A Williamson County state senator filed legislation Monday to block a local hiring requirement that Nashville voters supported last month, making for what could be the first battle between Nashville’s new mayor and state lawmakers.
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But Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, wants the state to overturn the rule and ban other cities from similar ideas. He said the mandate is unfair to companies and will make it tough to find construction workers — and then keep track of where they’re living.
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“How are you going to keep track if someone moves while they’re working on the job site? What if someone, when you hire them, lives in Antioch, but midway through the job, they move to Rutherford County?” he asked.
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“It’s an administrative nightmare, which will drive up the costs of businesses trying to adhere to the policy, which will end up costing taxpayers more money. And then when it is actually implemented, it’s going to discriminate against other counties and businesses and employees that live in other counties.”
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Johnson said he took action because the impact of the measure reaches into counties that didn’t get to vote on it.
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“If Davidson County wants to pass bad public policy that impacts the people of Davidson County, that’s their business. But in this particular instance, it affects other counties.”
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He said he’s
siding with industry groups and chambers of commerce, and he wants Tennessee’s Attorney General to say whether it’s constitutional.undefined
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His filing also follows the city’s mayoral race. Johnson endorsed
David Fox, who opposed the local hire rule but lost by 10 points last week.undefined
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Winner Megan Barry, backed by labor unions, supported the provision. She said she suspected the legislature might attempt to overturn it but
vowed to defend Metro laws.undefined
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Late Monday, Barry released a statement about the bill:
“While I predicted this might happen, it is still unfortunate that legislators outside of Davidson County feel the need to override the will of 58% of voters in Nashville. I would hope that lawmakers from across the state would support the concept of local control and work with myself and our Davidson County delegation to help find solutions to the problem we are trying to solve — expanding opportunity and access to jobs funded by local tax dollars.”
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The General Assembly returns Jan. 12, with hearings on local hiring anticipated early in the session.
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