Lawmaker brings back ‘nullification’ bill in Tennessee General Assembly

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — One lawmaker is hoping to bring back a bill that would grant the state the authority to reject certain federal rules, statues, executive orders or court decisions.

Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) filed SB2775 at the end of January. The bill, titled the “Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act,” would establish a process by which the legislature could “nullify a federal statute, regulation, agency order, or executive order.”

The law is based on the fringe legal theory of nullification, which has not been historically supported by the U.S. court system. The theory holds that states can pass laws that “nullify” any federal law or judicial decision the state deems unconstitutional.

For example, if the state passed the nullification act prior to the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that came down from the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013, Tennessee could declare the decision nullified and refuse to follow the holding in that case.

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This bill is the second time in two years Bowling has proposed such a law. She attempted to pass the same act in the first half of the 113th General Assembly, but failed to receive a second in a Senate committee.

During that committee meeting, Bowling told lawmakers the bill was necessary to combat a federal government that had “grown well beyond its specifically enumerated powers” and “threatens to suffocate our liberty through Draconian overreach antithetical to principals of Federalism.”

The purpose of the bill, she said, was to “end Tennessee’s practical participation in any federal action that it finds is constitutionally violated.”

Because the bill failed to receive a second in committee, it died there. After that, House sponsor Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport) took his side of the legislation “off notice.” The current version of the bill has not yet made it to committee, according to the state capitol website.

Hundreds of bills will be up for debate during the 113th General Assembly. Tennessee lawmakers shared their thoughts on some of the major issues up for discussion at this year’s legislative session.

You can also find daily coverage from the session here.

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