Tennessee Gov. Lee Signs Bill To Lower Nashville Metro Council To 20 Members
Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
The Tennessee Senate voted to approve a measure to reduce Metro Nashville’s council from 40 to 20 members on Thursday by a 23-7 vote.
The bill was then signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee within two hours of its passage, not a common occurrence for bills that pass the legislature.
House Bill 48 passed the full House earlier in the week. Metro Nashville’s legal department, in a statement, said the bills have “legal defects” and violates the Tennessee constitution in several ways while not allowing proper time for re-districting maps for the election cycle indicated. It vowed to “vigorously defend” those legal rights.
“This attack on the constitutional rights of Metro and the people who live here is very dangerous,” Metro Law Director Wally Dietz said in a statement. “It serves the interests of no one.”
Attempts by Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, to amend the bill on the Senate floor failed. Yarbro is currently running for Nashville Mayor and a vote on the bill in committee earlier in the week was delayed to the end of the meeting as Yarbro attended a mayoral debate.
Yarbro said he believes the bill is unconstitutional and asked to delay the implementation to 2027 or allow voters to decide the move on a referendum. Another rejected amendment would have had the rule apply to all county governments.
“The state and the city are in this together, we are symbiotic,” Yarbro said. “… We rise or fall together … We all lose from this. It’s a negative sum conflict.”
The bill applies to all city and metro governments in the state. Nashville is the only one with more than 20 members.
Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, said it was clear the bill was retribution for Nashville voting against support for the city hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“Where the constitution giveth, the Legislature cannot take about,” Yarbro said, referencing a comment Wednesday from Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, about a proposal to move appointment power for Nashville’s sports authority and airport board in which Bailey said “the General Assembly giveth, the General Assembly taketh away.”
The Metro council reduction bill was applauded by Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee.
“Nashville currently has the third largest city council behind New York City and Chicago,” said State Director Tori Venable. “They are a rubber stamp for tax and spend liberal mayors – racking up the highest debt of any Tennessee city, prioritizing the wants of special interests over the needs of taxpayers, and raising taxes by 34% after a devastating tornado in the midst of COVID economic shutdowns.”
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
