TN Senate Committee To Hear Bill To Allow Public Comment At Government Meetings
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
The Tennessee Senate State and Local Government Committee will consider a bill that would require state and local governments to allow for a time of public comment at all meetings on March 7.
Senate Bill 0551 (SB0551), sponsored by State Senator Adam Lowe (R-Calhoun-District 1), would amend current state law by adding new sections that would require governing bodies to set aside an allotted amount of time at each public meeting “to allow comment on matters that are germane to the items on the agenda for the meeting.”
The new legislation would allow government entities to create “reasonable restrictions” on those public comments. This would include guidelines such as number of speakers and time limit for each speaker
The House Companion Bill (HB0448) is sponsored by Representative Elaine Davis (R-Knoxville-District 18). It was recommended for passage with amendment and was referred to the House Calendar and Rules Committee.
An amendment was previously added to the bill, noting that the right to public comment would not apply in the case of a meeting held to conduct disciplinary action against a member of the governing body or a meeting where no actionable items would be discussed.
Anyone wishing to support Senate Bill 0551 is encouraged to contact Senate State and Local Government Committee members using the contact information below prior to that March 7 meeting:
Richard Briggs (R) (Chair) – sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1766
Page Walley (R) (Vice-Chair) – sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2368
Mark Pody (R) (2nd Vice-Chair) – sen.mark.pody@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2421
Ed Jackson (R) – sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1810
Sara Kyle (D) – sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4167
Adam Lowe (R) – sen.adam.lowe@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1946
John Stevens (R)- sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4576
Ken Yager (R)- sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1449
Jeff Yarbro (D)- sen.jeff.yarbro@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3291
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
The word “reasonable” is the way the citizens will get screwed again. Some governmental bodies will set “reasonable” limits of sixty seconds or less. Some figure “reasonable” means just about anything they want it to mean and the taxpayers will, again, have to dig into their pockets to go to court and get the courts to decide what’s “reasonable” What a joke.