Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Tennessee State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma-District 16) is bringing back legislation to enact the “Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act” for the fifth year in a row.
Senate Bill 2657 (SB2657) is this year’s iteration of the legislation that Bowling first introduced in 2022 after witnessing the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns, mandates, and restrictions.
The bill, which affirms that “the people are the ultimate source of human governmental power under our constitutions, and the states, through their elected officers, are dutybound to fulfill their oath of office to preserve the rights of the people, it is therefore long overdue, and therefore urgently necessary, for this state to prescribe the manner in which, under the authority of the Constitutions of the United States and of Tennessee, the people’s rights and the state’s sovereignty may be asserted as against federal officeholders, whether individually or collectively” is being sponsored by Representative Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport-District 2) in the House.
The first year Bowling introduced the proposed legislation, she said, “I think we all have to concur it’s an undeniable fact that our federal government has grown well beyond its specifically enumerated powers.”
The United States Congress is denied certain lawmaking powers by the First Amendment. The U.S. Constitution also denies the federal government powers “not delegated to it.”
As Bowling has stated repeatedly since 2022, while the nullification process is not new, her proposed “Nullification Act” would create an orderly pathway for Tennessee to use the process when invoking state nullification of federal action.
In 2024, the bill was deferred to Summer Study, something that Chairman Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville-District 7) had suggested the year before when Bowling presented the bill in the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Last year, the legislation was “general subbed,” and sent to a general subcommittee of the Senate State and Local Government Committee where it essentially died as the 2025 legislative session drew to a close.
The bill had not made any progress on the House side, other than picking up a few sponsors.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
Anyone against this is criminal.
It is a shame the general public, and particularly these legislators, do not truly understand nullification. SCOTUS has dealt with this issue for 250 years and rejected it. The last time this issue was raised, to be soundly defeated by all parties involved, was in the 60s. In the states that are fighting ICE they are participating in a form of nullification. How is that working? And that is only part of the problem. What a waste of time of all the parties involved.