NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — As the first day of the 2024 Tennessee General Assembly, Tuesday was supposed to be a routine, largely ceremonial affair on Tennessee's Capitol Hill. But true to form, it certainly didn't turn out at that way.
The calendar may say 2024, but the activity inside the Tennessee House of Representatives sounds like the chaos of last year's session picked up right where they left off.
"This is not a palace or country club, this is the people’s house Mr. Speaker," said Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and a member of the so-called Tennessee Three.
Early into proceedings, a member of the public was thrown out of the House gallery for yelling out and asking lawmakers to do a moment of silence for victims of gun violence.
"Objection in the balcony," said Speaker Cameron Sexton, as he rapped his gavel. "Mr. Trooper please remove the protester from the front row."
At issue is a new House policy that only opens 120 seats in the East Gallery to the general public. A good portion of those seats were taken by legislative interns. The video above offers a closer look at the people who were both inside and outside the room Tuesday.
"You guys give these guys a hand, they’ll be working hard to help you out this year," said Rep. William Lamberth, (R-Portland) and House Majority Leader, as he recognized all the interns.
Meanwhile, the West Gallery is now reserved for journalists, VIPs and lobbyists, meaning the rest of the crowd that couldn't snag a seat, was on the outside looking in. That kicked off spirited debate on a day that was supposed to be largely ceremonial.
"Who came up with this rule?" asked Rep. Jones on the floor.
"Mr Speaker, that policy is set by the Speaker of the House," replied Daniel Hicks, the Assistant Chief Clerk of the Tennessee House.
Taking that discretion away from Speaker Sexton would require amending the House rules, which isn't likely given the Republican super majority in the House.
"There are more seats available up there — as we see a lot of seats are currently empty," pointed out Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and a another member of the Tennessee Three.
Republican leaders say exercising crowd control is simply a matter of safety.
"In the event of a fire, do you have the ability to get out of here in a meaningful way or a safe way?" asked Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka), in an interview with NewsChannel 5.
Democratic leaders call it a First Amendment violation.
"The ultimate impact of this is going to be to limit the general public’s access to the House of Representatives and that’s truly unfortunate," said Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) and the Democratic House Caucus Chairman. "Because what we do in that room matters."
On that small point, the importance of their work, these two lawmakers appear to agree — just in very different ways.
"It’s very difficult to get the people’s work done with the interruptions that are happening on the House floor. 7 million Tenneseans are expecting us to get the job done — we’ve got to be able to get the job done," explained Cepicky.
Meaning the calendar has changed, but not the deep, deep divisions.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
