Tennessee House procedures, committees proposed for overhaul

NASHVILLE — State House members would be limited to introducing 10 bills per legislative session and no longer would be able to vote on legislation for colleagues away from their seats under a proposed overhaul announced today by Speaker Beth Harwell.

The Nashville Republican’s multi-point plan also restructures the House committee system. The purpose of the proposal, she said, is to streamline the process, help lawmakers set priorities and save money.

Among changes is splitting the Judiciary Committee into civil and criminal justice panels. Another calls for dividing the State and Local Government Committee into two panels with one dealing with state legislation and the other local proposals.

Two committees would be abolished. One is the Agriculture Committee, which will be merged with the Conservative and Environment Committee.

The other is the Children and Family Affairs Committee. Harwell said legislation there would go the new Judiciary civil committee.

Harwell said the reason for the committee shakeup is that some panels consider fewer than 100 bills a session while others plow through more than 500, leading to a rush of legislation.

The overhaul proposal would have to be approved by the House Rules Committee.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.