When Nashville’s Metro Council voted last year not to support a bid for the city to host the 2024 Republican National Convention, citing security concerns, the Republicans who control the state were aghast.
“The people of Tennessee will remember this vote for a long time, and so will I,” said House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland).
Republicans are making good on the threats to get their pound of flesh.
First, legislative leaders unveiled a proposal to cap Nashville’s 40-member Metro Council at 20 members. A little frustrating, some Metro leaders thought, but not the end of the world: There are some benefits to a smaller council, after all.
But the hits kept coming.
Republican leaders recently filed a bill that would strip the state-allowed tax funding for the $623 million Music City Center, which could result in legal and financial chaos for the city. Then Republicans filed legislation that would hand control of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority and the Metropolitan Sports Authority over to the state.
It remains to be seen whether all of the proposals will pass (they easily could, as they are supported by Republican leaders in the GOP-dominated legislature), whether they are simply a show of force to remind Nashville who’s boss, or whether the House and Senate are using these competing proposals as bargaining chits among themselves.
What does not remain to be seen: Any such bill will result in lawsuits.
“There is no rational basis to create different rules that apply solely to Metro Nashville,” says Metro legal director Wally Dietz. “Any legislation that does so can create grounds for litigation."
This year, the Republican supermajority plans to focus on infrastructure, punishing Metro Nashville and culture-war issues
