NASHVILLE -- Republican state Attorney General Herbert Slatery says in a new legal opinion that a local hiring requirement approved by the city's voters runs afoul of state law.
The Tennessean reports that the local-hire requirement violates the Tennessee's Contractors Licensing Act of 1994, which says that local governments can't create requirements that exceed state rules or discriminate against contractors based on where they live.
The ballot measure earned 58 percent of the vote in Nashville's general election in August. It seeks to require contractors on public construction projects worth more than $100,000 to assign at least 40 percent of work hours to employees who live within the city.
It also mandates that 10 percent of worker hours go to low-income residents of the city.