Few bills move during tiff between parties
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But lawmakers only reached the third proposal because of a tiff between Republicans and Democrats that had members voting one by one on every matter that came before them, no matter how mundane.
It took two separate time-consuming “roll call” votes just to agree to hear testimony from a state education department official, but the subcommittee ran out of time before he could speak.
The roll call votes in subcommittee and committee meetings, long requested by House Republicans seeking a more open and accountable government process, were put in place Monday.
Democratic Speaker Jimmy Naifeh agreed to a weeklong trial after Republican Leader Tre Hargett sought a permanent change to House rules. But before the end of Tuesday, frustrated lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle were calling for a return to sanity.
“At the rate we’re going, we’ll be here until July,” said Rep. Ulysses Jones, D-Memphis, whose state and local government subcommittees had nearly 40 bills to consider and moved out only two. Lawmakers are trying to end the session by early May.
“I hope this blows over as soon as possible,” said Rep. Russell Johnson, R-Pegram.
Each wasted day would cost taxpayers an estimated $25,000 to $27,000, according to House Democratic Leader Kim McMillan of Clarksville.
House Republican leaders met with their Democratic counterparts at midday and worked out a potential compromise that was approved narrowly by the Republican Caucus later in the day. Democrats have not yet agreed to it.
The proposal would allow a return to “voice” votes, but require them to be recorded and kept with the bills as they travel through the House. That is not currently the case in subcommittees, where bills often are killed and no member is held accountable for a particular vote.
The procedure would be similar to one now in full committees where all members are recorded as voting for a measure that passes unless they specifically seek to be noted as opposing it.
“I think we’ve come a long way,” said Rep. David Davis, R-Johnson City, who has been fighting for roll call votes in subcommittees and committees since 2001. “I think this is what the people of Tennessee demanded.”
The compromise also would provide members with a grievance process if they feel slighted by a chairman’s action, but details have not been finalized.
Last week, domestic relations subcommittee chairman Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, deferred Republican Rep. Chris Clem’s bill prohibiting gay civil unions a week without taking a vote on it and then gaveled the meeting out of session.
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On the Net:
General Assembly: http:www.legislature.state.tn.us