NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tuesday won't just mark a new year for Tennessee lawmakers, they'll also have to adjust to new rules, proposed Monday by the House Republican Caucus.
If you ask members of both parties, they knew this was coming given some of the chaos of the 2023 regular and special session.
"Session last year dictated there would be some changes this year," said Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Democrat from Bolivar.
"I think a lot of it is the fallout from last year and people just want to see us get back to normal," said Rep. Sam Whitson, a Republican from Franklin.
Some of the rule changes center around speeding up debate. For instance, house members will now only have one minute to give a "Welcoming and Honoring speech" and only five minutes in a committee meeting to present pieces of legislation.
Most of the rule changes made procedural adjustments. Under the new proposed rules, visual aids can no longer be used during committee meetings to explain a bill. Lawmakers also must receive permission to enter the dais, clerk's desk and speaker's rostrum. There's also a new regulation that points of order and parliamentary procedure inquires must now include the majority and minority leaders as they consult the chamber's parliamentarian.
House Republicans also want to change how extended time for debate is divided up between the parties. Under the new procedure, the majority and minority leaders will get to decide who speaks from each side.
The new rules also will change how the Speaker calls on members to speak and that members of the public can't linger in a chamber for more than 30 minutes after a hearing concludes.
But the most notable change comes to penalties for lawmakers who speak off topic of a bill. If the House chamber votes that someone should be ruled out of order:
- First Offense: A lawmaker can't speak on that same topic for the rest of the day.
- Second Offense: The lawmaker's five minute speaking privileges on a bill will be reduced to two minutes for the next two legislative days.
- Third Offense: A lawmaker can't speak for two legislative days.
While Rep. Shaw didn't love all the rule changes, he thought for the most part, they were reasonable.
"I thought they were fairly fair — because I mean it doesn’t matter whether you’re democrat or republican, you do have rules to follow and I’ll never shy away from that," said Rep. Shaw.
With these new house rules, House leadership says they want to focus back on the issues. The question now becomes: will it also bring a spirit of bipartisanship? Leaders of both parties used that question to give pretty partisan answers to NewsChannel 5.
"If something is going to improve the life, the quality of life for Tennessee families, if something is going to protect our children or improve public safety — then we’re open to it," said Rep. John Ray Clemmons, Democratic House Caucus Chairman. "Tennesseans don’t want to be sitting around the dinner table worried about what crazy next bill the legislature’s going to pass."
"We hope to continue to have bipartisanship but members are frustrated at the Democratic caucus, so there may be less bipartisanship, we’ll just have to see how we go forward. It’s up to individual members and how they want to act," said Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican from Crossville. "I think unfortunately we have a Democrat caucus who’s unwilling — who’s told us time and time again that there’s nothing they can do to control the outbursts or the other issues that are going on. They say they can’t handle it, they can’t do it, there’s nothing we can do."
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-Rebecca Schleicher
