Speaker Harwell confers with supporters of wine in supermarkets before the rug is pulled out from under them.
Rep. Sherry Jones, a member of the House Local Government Committee, could have rescued the wine-in-supermarkets bill today had she chosen to attend the meeting. Another yes vote would have resulted in an 8-8 tie, and House Speaker Beth Harwell, a supporter of the bill, was there to break it.
But instead, Jones went to a hearing right next door on the operations of the Department of Children’s Services. She thought the care of children in this state was more important than the convenience of wine shoppers. We see how it is.
Besides, she said a few minutes ago, she’s not sure how she would have voted on the wine bill. Amazing as that sounds—that a lawmaker could remain undecided on a bill that’s been debated in the legislature for umpteen years—she insisted it’s true.
“I had to prioritize,” she said. “I had somebody watching so I could be in there [in the committee hearing the wine bill] but I was asking questions of the commissioner” at the time of the vote.
“You know where my priorities are,” said the Nashville Democrat, a critic of Children’s Services. “I want life to be convenient for you, I really do. But I just had to be here.”
