Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A bill authorizing county legislative bodies to recall a person that they appointed to a position via a two-thirds vote upon recommendation by the “appointing authority” passed on the Senate floor by a 20-10 vote on Thursday morning.
Senate Bill 39 (SB0039)/House Bill 56 (HB0056) has been sponsored by Sen. Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin-District 18) in the Senate and Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland-District 44) in the House.
The intent of the legislation according to the bill sponsors, is simply to be able to remove somebody from a committee if they don’t show up to meetings.
However, as Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville-District 21) pointed out during the Senate proceedings, the legislation does not contain any sort of rationale or cause requirement in order to initiate the process of removing an individual from a committee.
“I appreciate the sponsor’s intent to deal with members who do not show up to their meetings and if this legislation were limited to remedying that situation, I would fully endorse it,” said Sen. Yarbro, “but this legislation before us doesn’t mention when people are late, it doesn’t mention any cause at all. It is genuinely just whatever the will of the body is.”
Sen. Yarbro also voiced concern about the appointing authority being the one to recommend removal of an individual, as well as pre-existing statutes regarding removal procedures for not all, but some, county government boards.
“There are rules that apply and we’re discarding all of those, some of which have cause requirements, some of which don’t,” Sen. Yarbro said. “Sort of an awkward application of this is, in this situation if the mayor is the appointing authority the county commission won’t even be able to remove somebody for cause, unless the appointing authority gives their permission.”
In order to have the answer on record, Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield-District 23) posed the same question of the sponsor that he previously did in committee.
“Is there any appeal process or any due process built into this?” asked Sen. Roberts. “If someone believes that they were unfairly removed, would they have any rights of appeal?”
According to Sen. Haile, there is no appeal process because these individuals serve “at the pleasure” of the mayor or the county commission.
Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16) shared her own concerns about how implementing this legislation without cause requirements might impact the willingness of individuals to even serve on local boards and commissions in the first place.
“If the cause is limited to failure to attend the meetings, that could be considered differently,” Sen. Bowling said. “But without cause, I know having been an alderman in a small town, getting people to serve on the different boards and commissions is becoming more and more of a struggle.”
“I think if we were to put this arbitrary and capricious, in my opinion, ability to remove them without cause, that could actually be very detrimental to our ability to get volunteers to serve on the different boards and commissions,” she continued. “So I will have to oppose this legislation.”
Republican Senators Briggs, Crowe, Gardenhire, Haile, Harshbarger, Jackson, Johnson, Lowe, Massey, Powers, Reeves, Rose, Seal, Stevens, Taylor, Walley, Watson, White, Yager, and Lt. Gov. McNally all voted in favor of the legislation.
Republican Senators Bowling, Hensley, Pody, and Roberts voted against it and so did Democrat Senators Akbari, Campbell, Kyle, Lamar, Oliver, and Yarbro.
Now that SB0039/HB0056 has passed on the Senate floor by a 20-10 vote and on the House floor by a 95-0 vote with 1 “present and not voting,” this legislation will be engrossed, enrolled, and signed by the speaker of each chamber.
It will then be sent to the governor’s desk to await his signature.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. Adelia is The Tennessee Conservative’s on-site reporter for the Tennessee General Assembly. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
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