If state Sen. Bo Watson’s municipal de-annexation bill is re-introduced in the next Tennessee legislative session, it should cover all the cities in the state and should require a higher threshold of residents to sign a petition to signal a referendum.
The Senate bill unexpectedly was sent to summer study Wednesday, effectively killing it for this legislative session.
As it was proposed, the legislation applied only to Tennessee towns and cities annexed from 1998 forward and required only 10 percent of registered voters in the annexed area to petition for a de-annexation referendum vote.
However, it had been amended to apply to just a handful of municipalities in the state, including Chattanooga. And language in the bill, at least one senator said, could allow for de-annexation referendums on areas taken in before May 1, 1998.
The House version of the bill, which was sponsored by Rep. Mike Carter, R-Chattanooga, and passed 68-25 on March 14, also limited the de-annexation to just Chattanooga, Cornersville, Kingsport, Knoxville and Memphis (after removing Johnson City), would have sunset in 2019, and would have had to be rectified with the Senate bill for final passage.