Members of the Tennessee General Assembly returned to Nashville on Monday, kicking off a special session during which they are poised to approve nearly $900 million in spending as part of a deal to bring Ford Motor Co. to West Tennessee.
Monday’s meetings were mostly procedural — the introduction of the Ford-related legislation and the rules suspensions required to push the bills through in an accelerated timeline. If all goes according to plan, the spending could be approved by Wednesday.
In addition to procedural maneuvers, Monday marked a first day of school of sorts, with the return of Republican Rep. David Byrd, who missed the entirety of this year’s regular session while he battled a lingering COVID-19 case; the arrival of new Republican Rep. Greg Vital, who succeeded the late Rep. Mike Carter; and the return of Democratic Sen. Katrina Robinson, recently convicted on fraud charges and possibly facing removal efforts.
Though the initial Ford announcement (read more here) came with a $500 million price tag, the total has in recent days ballooned to nearly twice that, as the Chattanooga Times Free Press was able to clarify that infrastructure spending and other state costs were not included in the original amount. While it could cause some heartburn among lawmakers, House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said Monday, “At the end of the day, we need 50 votes. We’ll get 50 votes.”
Though GOP Gov. Bill Lee said lawmakers should focus on Ford in the special session (and state law requires special session legislation be related to topics listed in the official call), it’s already clear that this week will not exclusively be about economic development and corporate recruitment. At committee meetings held earlier in the day that were not part of the special session, lawmakers discussed which books (not, for example, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, one GOP representative said) should be offered in Tennessee school libraries and how the legislature should draw new legislative maps.
Rep. Rusty Grills (R-Newbern) filed a bill that would allow people who quit their jobs over COVID-19 vaccine requirements to still get state unemployment benefits. The legislation does not yet have a Senate sponsor. Though it appears unrelated to the Ford project, Sexton said it fit under the call’s purview and would be considered this week.
Also on the horizon is a second special session, this one initiated by the Tennessee General Assembly itself. Sexton said Monday that the House had the required signatures (two-thirds of the body) to call one, and the Senate is expected to follow suit. That proposed special session, possibly to commence Oct. 27, could be wide-ranging, mostly focused on cracking down on mask and vaccine mandates and other conservative grievances related to COVID-19.
Sexton gave a preview of the tone for future debates when he mentioned the prospect of a “nullification type of bill” to respond to federal rules. Reminded by a reporter that the last major time states took up that mantle ended poorly, Sexton said, “Nullification is good if you think something is unconstitutional.”
