Tennessee House advances bill to ban reappointing lawmakers booted for behavior
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Republicans in the Tennessee House voted Monday in favor of a bill that would prevent local governments from reappointing state lawmakers who have been expelled for conduct.
The proposal is one of several restrictions being considered following the Republican Party’s high-profile deportation proceedings last April against Democratic Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. What happened next would be grim: Jones and Pearson were reappointed and quickly returned to work.
One of the Legislature’s lawyers expressed concerns about the bill last week. During a committee hearing, he told lawmakers in the House of Representatives that it raises constitutional questions and suggested that the change be presented to voters in a constitutional amendment instead.
Representative Johnny Garrett, a Republican from Goodlettsville who sponsored the bill, argued that the Tennessee Constitution would allow the change.
“I believe the language is absolutely clear,” Garrett said.
Tightening restrictions on expelled lawmakers will likely receive more attention in the Senate, where Speaker Randy McNally says his chamber will await House action before considering any of the proposals.
Pearson, who proposed several amendments that were voted down, said the proposal amounted to a government overreach that strips constitutional power from local officials.
“Frankly, I don’t like the retaliatory, racist response of bills against Rep. So tired of Jones and myself,” Pearson said moments before Republican Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton took his comments out of order.
Jones, meanwhile, was not called to speak on the bill before Republicans broke off debate and voted on it.
Jones and Pearson, two young black lawmakers, were expelled for protesting on the floor of the House of Representatives last April calling for gun control, just days after a shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville left six people dead. She and Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson joined the chants of protesters in the public gallery and outside the chamber.
Johnson, who is white, was spared from deportation by a single vote after her legal team argued that her role was diminished and noted that she did not use a megaphone. Dubbed the “Tennessee Three,” the Democrats attracted national attention and fundraising.
Republicans are also proposing constitutional amendments for voters that would ban lawmakers from returning to office after being deported. One proposal provides for a four-year ban. The other would make it for life. Both Pearson and Jones easily won special elections months after they were reappointed.
Johnson hopes the momentum will continue in her rise to Republican American Marsha Blackburn’s seat. At the same time, Johnson is running for re-election to the state House.
Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are also pushing a bill that would prevent Johnson from appearing on the ballot multiple times for different offices in one election. It would also ban holding multiple elected offices at the same time. Republicans have said Johnson is not the target.
In the wake of the evictions, Tennessee House Republicans also introduced new rules this year that limit how long lawmakers can debate bills and restrict members deemed “out of order” from speaking, possibly for a few days at some repeat offenses.
Jones has filed a lawsuit seeking his expulsion and a temporary special session of the House of Representatives, which Republicans used in August to silence Jones for part of a day.