State Republicans' Not-So-Rapturous Session

I wasn’t sure if the Rapture had occurred or not—at 6 p.m. Saturday I was watching the Preakness. I suppose it’s bad form to miss the predicted Rapture by watching a horse race. I looked around the house and found my wife still in residence, so I figured it didn’t happen. My friends have been nominating my wife for sainthood for years now, and if she didn’t disappear then the Rev. Harold Camping must have been off on his calculations.

Given that life goes on, I am forced to take a look back at the legislative session, which did end Saturday night.

With the influx of conservative Republicans and the overwhelming majority the Republicans achieved, there was a lot of discussion about the passage of a number of bills some would consider extreme. But the hand-wringing was for naught.

By and large, the perceived conservative agenda didn’t happen.

State Sen. Bill Ketron had a bill to outlaw Sharia Law, labeled as anti-Muslim, but it evolved into a bill that designates local district attorneys as the agency to identify groups that constitute a threat to national security with no mention of religion.

A Senate bill outlawed collective bargaining by teachers, but the final version was watered down by the House and a conference committee, to something called “collaborative conferencing,” which is what many systems do now.

The ridiculous “Don’t Say Gay” bill was changed to merely require that science curricula teach “natural human reproduction.” Is there any other kind?

A bill to allow large school systems to set up a voucher system, allowing parents to opt for private schools with public money for the tuition, did not pass.

A proposal for elected school superintendents did not pass.

A bill to allow faculty and staff permit holders to carry guns on college campuses did not pass.

A move to prevent the extension of unemployment benefits to 28,000 unemployed Tennesseans was squelched and the funding will be forthcoming.

An Arizona type immigration bill to allow law enforcement to demand papers from “suspicious” persons failed. A move to require employers to use the e-verify system to check the immigration status of new hires failed. A requirement that drivers license tests only be offered in English failed.

A proposal to require the election of state Supreme Court Justices failed.

For all the discussion about the conservative agenda, the agenda didn’t get very far. Gov. Bill Haslam and House Speaker Beth Harwell kept the legislation that passed fairly middle-of-the-road.

Now the question remains as to whether the failed bills still manage to provoke a backlash in the electorate—specifically teachers. Or whether the failure of many of these bills, popular with conservative groups like the Tea Party, will provoke outrage from conservatives.

During session, some of the Republican House committee chairs refused to support Speaker Harwell’s position on some bills. She had to occasionally go to a committee to break a tie and move legislation.

Can you imagine a committee chair voting against former Democratic Speaker Jimmy Naifeh’s wishes? Not only would they no longer be a committee chair, their office would be in the basement parking garage before the day was out. Harwell did a good job herding the cats in a fractured House, but she ought to consider, by next session, whether she needs some new committee chairs who will follow instructions. Given the large number of members in a House, the Speaker in any state or in the U.S. Congress, has to enforce discipline. Otherwise the members run amok and nothing gets done.

Ironically, one of the most disciplined team-playing members of the House this session was state Rep. Glen Casada, R-Franklin. Casada is the Republican leader and conservative favorite Harwell defeated for the Speaker’s post.

Newbies Haslam and Harwell should get high marks for passing a balanced budget with no tax increases and session being adjourned weeks shorter than normal. And it isn’t even an election year.

We’ll have to see how popular these accomplishments are with the voters going forward.

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