New Bill Would Remove Governor’s Unilateral Ability To Extend Emergency Powers
Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
A new bill filed by freshman lawmaker Bryan Richey (R- District 20-Maryville) will attempt to tackle the issue of executive powers by the governor, and their use in the case of a state of emergency.
As our current legislation stands, the governor has the authority to declare a state of emergency via executive order, and the unilateral ability to renew that order before the legislative expiration period of 60 days. So long as it is renewed by the governor before the 60 day deadline, it can remain in perpetuity.
There are no current permanent provisions to address the 60 day time frame, or make any allowances for the General Assembly to intervene on the people’s behalf, should there be an abuse of the powers granted to the governor in such a case.
HB189 as introduced, repeals the authority of the governor to renew an executive order to address an emergency after 45 days; authorizes the governor to call the general assembly into an extraordinary session to address the emergency; if the general assembly fails to address the emergency, authorizes the governor to renew the executive order one year after the expiration of the original order or one year after the adjournment of session, whichever occurs later. – Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 58 and Title 68.
While the bill enjoys the support of those who lobbied hardest against the executive actions of Governor Lee during the Covid pandemic, some say it still falls short of what is needed to ensure the protection of the personal liberties and freedoms for all Tennesseans, as explicitly articulated in our state constitution.
Gary Humble, Executive Director of statewide grassroots organization Tennessee Stands, had this to say:
“I fully support this bill. Even though we had three (3) summer study sessions in 2020 on this issue, the legislature has yet to address it. The only thing they did during the special session in 2021 was change the limitation on an emergency declaration from (60) to (45) days, which was meaningless because the Governor can still renew the emergency on an unlimited and unilateral basis.
This bill would actually limit the Governor’s emergency declarations to (45) days and then require legislative action. While this bill is a step in the right direction and has my support, I would be remiss not to acknowledge that allowing our Governor to rule by executive fiat for even (1) day is unconstitutional per Article II, Section 2 of our Tennessee Constitution.
‘No person or persons belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any of the powers properly belonging to either of the others…’ Meaning, members of the executive branch cannot execute powers constitutional reserved to the legislative branch. It really is that simple.”
Should the bill pass successfully through the legislative process, and upon being signed into law by Governor Lee, its effect would be immediate the public welfare requiring it.
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is a recent escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers. She has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. Outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty.
Emergency powers should be reviewed more often than 45 days. The limit should be no more than 10 days and should possess legislative restrictions and involvement and or review committees to question or challenge these limited authorities. Furthermore the state should have some oversight to emergency declarations of city mayors, county managers and all medical boards and public health departments. Giving power to one individual or a small group is clearly unconstitutional. I’m thankful that this issue has been addressed and I pray that it will not be forgotten.
It’s a start. Lee scared me a lot with his declarations to allow citizens to be taken to internment camps and to have outside force hold sway over our local law enforcement. NEITHER is constitutional in any way, and I have learned to distrust Lee because of those EO’s. He is on China’s “friendly” list and has even been listed as a CCP: member, in those documents that came out of the Houston embassy in 2019. We really need to keep a tight eye on him. Gary Humble thinks this bill is fine. I think it is only borderline but I pray that it passes.
Governor’s should never be allowed to keep issuing Emergency Orders. As a former Illinois resident, Pritzker has continued to do this. Except it’s every 30 days and the legislature goes right along with it. I’m starting to believe Tennessee is doing many of the same things that ruined Illinois.