NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After suing the state in October over its takeover of the sports authority, Nashville won back its control of the entity in court.
This goes back to the legislature's decision this spring to make the board state-controlled after lawmakers previously agreed on $500 million in state bonds for the new Tennessee Titans stadium. At the time, Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookveille, said if the Nashville Sports Authority didn't want state involvement, it shouldn't have asked for the funding.
However, that wasn't the order of events. Gov. Bill Lee is the one who came to the legislature to ask for funding in his 2022-2023 budget. He told the public in March 2022 at an event at the GM plant in Spring Hill. It wasn't the Nashville Sports Authority who asked the state, and the Sports Authority didn't complete its stadium votes until 2023.
"Today’s unanimous ruling to enjoin the Sports Authority Takeover Act is a clear victory that protects the constitutional rights of all local governments against overreach by the state," Metro Legal attorney Wally Dietz said. "Four different three-judge panels — with judges from across Tennessee — have all ruled unanimously that the legislature violated the Tennessee Constitution four different times when it passed legislation that targeted only Metropolitan Nashville. We do not enjoy suing the state. But we remain ready to protect the rights of Metropolitan Nashville and the people who live here in the hope that 2024 results in an improved relationship between the State and Metro Nashville."
In the last legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed pieces of legislation trying to snub Nashville in different ways whether it be its power over the airport, the convention center, the sports authority, or the number of Metro Council seats. Metro Nashville has sued over every single initiative.
The squabble between the state and Nashville isn't anything new per se, but it heightened especially after Nashville's Metro Council didn't vote for the 2024 Republican Convention to come to town. Instead, the convention will head to Milwaukee. Top-tier Republican lawmakers seethed in response, and legislation aimed solely at Nashville followed months afterward.
Not soon after May's session, Metro legal sued, concerning several pieces of the legislation, which are in different places in the court system.
It's not clear as of this writing whether the Tennessee Attorney General's office will appeal this decision to a higher court.
