Lessons the Tennessee General Assembly can learn from its actions (or inaction) in 2023

In 2023, Tennessee politics were decried as undemocratic by an article in The Atlantic and lampooned multiple times by Saturday Night Live.

An exclusive poll by The Tennessean and Siena College released on Dec. 17 shows residents enjoy the Volunteer State’s quality of life, but they are at odds with lawmakers on a variety of hot-button issues: legalizing marijuana, making abortion laws less restrictive, expanding Medicaid, and approving a red flag law to temporarily remove firearms from people who are a threat to themselves or others.

There is a disconnect between citizens and their elected officials, but, then again, most incumbents keep getting elected, allowing them to dismiss surveys and emboldening them to pass laws in the GOP supermajority-dominated legislature just because they can.

They should be careful to think they are always right because as observers saw with the recent Ohio election, citizens in the Buckeye State passed measures to protect abortion rights and legalize marijuana in spite of lawmakers’ objections.

Tennessee does not have that level of direct democracy – all constitutional amendments must go through the General Assembly to get on the ballot.

Nevertheless, several examples of citizen action, dissatisfaction and court rulings show that lawmakers cannot continue to ignore demands from the public on a variety of issues, including:

• Gun law reform

• Education policy

• How cities govern themselves

Here are lessons to be learned from their 2023 regular and special sessions as they prepare to return to Nashville on Jan. 9 for their 2024 session.

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Legislature ignored pleas from the Republican governor and ordinary citizens on gun law reform

The Covenant School shooting last March moved Gov. Bill Lee to call a special session to pass a version of a red flag law that might be acceptable to lawmakers who have been loosening gun laws for years.

The massacre and the possibility for some action galvanized citizens with young people marching to the Capitol and a nonpartisan coalition called Voices for a Safer Tennessee forming and growing across the state for common-sense measures.

Lawmakers, however, did not take up Lee’s proposal, and many citizens are intent on pushing the needle forward on this issue in the years to come.

This was a missed opportunity to be proactive on an issue critical to citizens, especially many parents.

Another view: Tennessee might ditch federal education dollars. Here's why the state should cut the cord.

Idea to reject federal education dollars and expand voucher program creates questions and risks

The idea by legislative leaders to reject $1.9 billion in federal education funding created confusion and questions about why, other than for ideological reasons, Tennessee would seek to be the only state in the union to go it alone.

One the one hand, the idea is to avoid over-regulation, but that pot of money supports some of the most vulnerable students including children with disabilities.

In my experience traveling the state, there is an anti-federal government sentiment in parts of Tennessee, but even this seems to go too far.

Which leads us to Governor Lee’s main legislative priority of 2024 to expand the Education Savings Account program from Davidson, Shelby and Hamilton counties to the rest of the state.

Local school superintendents and elected officials are balking at the plan.

There are still many gaps in the details, including how the program will be paid for and what the accountability measures will be to ensure students are benefiting from the vouchers that would allow them to use the money for private, parochial or home school.

Citizens deserve to know the full details.

Effort to teach Nashville a lesson has generated multiple lawsuits at taxpayer expense

When Nashville’s Metro Council voted to reject the Republican National Convention in 2024, lawmakers promised to retaliate, and they did, big time.

They cut the council in half from 40 to 20, they made changes to the local charter without voter consent regarding the number of votes it takes for demolition at the Nashville Fairgrounds and the existence of the voter-approved Community Oversight board, and they altered the governance of important boards including those overseeing Nashville International Airport and the Sports Authority.

Nashville sued on most of these issues and has yielded several wins in court including an injunction on reducing the size of the council. While the state has appealed in some cases, judges are agreeing that the Home Rule Amendment of the state Constitution was being violated.

Lawmakers should consult the voters of the communities they are preparing to disaffect. Legislators could have sought local referenda in these cases, but they chose to be heavy-handed, and the taxpayers are now footing a large bill.

Bright spots focus on infrastructure and environmental protection

The Tennessee General Assembly did take some important steps this year in approving Governor Lee’s priorities for the regular sessions of 2023.

That manifested in the passage of the $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act and the protection and conservation of the Duck River.

These speak to quality of life issues. The Tennessean/Siena College poll shows that 56% of respondents rated the state’s roads and bridges to be fair or poor.

As the session begins on Jan. 9, citizens can keep track of their legislators and bills at https://www.capitol.tn.gov. They can find their email addresses and phone numbers and advocate for the issues they care about, and they can attend the meetings and votes.

Citizens’ voices matter and they should make that clear at the statehouse and at the ballot box.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him on X at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee General Assembly: What lawmakers can learn from 2023 actions