Tennessee Democrats blame House Speaker Beth Harwell for a special session.
Governor Bill Haslam has stated he will call a special session of the 109th General Assembly in an attempt to prevent the loss of $60 million in federal highway funds.
Democrats said the expensive problem could have been avoided.
“The buck does stop with the Speaker,” Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Stewart said. “This was her decision to speed up the legislative session. She needs to bear responsibility for the result, which is this fiasco, where for the first time ever that we can remember we have to come back in special session.”
The governor called it an “extraordinary session.” The move came after the U.S. Department of Transportation deemed the state out of compliance when it came to the federal “zero tolerance” drunk driving statute.
In his announcement Friday of a special session, Haslam said he’s disappointed in the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“The state made clear to federal officials that while it disagrees with the interpretation that Tennessee is out of compliance, any such perceived impact of the law was inadvertent and could be fixed in January 2017,” Haslam said. “To avoid any negative impact to the state, I will ask the General Assembly to convene in a special session and clarify state law in this matter.”
The issue came to light in August when those with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notified Tennessee Department of Transportation officials about the 2016 Tennessee Public Chapter No. 1030.
According to reports, that had passed with overwhelming support during the 2016 legislative session. It was signed by the government, and those with the state said it actually strengthened penalties for DUI offenders ages 18 to 20.
Its passing, however, put the state out of compliance with a federal “zero tolerance” drunk driving statute which deals with federal highway funding on compliance with its provisions.
Under federal rules, the maximum allowable blood alcohol content for drivers under 21 has been 0.02 percent. The new Tennessee law raised that limit to 0.08 percent for 18- to 20-year-olds but added tougher penalties for violators. The 0.02 standard remained in place for drivers through age 17.
State officials planned to avoid a special session by finding a remedy in January 2017, however the state was told Friday it must be in compliance by October 1 in order to not lose federal highway funds.
Stewart said many predicated such a problem coming out of the rushed session.
“People in her own party said this is not going to work,” Stewart said. “It's going to create mistakes and errors. Her fiscal people said we can't do our jobs and this is the result.”
Late Friday afternoon, Governor Haslam released his official proclamation calling for a special session beginning at 2 p.m. on September 12.
The session will be used to clarify Tennessee Code in order to remove any question of compliance with the federal requirements.
