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The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A bill has been filed to enact the “Tennessee State Sovereignty Act of 2024” which would effectively set up a legislative committee to protect against federal infringements on Tennessee’s constitutional rights as a state.
While not the same, this act is reminiscent of the “Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act” previously brought by Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16) under different iterations in 2022 and 2023.
Sen. Bowling’s state sovereignty act was openly opposed by Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) and killed in the state legislature just last year.
This year’s Senate Bill 2058 (SB2058), sponsored by Sen. Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun-District 1), would create a ten member “state sovereignty committee” authorized to receive input, advice and assistance from “interested and affected persons and parties” who are not members of the state legislature.
How would the committee be set up?
The speaker of the House of Representatives and the speaker of the Senate would co-chair this committee together and appoint four members each from their respective chambers of the legislature.
One of the four senators appointed, and one of the four representatives appointed would have to be a member of the minority political party.
According to SB2058, committee appointments should be “based on knowledge of and experience with the Constitution of the United States and the Tennessee Constitution.”
The state sovereignty committee would be required to meet at least twice a year and whenever deemed necessary by the co-chairs. It would also be required to meet “upon the request of the general assembly” or “upon petition of the people.”
They would also meet under the request of Tennessee’s attorney general and reporter or pursuant to a governor’s executive order.
If necessary, the committee would also be able to call for a special session of the state legislature.
What would the committee do?
Federal acts, laws, orders and regulations that could impact “the jurisdiction, governance, sovereignty or civil liberties of Tennesseans would be monitored and reviewed by committee members.
Members would then decide if an action of the federal government falls under “arbitrary power or oppression,” checking for violations of Article 1, Section 2 of the Tennessee Constitution.
If the committee finds a violation that puts the life, liberty or property of Tennesseans at risk, the committee will issue a resolution of noncompliance or a declaration of resistance to the act, law, order or regulation in question.
Amongst other actions, the committee would be required to submit a resolution of its findings to the Tennessee General Assembly.
Tennessee’s resolution would then be shared with other states.
“Such action by the committee fulfills its duty of interposition between the residents of this state and constitutional violations,” the bill text reads. “It is the duty of both the residents of this state and the general assembly to resist pursuant to Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution of Tennessee.”
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.
You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
16 Responses
You would think that that an act like this would at least reference the fact that the federal government has enumerated and limited powers per the constitution. It references Section 1 and 2 from Article 1 of the TN Constitution but no reference to limits of federal power found in the US Constitution. How do you stand up for state sovereignty without identifying the limits of enumerated federal power ?
Agree. This seems to be lip service rather than a robust effort to protect states’ rights. I plan to make that observation to the bill’s sponsor.
We currently have no more than a couple legislators who have a working knowledge of either document, and the General Assembly’s legal staff is not any better. While I do want to see a firm written stance regarding Tennessee’s sovereignty, this proposed committee is not a step forward considering the “subject matter expert group” from that members would be chosen and is nothing more than a type of pacifier for the inquiring public.
Just what we need, another committee!
This proposal represents nothing more than a proverbial “shake of the fist” by our impotent state legislature in the face of their federal overlords. Yet another committee. Next there will be another committee to monitor the actions of this committee, and so on. This RINO legislature that we have in TN simply doesn’t have the stomach to do what is right and proper according to both the Federal and State constitutions to protect the inalienable rights of the people. There is no boldness nor backbone in any save a few of our legislators. Yet the blame falls on us for continuously putting these RINOs into positions of power. We get what we vote for.
A bill cannot change the state constitution regarding how special sessions are called.
Rep. Hulsey/Sen. Bowlings bill from last year IS NOT DEAD. SB2058 is not a sovereignty bill at all. Sen. Lowe has a history of making comments against Nullification and this appears to me to be his way if killing HB0726/SB1092 while appearing to his constituents to be on the right side of this issue. This committee will die a sudden death like all the other committees have done in the past. Just another Trojan horse bill. In respect for transparency I am the founder of TN Citizens for State Sovereignty and we fully support HS0726/SB1092 not out of ego but out of truly wanted the best law in place to fight the many assaults coming from the federal government which will get even worse in the near future. If this bill sponsored by Lowe were a better bill or even a good bill I would not in the least be opposed to it.
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0726 shows that Rep. Hulsey/Sen. Bowlings bill from last year HB0726/SB1092 IS DEAD as of 03/21/2023?
They were reintroduced and given new numbers. Look at HB2795 and SB2775. These proposed bills put the power of nullification into the hands of the people (where it belongs) and not in the hands of a small committee of RINOs picked by the Lt Governor and Speaker of the House.
Sovereignty is an issue to important to be left exclusively to TGA. SB2058 would have a better chance of being effective if it included some Tennesse voters who know & understand our constitutions, US & Tennessee. Actions of our legislators frequently demonstrate lack of understanding of basic constitutional history, issues & meaning. If 2058 is to have any chance of being productive it must include services & expertise of Tennessee citizens who know & understand the basics of our American government.
Karen
Thanks
We all appreciate the time and effort individuals with TNCSS.substack.com and INFORMTN. are leading in Tennessee
Wow…this bill really seems like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” effort to undermine HB0726 and its companion Senate bill.
It creates a committee which can easily block any efforts by the grassroots Tennesseans to petition for nullification.
TNHB0726 is superior to this bill in so many ways. It clearly defines a petition process that elevates the citizens’ concerns, instead of blocking and diminishing them, and it clearly describes the role of the U.S. Constitution, which this sub par bill does not even mention.
I am new to Tennessee politics but I have to wonder what the impetus for this bill was….it seems underhanded and not transparent….so disappointed in some of my Tennessee leaders.
Wow…this bill really seems like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” effort to undermine HB0726 and its companion Senate bill.
It creates a committee which can easily block any efforts by the grassroots Tennesseans to petition for nullification.
TNHB0726 is superior to this bill in so many ways. It clearly defines a petition process that elevates the citizens’ concerns, instead of blocking and diminishing them, and it clearly describes the role of the U.S. Constitution, which this sub par bill does not even mention.
I am new to Tennessee politics but I have to wonder what the impetus for this bill was….it seems underhanded and not transparent….so disappointed in some of my Tennessee leaders.
The checks and balances system our Framers set up is in and of itself an act of interposition. To oppose nullification, a way to interpose, is a form of progressivism. SB2058, at best, is fluff.
We have a wonderful piece of legislation already in place that needs our support, HB0726 and SB1092. Each of these spell out how Tennesseans may nullify not only federal overreach in the future, but all unconstitutional acts in the past.
One must therefore ask, why create a new bill that does not give us the direction our legislators clearly needed these last 100+ years? Perhaps it is to continue to stall because some legislators enjoy too much the game of politics. This game will turn into a nightmare very soon if We the People do not remain vigilant.
I thought this is one of the reasons for having a Governor and a State Attorney General, both who are spending too much time at the “waffle” house.
What is this, some kind of “Joke”???
They are now trying to pass a bill that allows government to call “anything money”,
and set up a “Can’t buy or sell” financial system without government’s approval, then come up with this “Sovereignty”,
And going to appoint some members “who know the Constitution” to advise them.
Well let me tell you what “Sovereignty” is, it “BEGINS IN STATE”,
it’s a Citizens free from any “Legislation” trying to regulate their freedoms, Especially the “Bill of Rights” which is prohibited by the lack of “Enumerated power”, and the “EXPRESSLY STIPULATED” of those “Rights” by the “SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND”.
“EXCEEDING TENNESSEE’S CONSTITUTION”.
Madison had written to Jefferson:
“My own opinion has always been in favor of a bill of rights; provided it be so framed as not to imply powers not meant to be included in the enumeration.
West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette, 319 US 624, 638; 63 S Ct 1178;
“The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no election.”
Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436, 475 (1966)
“Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them.”
Miller v US, 230 Fed 486,489; “The claim and exercise of a Constitutional (guaranteed) right cannot be converted into a crime”.
Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 US 105: “No State shall convert a liberty into a privilege, license it, and charge a fee therefore.”
Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham Alabama, 373 US 262: “If the State converts a right (liberty) into a privilege, the citizen can ignore the license and fee and engage in the right (liberty) with impunity.”
When someone controls your “MONEY”, they control “Everything”,
sovereignty don’t mean anything.
“History shows that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit and
violent means possible to maintain control over governments by controlling the money and the issuance of it.”
President James A. Madison
“Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes the laws…”
Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812)
“The powers or financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank…sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country,
and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.”
Prof. Carroll Quigley in his book Tragedy and Hope
“In a small Swiss city sits an international organization so obscure and secretive….Control of the institution, the Bank for International Settlements, lies with some of the world’s most powerful and least visible men: the heads of 32 central banks, officials able to shift billions of dollars and alter the course of economies at the stroke of a pen.”
Keith Bradsher of the New York Times, August 5, 1995
I haven’t seen any evident that anyone has “ANY KNOWLEDGE” of the Constitution or the Banking system, especially the dangers from Banking.
Tennessee Government is more of a danger to citizens than anyone from outside.