NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee House passed the "Dismantle DEI" bill that would prohibit state and local governments from promoting or requiring diversity in hiring practices. But the bill did not get the robust debate many expected.
Debate cut off
Other than a few limited remarks, made by Democrats in their effort to amend the legislation, very few words were spoken on the Tennessee House floor about the bill itself. "This bill is racist, it’s sexist, it’s ablest," said State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville). "Are you all so terrified of people that don’t look like you and believe like you?"
"[State Rep. Aron Maberry (R-Clarksville)] chose to come here to introduce these racist, vile, unnecessary bills to wage culture wars and target marginalized groups of people — and it’s shameful," said State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville)
Shortly after the last amendment was presented, State Rep. Chris Todd (R-Jackson) made a controversial procedural move that ended debate on the amendments and the bill as a whole. Essentially, it forced an immediate vote. "I move previous question on the amendment and the bill," Rep. Todd said on the House floor.
"This is going to change the way we do business," said State Rep. Sam McKenzie (D-Knoxville), while leaders were determining if the procedural move was proper under the House rules.
The House clerk decided the move was appropriate.
The bill passed, exclusively along party lines, 73-24.
Blame, shame and attacking
After the vote, both parties used their pre-scheduled news conferences to blame each other for a lack of decorum. "They bring this garbage before us, and then they’re ashamed to even defend it," said Rep. McKenzie, referencing the lack of a proper debate.
"When we want to debate, and they just want to fling insults, and hold up signs and that kind of stuff," said State Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) who also serves as House Majority Leader. "I think members sometimes get sick of that and they just go ahead and call the question."
Lawmakers also used the news conferences to make the arguments on the bill that they couldn't, or didn't, make on the House floor.
"If D.E.I. stood for Diversity, Excellence and Inclusion, it would be perfectly fine. But it stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which is a communist, socialist principle that is racist at its very core," said Lamberth. "Leave all the rest of the junk out of it and just say look, are you good at what you do? If you are, great, we want to hire you and move forward together and be successful."
"For him to say it’s communist, it’s just, he’s shifting the blame again trying to take the eyes of him. For us to be even here talking about this is just ridiculous," said State Rep. Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville). "For us to be even here talking about this is just ridiculous."
"It is offensive, particularly when we know we have long family histories of having to deal with discrimination and lack of inclusion," said State Rep. Harold Love Jr. (D-Nashville).
What comes next
There is a second DEI bill that was scheduled for debate Thursday. However, when tempers started to flare on the House floor, Rep. Lamberth moved to adjourn for the day and take up the second bill on Monday. Later, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) told reporters he did this to allow cooler heads to prevail. "When things escalate, and it gets to a point, it’s better to -- let’s go home this weekend, let’s come back," said Sexton.
Before the body adjourned, House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis) moved to have the other DEI bill to be debated using a relatively new procedure for the House. It stipulates that both House Democrats and House Republicans will each get 30 minutes to debate the measure before there's a final vote. Rep. Sexton admitted, perhaps that rule should have been used on the DEI bill debated Thursday.
The Tennessee Senate is also expected to take up both DEI bills in that chamber on Monday.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
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