This week begins a special session of the 114th Tennessee General Assembly, dealing with a school voucher bill and disaster relief. Later normal sessions of the General Assembly will deal with the elimination of the grocery tax and birth control access.
But, what does the General Assembly do, and what is a special session?
How does the Tennessee General Assembly work?
The Tennessee General Assembly is the legislative branch of Tennessee’s government. It has two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
In the Tennessee Senate, there are 33 state senators elected to serve four-year terms; for MTSU’s district, the state senator is Republican Shane Reeves. The Tennessee House contains 99 state representatives elected to serve two-year terms. Republican Charlie Baum, an MTSU economics professor, holds the seat state representative seat for MTSU’S district. There are age restrictions on both chambers, but no term limits currently exist.
In the Tennessee Senate, the state’s lieutenant governor acts as the speaker. The current speaker is Lt. Gov. Randy McNally. The Tennessee House chooses a speaker via election within the House. The current speaker is state Rep. Cameron Sexton.
Politically, both the Senate and the House have Republican supermajorities, meaning the Republicans hold over half the seats. In order to pass, many resolutions only require a simple majority, which is half of the seats plus one. Because of this, supermajorities of either side of the political aisle tend to gain more backlash, as there is generally less discussion on legislation–as seen with the Tennessee Three legislation in April 2023.
Like the U.S. Congress, legislators introduce bills, bringing them first for committees to vote on, then to the House or Senate floor. A bill lifecycle in the General Assembly includes introduction in either the Senate or the House, committee revision/approval, floor debate and vote in the chamber where it was originally introduced, a floor debate and vote in the other chamber and a final vote by the original chamber before the bill is sent to the governor.
The Tennessee General Assembly website keeps track of all bills introduced during each session. Another website, Legiscan, tracks the most recent bill introductions, breaking down the most viewed and bills with the most media coverage, known as “most monitored.”
Each General Assembly legislative session meets for two years, beginning in mid-January and concluding in April or May. The 114th Tennessee General Assembly convened on Jan. 14, 2025. Each legislature meets for a total of 90 days.
The first few sessions of each legislature include elections and the adoption of session rules. Legislators can motion to suspend the rules to get through business faster, but that requires a two-thirds majority.
What is a special session?
A special session calls legislators to come together to meet for a specific purpose. This could be focusing on a particular issue in Tennesseans’ minds or could be a disaster that affected the state. Special sessions are generally limited to what they were called for originally. The governor or two-thirds members of the total General Assembly members can call for a special session.
Tomorrow begins the first special session of the year, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called for it on Jan. 15, 2025. It is meant to focus on the Education Freedom Act and relief for those affected by Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
The Education Freedom Act focuses on a school voucher program that would “extend school choice to every family across rural and urban Tennessee,” according to the Education Freedom website. This voucher program is controversial, with supporters saying it allows school choice and opponents saying it diverts funds from public education improvement.
How do I watch a session of the Tennessee General Assembly?
To visit a Tennessee state House of Representatives session in person, a ticket must be reserved on the General Assembly website calendar. The visitor must show a valid I.D. or U.S. passport at the State Capitol. The state House enacted a rule this session that allows Speaker Cameron Sexton to ban disruptor audience members.
Each session of the Tennessee General Assembly is livestreamed on the General Assembly website and can be accessed via the homepage. The livestream is available on YouTube, Facebook and public access television. Previous session videos are saved on the website and can be accessed at any time.
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