NASHVILLE – A GOP-led legislative effort to put lawmakers in operational control of Tennessee’s state Board of Education with six of the panel’s nine voting-member appointments is moving in the state House despite opposition from Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who now makes all the appointments.
House Bill 1838, sponsored by Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, won approval Wednesday in the House Education Administration Committee on a 9-6 vote.
The legislation has a powerful supporter: Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton of Crossville.
“I’m going to vote for it when it comes to the floor,” Sexton told reporters Thursday after the House adjourned for the week. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having the legislature [have] a little bit of oversight on that state board as well as having some appointments to it.”
Sexton said, “I haven’t had a discussion with the administration. I think they’ve talked to other members on the committee.”