Legislature back amid FBI probe, pandemic
‘We need flexibility as we move forward’
Tennessee’s 112th General Assembly convenes on Tuesday, the new session beginning as a maelstrom of uncertainty sweeps the legislature following Friday’s FBI raids of multiple House Republicans’ homes and offices.
The legislature will also begin a new session with Senate proceedings closed to in-person spectators due to COVID-19, the seriousness of which some Republican lawmakers continue to deny even as one House member remains hospitalized in intensive care with the disease.
“We need flexibility as we move forward,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-crossville, said about how the legislature will proceed this session through uncertainty surrounding the trajectory of the pandemic and what it will mean for those in the building.
The 111th General Assembly was historic and tumultuous.
It was a two-year period in the legislature that brought a turnover in House speakers, two special sessions, the controversial passage of Gov. Bill Lee’s school voucher legislation, revenue that soared to historic highs before a projected crash, two months of overnight protests and the deployment of the National Guard to the Capitol while
the public building was partially closed due to COVID-19.
If the start of the session is any sign, the 112th is likely to bring its own slate of turmoil.
This year, House proceedings will be open to the public at a limited capacity, as they were when the legislature met over the summer, while the public will only be able to watch Senate meetings and floor sessions online. Testimony during Senate committees will be conducted remotely.
Lt. Gov. Randy Mcnally, R-oak Ridge, said based on COVID-19 data, the Senate will reevaluate its plan ahead of the regular session, which is expected to begin in early February after a special session for education concludes.
Masks aren’t required for legislators — some of whom still have refused to wear them during recent committee hearings and at a November House Republican caucus meeting. Staff and visitors are required to wear masks, however.
“I wore a mask last time. I’m going to wear a mask this time,” Sexton said. “I think you’ll have more people wearing them this time, but we’re not going to mandate they have to.”
Less than two weeks after the House GOP’S Nov. 24 meeting, Rep. David Byrd, R-waynesboro, was admitted to the hospital. He has remained on a ventilator for weeks with COVID-19, the second House lawmaker to spend time in the ICU due to complications from the illness.
Medicaid block grant vote an early priority
The first week of session, which the legislature refers to as its “organizational week,” will bring a flurry of new committee and office assignments and members electing a secretary of state, treasurer and comptroller.
They will also potentially take up the first bill of the year this week: approving an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the funding structure of the state’s Medicaid program, Tenncare.
The hybrid Medicaid block grant initiative is an effort embraced by Gov. Bill Lee and many Republicans, one the state and federal government expedited in recent weeks to finalize before President Donald Trump leaves office, though it could still be rejected by President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.
A vote on the legislation is expected to take place late in the week.
While both chambers typically cram onto the House floor for a joint convention at the start of session to elect the state’s constitutional officers, that will take place Wednesday in War Memorial Auditorium in an effort to allow legislators to space out.
Secretary of State Tre Hargett and Treasurer David Lillard are expected to easily be reelected to their positions, while Jason Mumpower plans to succeed his boss Comptroller Justin Wilson, who in recent weeks announced his retirement.
Sexton has been at work on an overhaul of parts of the chamber’s current committee system, one that was expanded in 2019 under former Speaker Glen Casada, R-franklin. Sexton succeeded Casada, RFranklin, who resigned from the position amid a scandal over racist and misogynist text messages and a chief of staff who admitted to using cocaine in the building.
“There will be a consolidation of committees and maybe splitting of committees,” Sexton said, adding that the House’s 29 subcommittees will be reduced to 20 to 25, while some full committees may also be split or merged.
Casada, Rep. Robin Smith, R-hixson, and freshman Rep. Todd Warner, R-chapel Hill, each had their homes searched by the FBI on Friday, though the federal agency has not released details on the investigation.
Rep. Kent Calfee’s office was also searched by federal agents, though Sexton said that Calfee, R-kingston, is not a subject of the investigation.
Sexton said the House will be using special air purifiers, similar to what the Senate purchased last year. Plexiglass partitions remain up on the House floor and in committee rooms, while senators’ desks will be spread apart again.
Special session in second week
Lee has called a special session to begin after the General Assembly’s organizational week, a decision he made to ensure that various K-12 education-related bills are passed early in the year to allow schools time to prepare for summer initiatives and the next academic year.
The special legislative session begins Tuesday, Jan. 19 and is expected to last the duration of that week.
Legislators will take up a number of school issues, including a reading program to attempt boost the state’s poor literacy rates among young students; ensuring schools will receive their usual base level of funding next year; implementing summer programs to combat learning loss due to coronavirus disruptions; and potentially giving teachers raises that were pulled from last year’s budget.
Constitutional carry, taxes likely topics
When businesses and schools began shutting down in the spring, the legislature also quickly closed its doors to the public as lawmakers scrambled to pass an emergency budget before going on recess for two months.
Nearly all new, major initiatives Lee had outlined in his 2020 State of the State address — and plans by legislators to implement their own new programs — were never approved or included in the final budget. Members returned in June, and then again in August.
Among items Lee is expected to introduce is a permitless carry bill, dubbed “constitutional carry,” which would allow the carrying of handguns without receiving a permit; criminal justice reform bills related to alternatives to prison and reentry support; and legislation to prevent municipalities from raising property taxes without a referendum.
Both speakers last week separately referred to the upcoming year’s budget as the “No. 1 thing” the legislature will focus on this year. Despite dire predictions last summer by state budget officials and economists of a massive drop, tax revenue has remained on par with, and even higher, than typical levels.
“If things are going like they’re going now, we’ll probably have a full session,” Mcnally said of the prospects of cutting the session short as they did last year.
While Mcnally in the summer said the Senate would only take up a narrow scope of bills related to the pandemic and saving money in the budget, this time he expects members will be able to pass a wider array of legislation, including new projects. “I think so far our revenue picture has been fairly good. It’s been a real surprise to me.”