NASHVILLE — Tennessee lawmakers plan to hold hearings next month to “assess the state’s security status” and review directives taken by Gov. Bill Haslam to protect service members in military installations.
The hearing comes as Haslam reviews and implements new Tennessee National Guard initiatives following last week’s rampage in Chattanooga where authorities say 24-year-old Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez killed four Marines and a sailor at the Navy-Marine Operations Center.
Senate State and Local Government Committee Chairman Ken Yager. R-Kingston, and Senate Transportation and Safety Committee Chairman Jim Tracy, R-Shelbyville, will hold the hearing 11, 2015 at 9:00 am in Nashville in Room 30 of the Legislative Plaza.
The State and Local Government Committee oversees legislative matters pertaining to the Department of Military, while the Transportation and Safety Committee oversees the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
Haslam this week moved operations of seven Tennessee National Guard recruiting centers staffed by some 30 personnel to more secure armory sites. The state is also accelerating state handgun-carry permits for Guard members seeking them, among other things providing mobile Safety Department vans normally used to ease crunches at driver license stations.