Editing Tennessee General Assembly

{{short description|Legislative branch of the state government of Tennessee}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox legislature
|background_color={{party color|Republican Party (US)}}|name              = Tennessee General Assembly
|coa_pic           = Flag of the General Assembly of Tennessee.svg
|coa_res           = 220px
|redistricting=Legislative Control|session_room      = File:Tennessee State Capitol 2022f.jpg
|house_type        = [[Bicameralism|Bicameral]]
|houses            = [[Tennessee Senate|Senate]]<br>[[Tennessee House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
|term_limits=None|foundation={{Start date and age|1796|06|01}}
|new_session=January 14, 2025
|leader1_type      = [[Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee|Senate Speaker]]
|leader1           = [[Randy McNally]]
|party1            = ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]])
|election1         = January 9, 2017
|leader2_type      = [[List of speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives|House Speaker]]
|leader2           = [[Cameron Sexton]]
|party2            = ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]])
|election2         = August 23, 2019
| house1           = Senate
| house2           = House
| structure1       = (114th) Tennessee Senate.svg
| structure1_res   = 250px
| structure2       = File:Tennessee House.svg
| structure2_res   = 250px
| members          = '''132''' voting members:<br/>33 Senators<br/>99 Representatives
| political_groups1 = {{Color box|#E81B23|border=darkgray}}&nbsp;[[Tennessee Republican Party|Republican]]&nbsp;(27)
<br>{{Color box|#3333FF|border=darkgray}}&nbsp;[[Tennessee Democratic Party|Democratic]]&nbsp;(6)
|term_length=[[Tennessee Senate|Senate]]: 4 years<br>[[Tennessee House of Representatives|House]]: 2 years|salary=$24,316/year +  [[per diem]], employee benefits, travel reimbursement<ref>{{cite web |title=2022 Legislator Compensation |url=https://www.ncsl.org/about-state-legislatures/2022-legislator-compensation |website=www.ncsl.org}}</ref>| political_groups2 = {{Color box|#E81B23|border=darkgray}}&nbsp;[[Tennessee Republican Party|Republican]]&nbsp;(75)<br> {{Color box|#3333FF|border=darkgray}} [[Tennessee Democratic Party|Democratic]] (24)
|voting_system1=[[First-past-the-post voting|First-past-the-post]]
|voting_system2=[[First-past-the-post voting|First-past-the-post]]
|last_election1    = [[2024 Tennessee Senate election|November 5, 2024]]
|last_election2    = [[2024 Tennessee House of Representatives election|November 5, 2024]]
|next_election1=[[2026 Tennessee Senate election|November 3, 2026]]
|next_election2=[[2026 Tennessee House of Representatives election|November 3, 2026]]
|meeting_place     = [[Tennessee State Capitol]]<br /> [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]]
|website           = [https://www.capitol.tn.gov/ Tennessee General Assembly]
|constitution=[[Constitution of Tennessee]]}}
The '''Tennessee General Assembly''' (TNGA) is the [[state legislature (United States)|state legislature]] of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Tennessee]]. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a [[Tennessee Senate|Senate]] and a [[Tennessee House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title and office of Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. In addition to passing a budget for state government plus other legislation, the General Assembly appoints three state officers specified by the [[Constitution of Tennessee|state constitution]]. It is also the initiating body in any process to amend the state's constitution.

==Organization==

===Constitutional structure===
According to the [[Tennessee State Constitution]] of 1870, the General Assembly is a [[bicameral]] legislature and consists of a [[Tennessee State Senate|Senate]] of thirty-three members and a [[Tennessee House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] of ninety-nine members.

The representatives are elected to two-year terms; according to a 1966 constitutional amendment the senators are elected to four-year terms which are staggered, with the districts with even numbers being elected in the year of [[President of the United States|Presidential]] elections and those in the districts with odd numbers being elected in the years of Tennessee gubernatorial elections.

According to the Tennessee Constitution each representative must be twenty-one years old, a citizen of the United States, have been a resident of the state for three years and also a resident of the county they represent a year prior to the election. The state constitution also states that  each senator must be thirty years of age, a citizen of the United States, resided three years in Tennessee, and resided in the district one year prior to the election.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/about/docs/tn-constitution.pdf|title=The Constitution of the State of Tennessee|date=November 4, 2014}}</ref>

===Part-time legislature===
To keep the legislature a part-time body, it is limited to ninety "legislative days" per two-year term, plus up to fifteen days for organizational purposes at the start of each term. A legislative day is considered any day that the House or Senate formally meets in the chambers of each house. Legislators are paid a base salary of $24,316 along with a per diem expense of $284 per legislative day (2020).<ref>[https://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/2020-legislator-compensation.aspx 2020 Legislator Compensation], NCSL, retrieved June 6, 2021</ref> If the legislature remains in session longer than ninety legislative days, lawmakers cease to draw their expense money.

Legislators also receive an "office allowance" of $1,000 per month, ostensibly for the maintenance of an office area devoted to their legislative work in their homes or elsewhere within their district. Traditionally, it has been easier, politically speaking, to raise the per diem and office allowance than the salary.

The [[Speaker (politics)|speaker]] of each house is entitled to a salary triple that of other members. Under a law enacted in 2004, legislators will receive a raise equal to that given to state employees the previous year, if any.

The governor may also call "extraordinary sessions", limited to the topic or topics outlined in the call, and limited to another twenty days. Two-thirds of each house may also initiate such a call by petitioning for it.

=== Joint committees ===
Each chamber sets up its own committee system; however, there are a number of committees which are composed of members of both the House and Senate.

'''Joint Fiscal Review Committee'''

The Joint Fiscal Review Committee continuously reviews items such as revenue collections, the proposed budget and other budget requests, appropriations, state debt, and various state funds, among other items. It also prepares estimates of revenues from the Tennessee Education Lottery and oversees the financial operations of state departments and agencies. Further, it prepares the fiscal note attached to each bill presented in the General Assembly, describing the estimated cost of the bill's contents on state and local government.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/fiscal-review/|title=Fiscal Review Joint Committee - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

It was set up as a special continuing committee of the General Assembly in 1967 and is composed of six senators and nine representatives, each elected by their respective chambers. Additionally, ''ex officio'' members include the Speaker of each house and each house's chairman of the Finance, Ways, and Means committee. The current members are as follows:<ref name=":1" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+Members of the Joint Fiscal Review Committee
!Name
!Chamber
!Note
|-
|[[Ron Travis]] (R)
|House
|Chair
|-
|[[Todd Gardenhire]] (R)
|Senate
|Vice-chair
|-
|[[Paul Bailey (politician)|Paul Bailey]] (R)
| rowspan="6" |Senate
|
|-
|[[Brenda Gilmore]] (D)
|
|-
|[[Sara Kyle]] (D)
|
|-
|[[Steve Southerland (Tennessee politician)|Steve Southerland]] (R)
|
|-
|[[Bo Watson]] (R)
|''ex officio'' as chair of Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
|-
|[[Ken Yager]] (R)
|
|-
|Bill Beck (D)
| rowspan="9" |House
|
|-
|Michael Curcio (R)
|
|-
|Martin Daniel (R)
|
|-
|[[Darren Jernigan]] (D)
|
|-
|[[Susan Lynn]] (R)
|''ex officio'' as chair of Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
|-
|[[Pat Marsh]] (R)
|
|-
|[[Larry Miller (Tennessee politician)|Larry J. Miller]] (D)
|
|-
|[[Mark White (Tennessee politician)|Mark White]] (R)
|
|-
|[[Ryan Williams (American politician)|Ryan Williams]] (R)
|
|}
'''Joint Government Operations Rule Review Committee'''

The Joint Government Operations Rule Review Committee is composed of all members of the House and Senate Government Operations Committees. It reviews rules and regulations created by state departments and agencies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/gov-opps/|title=Joint Committees: Government Operations - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

It has three subcommittees.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Joint Government Operations Rule Review subcommittees
!Subcommittee
!Chair
!Vice-chair
!Members
|-
| rowspan="2" |Commerce, Labor, Transportation, and Agriculture<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/gov-opps/sub-commlabor.html|title=Joint Subcommittees: Commerce, Labor and Transportation - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>
| rowspan="2" |Rep. Jay Reedy (R)
| rowspan="2" |Sen. Paul Rose (R)
|Senators: [[Mike Bell (politician)|Mike Bell]], [[Rusty Crowe]], [[Ed Jackson (Tennessee politician)|Ed Jackson]], [[Sara Kyle]], [[Mark Pody]]
|-
|Representatives: Martin Daniel, [[Curtis Halford]], [[G. A. Hardaway|G.A. Hardaway]], [[Dan Howell (politician)|Dan Howell]], [[William Lamberth]], [[John Ragan]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |Education, Health, and General Welfare<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/gov-opps/sub-health_ed.html|title=Joint Subcommittees: Education - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>
| rowspan="2" |Rep. [[John Ragan]] (R)
| rowspan="2" |Sen. [[Janice Bowling]] (R)
|Senators: [[Rusty Crowe]], [[Ed Jackson (Tennessee politician)|Ed Jackson]], Bill Powers, [[Kerry Roberts]], [[Sara Kyle]], Paul Rose
|-
|Representatives: [[Kent Calfee]], [[Karen Camper]], Martin Daniel, [[Gloria Johnson (politician)|Gloria Johnson]], [[William Lamberth]], [[Iris Rudder]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |Judiciary and Government<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/gov-opps/sub-jud_gov.html|title=Joint Subcommittees: Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>
| rowspan="2" |Sen. Mark Pody (R)
| rowspan="2" |Rep. Justin Lafferty (R)
|Senators: [[Mike Bell (politician)|Mike Bell]], [[Janice Bowling]], [[Sara Kyle]], Bill Powers, [[Kerry Roberts]]
|-
|Representatives: [[Kent Calfee]], Martin Daniel, [[Bill Dunn (American politician)|Bill Dunn]], [[William Lamberth]], [[Mary Littleton]], [[Mike Stewart (politician)|Mike Stewart]]
|}
'''Joint Committee on Pensions and Insurance'''

It is composed of the officers of the House and Senate Finance, Ways, and Means committees, three members appointed by each finance committee chair, and two members appointed by each speaker. Furthermore, the Comptroller of the Treasury, state treasurer, and commissioners of Human Resources and Finance and Administration, as well as the director of the state retirement system, are included on an ''ex-officio'' basis.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/committees/pension-ins.html|title=Pensions and Insurance Joint Committees - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+Members of the Joint Pensions and Insurance Committee<ref name=":2" />
!Member
!Office
|-
|Sen. Bo Watson (R)
|Chair and chair of Senate FYM Committee
|-
|Rep. Susan Lynn (R)
|Vice-chair and chair of House FYM Committee
|-
|Sen. [[Paul Bailey (politician)|Paul Bailey]] (R)
|
|-
|Sen. [[Todd Gardenhire]] (R)
|
|-
|Sen. [[Brenda Gilmore]] (D)
|
|-
|Sen. [[Joey Hensley]] (R)
|2nd Vice Chair of Senate FYM Committee
|-
|Sen. Jack Johnson (R)
|
|-
|Sen. [[John Stevens (Tennessee)|John Stevens]] (R)
|1st Vice Chair of Senate FYM Committee
|-
|Rep. [[Patsy Hazlewood|Patsy Hazelwood]] (R)
|Vice-Chair of House FYM Committee
|-
|Rep. Gary Hicks (R)
|
|-
|Rep. [[Andy Holt (Tennessee politician)|Andy Holt]] (R)
|
|-
|Rep. [[William Lamberth]] (R)
|
|-
|Rep. Brandon Ogles (R)
|
|-
|Rep. Rick Staples (D)
|
|-
| colspan="2" |'''''Ex officio'' members'''
|-
|[[Jason Mumpower]]
|Comptroller of the Treasury
|-
|[[David Lillard]]
|State Treasurer
|-
|Juan Williams
|Commissioner of Human Resources
|-
|Stuart McWhorter
|Commissioner of Finance and Administration
|-
|Jamie Wayman
|Director of Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System
|}
'''TACIR'''

The [[Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations]] is considered to be a joint committee of the legislature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/joint/|title=Legislative Senate Committees - TN General Assembly|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

==Composition of the 113th General Assembly (2023–2024)==

===Senate===
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
!rowspan=3|Affiliation
! colspan="2" |Party <div style="font-size:80%">(Shading indicates majority caucus)</div>
!rowspan=3|Total
!
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |
|style="background: black"|
|-
![[Tennessee Republican Party|Republican]]
![[Tennessee Democratic Party|Democratic]]
!Vacant
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End of previous legislature
|{{party shading/Republican}}|27
|6
!'''33'''
|0
|-
| colspan="6" |
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Beginning of 113th GA
| {{party shading/Republican}} |27
|6
!'''33'''
|0
|}

===House===<!--Needs to be updated--->
{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom;"
!rowspan=3|Affiliation
! colspan="2" |Party <div style="font-size:80%">(Shading indicates majority caucus)</div>
!rowspan=3|Total
!
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |
| style="background-color:black" |
|-
![[Tennessee Republican Party|Republican]]
![[Tennessee Democratic Party|Democratic]]
!Vacant
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|End of previous legislature
|{{party shading/Republican}}|73
|25
!99
|0
|-
| colspan="5" |
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|Beginning of 113th General Assembly
|{{party shading/Republican}}|75
|24
!99
|0
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|April 6, 2023
|{{party shading/Republican}}|75
|22
!97
|2
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|April 10, 2023
|{{party shading/Republican}}|75
|23
!98
|1
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|April 12, 2023
|{{party shading/Republican}}|75
|24
!99
|0
|-
!nowrap style="font-size:80%"|April 20, 2023
|{{party shading/Republican}}|74
|24
!98
|1
|-
|}

See [[Tennessee Senate]] and [[Tennessee House of Representatives]] for current member lists and further information.

==Work of the General Assembly==

===Legislative schedule===
Legislative days are scheduled no more than three days a week during the session. Legislative sessions in both the House and Senate occur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Tuesdays and the majority of Wednesdays are used primarily for committee meetings and hearings rather than actual sessions. Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the Tennessee Capitol also take on an eclectic flavor most weeks, as varied and diverse constituent groups set up display booths to inform lawmakers about their respective causes.

Sessions begin each year in January and usually end by May; during recent fiscal crises meetings have spilled over into July. The time limit on reimbursed working days and the fact that the Tennessee state government [[fiscal year]] is on a July 1 &ndash; June 30 basis puts considerable time pressure on the General Assembly, especially with regard to the adoption of a budget.

Membership in the legislature is best regarded as being a full-time job during the session and a part-time job the rest of the year due to committee meetings and hearings (for which legislators are reimbursed their expenses and receive a mileage allowance). A few members are on enough committees to make something of a living from being legislators; most are independent businesspeople and [[Lawyer|attorneys]], although the latter group is perhaps no longer the absolute majority of members that it at one time comprised. In keeping with Tennessee's agricultural roots, some senators and representatives are farmers.

[[Lobbyist]]s are not allowed to share meals with legislators on an individual basis, but they are not forbidden from inviting the entire legislature or selected groups to events honoring them, which has become a primary means of lobbying. Members are also forbidden from holding campaign fundraising events for themselves during the time they are actually in session.

===Leadership===
Each house sets its own rules and elects its own [[speaker (politics)|speaker]]; the Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title and office of [[Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee]]. For over three decades, both speakers were from [[West Tennessee]]; this caused considerable resentment in the eastern two-thirds of the state. From 1971 until January 2007, Tennessee had the same lieutenant governor, [[John S. Wilder]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]. Wilder was re-elected to the position even after Tennessee Republicans re-took the state senate in the 2004 election. However, in January 2007, after Republicans gained additional seats in the 2006 General Assembly elections, the Senate elected [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Ron Ramsey]] (from [[East Tennessee]]) to the office of lieutenant governor. The current lieutenant governor is Republican Randy McNally, who was elected in January 2017. The 111th General Assembly of Tennessee has 32 new legislators, with 28 of those legislators in the House. The 111th General Assembly also had a new Speaker of the House and majority leader in the Senate, respectively, and new lawmakers in leadership positions. The current speaker of the House is Cameron Sexton, who was elected in 2019.

=== Layout of districts ===
The General Assembly districts of both houses are supposed to be reapportioned based on population as determined by the [[United States|U.S.]] [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] [[census]] on a decennial basis. This was not done between 1902 and 1962, resulting in the [[United States Supreme Court]] decision in ''[[Baker v. Carr]]'' (369 U.S. 186), which required this action to be taken. Afterwards, there were other lawsuits, including one which resulted in an order for the body to create a [[African American|black]]-[[Minority-majority district|majority district]] in [[West Tennessee]] for the House in the late 1990s.

==Powers==

===Legislation===
Tennessee legislators' objectives are to enact, amend, and repeal Tennessee Laws. Powers specific to Tennessee legislators include appropriation of money, the levy and collection of taxes, and the right to authorize counties and towns to tax.<ref name="About the Tennessee Legislature">{{Cite web|url=http://www.capitol.tn.gov/about/|title=About the Tennessee Legislature|website=www.capitol.tn.gov|access-date=2019-03-24}}</ref> The General Assembly is recognized by the state constitution as the supreme legislative authority of the state. It is the General Assembly's responsibility to pass a budget for the functioning of the state government. Each year, the [[Governor of Tennessee|governor]] outlines their budget priorities in the [[State of the State address]]. The Assembly, in a joint session, is present for the speech. Bills may originate in either the House or Senate, and can be either a general or local bill. A general bill affects the state, while a local bill affects a town or county. A local bill must be passed in the state legislature and ratified by the local area it affects.<ref name="About the Tennessee Legislature"/> The Tennessee Constitution states that after a bill has been rejected by the General Assembly, no bill with the same substance can be passed into law during the same session. The Tennessee Constitution states that each bill must be passed on three separate days in both houses. In order for a new bill to pass it requires a constitutional majority.

===Appointments===
According to the state constitution, three positions in state government collectively referred to as the "Constitutional Officers" — the [[Tennessee Secretary of State|secretary of state]], [[Tennessee State Treasurer|state treasurer]], and the [[Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury|Comptroller of the Treasury]] — are selected by the General Assembly in [[joint session]], where each member of the General Assembly is afforded a single vote. Each office is awarded to the first candidate to receive a majority of the votes (67 of 132).

The General Assembly selects the seven members of the State Election Commission. It selects four members from the majority party (the one controlling the majority of the 132 total seats) and three members from the minority party.

===Gubernatorial election dispute===
A contested gubernatorial election is supposed to be decided by a joint session of the General Assembly, according to [[statutory law]]. The General Assembly is also required to decide the result of the gubernatorial election by joint session according to the state constitution in the event of an exact tie in the popular vote, an extremely unlikely election result.

===Amending the State Constitution===
{{Main|Tennessee State Constitution}}
The General Assembly can propose [[constitutional amendment|amendment]]s to the state constitution, but only through one of the two available time-consuming processes:

====Legislative initiative====
For the legislature to propose amendments to the state constitution directly, an amendment must first be passed by an absolute majority of the membership of each house during one term of the Assembly. Then, during the next General Assembly term, each house must pass the amendment again, this time by a two-thirds majority.

The amendment must then be put on the statewide ballot, but only at a time when an election for governor is also being held. The amendment to be passed must receive over half of the total votes cast in the gubernatorial election in order to be [[ratification|ratified]] and come into effect.

The 1870 constitution of Tennessee had never been amended in this manner until 1998, when the "Victims' Rights Amendment" was added. A similar process was used in 2002 to enact the state [[lottery]].

Two amendments proposed by the General Assembly were presented to voters on the 2006 ballot. In 2005 the "[[Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment]]," specifying that only marriages between a man and a woman could be legally recognized in the state, was approved for submission to the voters in 2006. The [[ACLU]] had previously challenged the validity of the amendment by asserting that a constitutional obligation to publicly advertise the amendment had not been satisfied. However, on February 23, 2006, [[Davidson County, Tennessee|Davidson County]] [[Court of Chancery|Chancellor]] Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled that the proposed amendment would be on the ballot in 2006. Both that amendment and an amendment authorizing exemption of [[senior citizens]] from [[property tax]] increases were approved by voters in November 2006.

In 2010, voters approved an amendment providing a right to hunt and fish within state regulations.

====Constitutional convention====
The other method of amending the state constitution, and the one used for all amendments prior to 1998, is for the General Assembly to put on the ballot the question of whether a limited constitutional convention should be called for the purpose of considering amendments to certain specified provisions of the constitution.

If the voters approve this in a statewide election, they then, at the next statewide election, elect delegates to this convention. This body then meets (in the House chamber of the Tennessee State Capitol) and makes its recommendations. These recommendations can be voted on in any election, either one specially called or in conjunction with other statewide elections, and need only pass by a [[Majority|simple majority]] of those casting votes.

This method cannot be employed more often than once every six years.

==See also==
{{Portal|Tennessee
}}
* ''[[Baker v. Carr]]''
* [[Tennessee State Capitol]]
* [[Government of Tennessee]]
* [[List of Tennessee General Assemblies]]
* [[Political party strength in Tennessee]]
* [[State legislature (United States)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.legislature.state.tn.us}}

{{Tennessee State Senators}}
{{Tennessee House of Representatives}}
{{United States legislatures}}
{{TNStateOfficers}}
{{Tennessee}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Tennessee General Assembly| ]]
[[Category:Government of Tennessee|Legislature]]
[[Category:Bicameral legislatures]]