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Senate majority leader asks about lawmakers’ intentions

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NASHVILLE (AP) — The Senate Ethics Committee chairman has set a Sunday deadline for two lawmakers indicted in an FBI bribery sting to ask to keep their leadership posts in the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Ron Ramsey, a Blountville Republican, said if Democratic Sens. Ward Crutchfield of Chattanooga and Kathryn Bowers of Memphis do not file a written request to keep their positions by Sunday, he’ll ask Lt. Gov. John Wilder, D-Mason, on Monday to appoint replacements.

Crutchfield serves as deputy speaker and as secretary of the Senate Finance Committee. Bowers chairs the legislature’s joint TennCare Oversight Committee.

State Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, has stepped down as chairman of the House Constitutional Protections subcommittee. House Majority Leader Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, said House rules require members facing indictments to give up leadership posts automatically.

Senate members facing indictment have 10 days to contact the chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and ask for a hearing to keep their leadership posts. Ramsey said he had not heard from Crutchfield and Bowers by late Friday.

Former Sen. John Ford, D-Memphis, held the chair of the Senate’s General Welfare Committee. A replacement has not been appointed.

The four lawmakers along with former state Sen. Roscoe Dixon and two others are charged in the aftermath of the “Tennessee Waltz” public corruption sting.

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