Could a 2028 RNC deal ease tensions with Nashville?
Republican legislative leadership on Thursday dangled the possibility of slow-walking legislation to effectively defund the Music City Center if Nashville Mayor John Cooper were to pursue hosting the 2028 Republican National Convention.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Rcrossville, believes the city has until the end of February to express their interest to the RNC, even though Nashville leaders were told last fall there was a short October deadline to signal their interest in bidding.
“Mayor Cooper could do it without a Metro (Council) vote,” Sexton said. “We’ll see if that’s what he wants to do or not. Hopefully that’s the easiest, quickest way to do it. “
Cooper spokesperson TJ Ducklo said the mayor was “open to a conversation” in response to Sexton’s comments.
“If there is a proposal on the table that would alter some of the proposed legislation targeting Nashville, Mayor Cooper would of course be happy to consider and discuss it with state leadership,” Ducklo said.
Longstanding tensions between Metro Nashville and the General Assembly’s Republican supermajority boiled over in recent months into multiple bills designed to wrest control away from the city, including an effort to halve Metro Council, redirect a tourist zone tax that benefits the convention center and take over the Nashville airport governing board. The efforts are widely seen as retaliation against Metro Council for voting down an agreement to host the 2024 RNC convention, if the city’s bid were selected.
Sexton said an RNC bid would not stop the effort by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-portland, to downsize the Metro Council, but said it would “start the process of having a better working relationship” between the city and General Assembly.
When asked what the city could gain by ceding to the supermajority’s RNC dreams, Sexton pointed to the convention center bill, which would repeal the city’s authority to impose extra sales taxes in a designated tourist zone, among other changes.
Sexton wryly noted to reporters he doesn’t think Cooper wants lawmakers “to dive too deep” into the where the city is spending the convention center’s tax zone revenues.
“We have ideas,” about how the revenues are being spent, Sexton said, though he declined to elaborate. “We’re doing our due diligence.”
“We created the [tourist tax zone] with them, in partnership, that it would be used in a certain way. We do need to have the oversight to make sure it is,” he said. “But I don’t think he wants us to dig too deep into that.”
In the Senate, Lt. Gov. Randy Mcnally, R-oak Ridge, said the legislature would consider an effort to bid for the 2028 convention a “sign of good faith” from Nashville leaders.
Late on Thursday, Cooper sent a letter to the Republican and Democratic national committees that the city was “open to moving forward in the process of bidding and hosting” the conventions.
Sexton is hopeful the city will be selected, a spokesperson said, but Mcnally expressed more skepticism of the city’s efforts and expressed his disappointment about a “missed opportunity” for 2024.
Sexton’s Tenncare bill moves out of subcommittee
Sexton’s bill to block Tenncare and its contracted insurance providers from covering in gender transition treatments for adults and minors glided through its first committee meeting last week.
We reported earlier this month on the legislation, which would also block any insurance company from entering into a contract with Tenncare if the company offered any gender transition coverage anywhere in the country. Tenncare relies on three “managed care organizations” to distribute Medicaid benefits to eligible Tennesseans.
In committee, Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-nashville, questioned whether the proposed law would run afoul of the American Care Act, as a federal judge has ruled in a similar Georgia case.
Rep. Tim Rudd, R-murfreesboro, brushed aside Democrats’ concerns that the bill could chase off insurance companies from the MCO model.
“There are already plenty of [companies] wanting to be one of the treasured three right now, so I don’t think that would be an issue,” Rudd said.
The bill is next up in the House Insurance Committee on Tuesday.
Lawmakers get airport tours
Since filing a bill to take over Nashville International Airport’s governing board — the Metro Nashville Airport Authority — a steady stream of state lawmakers have been touring the airport’s newly renovated terminal. CEO Doug Kreulen told board members on Wednesday that he scheduled meetings with numerous members of the General Assembly from the House and Senate.
On Jan. 31, Rep. Johnny Garrett, R-goodlettsville, and Sen. Paul Bailey, R-sparta, introduced HB 1176/ SB 1326 to “add the governor and speakers of the General Assembly as appointing authorities for board positions” for the airport authority board.
The bill sets up a new 11-member board, with: h Four members appointed by the House speaker. h Four members appointed by the Senate speaker. h Two members appointed by the governor. h Nashville’s mayor, or a designee, would be the final member of the board, serving as a voting, ex-officio member.
A similar bill — HB 1197/SB 1335 — from Rep. Ryan Williams, R-cookeville, with Bailey as the Senate sponsor, gives state leaders the power to appoint the majority of board members to Nashville’s sports authority.
Trans athletes and the Tennessee attorney general
In 2021, Tennessee lawmakers passed a law barring transgender students from competing in middle and high school sports under their gender identity. In 2022, lawmakers extended the law to collegiate athletics.
Now, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is joining the fray as a similar Florida law faces a federal legal challenge. He announced his office was joining a 21-state coalition of attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in federal court in South Florida.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is leading the group of attorneys general.
Mcnally returns to Senate
Lt. Gov. Randy Mcnally returned to preside over the Senate on Thursday, just a week after he was hospitalized with heart issues and later pacemaker surgery. Senators applauded Mcnally’s return on the floor, before he asked for a round of applause for Sen. Richard Briggs, R-knoxville.
Mcnally credited Briggs, a heart surgeon, for encouraging him to seek medical attention after he began experiencing symptoms of an irregular heartbeat.
The week ahead
h The Cordell Hull legislative office building will be quiet Monday due to President’s Day
h HB 48, the bill that would halve the Nashville Metro Council, is up for Senate and House committee hearings on Tuesday
h Sexton’s bill to create an prison disciplinary oversight board, HB 1031, will get its first hearing Tuesday in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee
h Senate Republicans passed its gender transition ban for minors and a controversial bill that could affect drag shows. Both of those bills in the House, HB 1 and HB 9, are set for the House Calendar & Rules Committee on Thursday, signaling a floor vote is imminent
h Also on Thursday, a Senate ad hoc committee will meet to discuss dormitory and facilities management at Tennessee State University, which has struggled with a student housing shortage
Got a question for us?
Got a question about state politics you would like us to tackle? Let us know. Email us at mabrown@tennessean.com or statehouse@tennessean.com.
Cassie Stephenson and Sandy Mazza contributed to this report.