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Tennessee Conservative News [By Paula Gomes] –
Board commissioners have called a special Metro Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) board meeting for June 10th at the Nashville International Airport to discuss a state law passed earlier this year.
The purpose of the meeting is to vote on whether the board with sue the state over Public Chapter Number 978 which replaces the existing authority of boards for metropolitan and regional airports with a new nine-person governing body at the state-level.
The legislation, which was sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25) and Senator Paul Bailey (R-Sparta-District 15), was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee last month.
The new board will be made up of two people appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, of which one will be required to reside in the same county in which the airport is located and the other must reside in a county in the region that surrounds the airport. Likewise, two people will be appointed by the Speaker of the Senate. The two people who will be appointed by the governor must both be residents of a county in the region.
The last three people making up the board are to be appointed by the executive officer of the creating municipality and approved by its governing body and must all reside within the creating municipality. If there is only one municipality involved, then one person who is to be appointed must come from a list of qualified nominees but if there are two or more municipalities, then up to two people must be from lists submitted by each municipality.
All board members must have no financial interest in an airport or its concessions either at the time they are appointed or during their tenure. They are also prohibited from being an officer or employee of a creating or participating municipality.
Republican lawmakers sought to make changes to the way the board is appointed for Nashville International Airport since 2023 with the question going through the courts before this year’s law was passed.
Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
