NASHVILLE – A Senate-passed bill that would dilute Gov. Bill Haslam’s control over membership on the Alcoholic Beverage Commission moves to the House this week amid an evolving controversy over the panel’s competence and some internal ABC turmoil in the recent past.
The bill would expand the ABC board from three to five members. All three positions are now filled by gubernatorial appointment. Under the legislation, one new member would be appointed by House Speaker Beth Harwell; the other by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally.
The measure (SB556) is similar to a bill last year that was advancing without opposition in the Senate when it was killed in a House subcommittee. Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro, sponsor of the legislation both last year and this year, explained to colleagues during a committee hearing that “politics got involved over in the House” in 2016.
One new provision in this year’s version: The $6,000 annual salary paid to ABC commissioners would be eliminated and a commissioner missing more than two monthly meetings in a year would be removed from office. The bill passed the Senate 33-0 on Feb. 27 and is scheduled for a vote Wednesday in the House State Government Subcommittee, the panel that killed it last year. This year, the bill has a different sponsor – Rep. Bill Sanderson, R-Kenton, chairman of the subcommittee.
Death of the bill in the subcommittee in a March 2016 meeting coincided with the abrupt resignation of Keith Bell as ABC executive director without explanation. Ketron said in an interview that Bell, “comfortable with the way things were” with the sitting commissioners, had been working for defeat of the bill. Bell could not be reached for comment.