An exterior view of the Tennessee State Capitol building.NASHVILLE – Pressed by GOP leaders to end the legislative session earlier than usual, the General Assembly passed 154 bills in the final three days of the session, 30 percent of the year’s entire package of enacted legislation.
According to an Associated Press analysis of public records, lawmakers moved out 133 of them in the final two days. That number was roughly a fourth of the 510 bills the Secretary of State’s office lists as passing both chambers during the session that stretched from Jan. 11 to May 21.
“That was utterly ridiculous,” said Democratic Rep. Jimmy Naifeh, of Covington, who tried to get lawmakers to extend the session a few days. “It’s just all because they wanted to rush this thing through, and for what reason I’m not sure except for them to be able to say that they got us out on that particular day.”
Among the bills were items that were extensively debated, such as reshaping tenure and collective bargaining for teachers. Others got little attention, including measures that brought far-reaching changes to how residents are allowed to use the Internet, and some are going to need to be redone in the next session because they contained mistakes.
At the time, Republicans pointed to their ability to end the session before Memorial Day as a sign of how efficiently they run state government. “Feels good to be home on a Monday knowing I don’t have to drive in to Nashville. And you save money because of it!” Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey posted on his Twitter account on May 23.