A newcomer to Tennessee might assume that the state Constitution is terribly incomplete. No fewer than 27 proposed constitutional amendments await final action by the 105th General Assembly. Very few will survive the process.
For an overview, see “Constitutional amendments” on the Tennessee legislative webpage.
Proposed Amendments:
Lieutenant Governor & State Officers
A dozen of the changes deal with the direct election of the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer or comptroller, or some combination of those officials. Of those, the one most likely to pass would be for the direct election of a lieutenant governor, with the other positions remaining as is – the AG being selected by the state Supreme Court and the other three, “constitutional” officers being chosen by the state legislature.
After generations of treating the speaker of the Senate as the presumptive lieutenant governor, next in line to succeed to the state’s highest office, it took a tick bite that sidelined Phil Bredesen to make the legislature look at just how, and when, the governor would be replaced. And every scenario that emerged made it clear that a separate, elected lieutenant governor would make more sense than just dusting off the current speaker of the Senate.
The real problem showed up when people realized that when the Senate speaker advanced to the governor’s office, even temporarily, he or she would have to step down from the Senate – legislature and executive branches, three separate branches of government, checks and balances, etc.
Not every Senate Speaker would want to give up that position permanently, especially to fill in for a governor who might be incapacitated for only a couple of weeks. But backers for more elected constitutional officers are lumping together an elected lieutenant governor and an elected secretary of state (see Kurita’s SJR 661 and 687.)
Also note that a resolution that would elect a lieutenant governor only has already failed. Senate Joint Resolution 129 by Joe Haynes failed 6-0 with six abstentions in May 2007.
A similar measure, HJR 333 by Brian Kelsey, crashed and burned in the Civil Practice Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee in April of last year.
Abortion
The hot button issue is abortion. A proposal has passed the Senate to put to a referendum the question of whether the state Constitution can be used to secure or protect the right to abortion. Senate Joint Resolution 127 passed the Senate 23-9 on Jan. 30, 2008. It goes to the House, where it is expected to be bottled up in the Public Health & Family Assistance Subcommittee of the House Health & Human Resources Committee.
While there it will rub figurative shoulders with HJR 827 by House Republican Leader Jason Mumpower, which would provide that “the rights and protections afforded to human beings by the state constitution apply irrespective to age, race, sex, health, function, condition of dependency, or state of embryonic or fetal development within the womb.”
UPDATE 2/26/08 The House Public Health Subcommittee voted down the HJR127 by a 6 to 3 vote along party lines. See the story.
Hunting & Fishing
House Joint Resolution 108 (McCord in the House, handled by Jackson in the Senate) would establish a constitutional right to hunt and fish, that is, to harvest game and fish. Proponents fear that animal rights activists will take action to try to outlaw the taking of game. A similar measure is SJR 591 by Sen. Mark Norris.
UPDATE 2/28: Passed unanimously by the Senate, with added language to specify that traditional methods may be used to hunt non-threatened species
Taxes
Three measures would spell out that the state (nor local governments) can impose an income tax or payroll tax. All are by Republicans – Rep. Brian Kelsey has two, Sen. Duane Bunch the other – and the measure has been partisan in the past, with Republicans claiming that Democrats secretly plot to impose such a tax (historically, the proponent was a Republican governor).
Two measures would claim to establish a minimum wage in the Constitution, one by Sen. Doug Jackson and one by Rep. Mike Turner. This issue is proposed to get Republicans to vote against, thereby casting Democrats in the hero role.
HJR 78 by Rep. Bill Dunn, a Republican, would require a two-thirds vote to approve an increase in appropriations in excess of the Copeland spending cap, a mathematical ceiling on the growth of each year’s appropriations. Since the budget typically passed with far more than a two-thirds majority, it’s probably meaningless.
HJR 793 by Sherry Jones would allow local governments to grant tax abatements to historic property, or property within an official historic district.
SJR 65 by Sen. Beverly Marrero seeks to authorize casino gambling in the state – a long shot, at best.
SJR 46 by Sen. Bill Ketron would allow some veterans’ charities (501 c 19 organizations) to those 501 c 3 organizations that can hold one lottery per year. A better bet.
Miscellaneous
HJR 152 by Rep. Randy Rinks would simplify the election schedule by putting primary and general elections for judicial and county officers in August and November respectively, to coincide with legislative and statewide elections.
HJR 747 by Rep. Mike Turner would change the two-year terms of state representatives to four-year terms, and (same as HJR 152) would lump county and judicial elections into the same calendar as state legislative races.
Wise old legislators have avoided bringing up any such argument about terms ever since the idea of term limits for elected officials surfaced. If such a resolution was marked up to include term limits for state legislators, the lawmakers might have to vote against it, thus opening themselves up to charges that they wish to perpetuate themselves indefinitely.
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