better handle sickle cell disease cases — hardly insignificant issues, but below the Nashville radar. But in a leadership role, he’s become well-acquainted with the strategy of trying to outsmart the opposition, even if he can’t outnumber them.
It’s a strategy evident in a move pulled by his Senate colleague, Nashville’s Jeff Yarbro , who sits beside him on the Senate floor. With guns in parks heading to a Senate vote Wednesday, Yarbro offered an amendment: It would allow guns in the state Capitol complex, where large signs remind those who enter that they’re currently outlawed. If you want guns in parks that badly, Yarbro’s amendment essentially argued, why not have them everywhere ? Surely, this wouldn’t go anywhere.
Except that the amendment passed.
It quickly led to thoughts of real roadblocks: Would the House concur? (The speaker doesn’t want it to.) Would the governor veto it? Would the state’s security honchos make too much noise about the potential danger?
They were roadblocks the legislators probably hoped for — the kind of defense, in a way, of which Harris speaks. (Harris’ amendment, which would have outlawed guns in parks temporarily if a hate group planned a rally there, didn’t pass.)
There are other realizations Harris has made here. One is that decorum is much more significant in the legislature than it was on the City Council, where he served for about two years.
Another is the surprising access he has to the governor. And another surprise? The rapport he has with rank-and-file Republicans, with whom he says he has plenty in common. “The real problem here is, we don’t have balance,” Harris said. “If we had balance, it would be totally different. We’d debate, we’d see wellreasoned arguments, the extremists couldn’t dominate. Everything would be different. Everything would be different.”