NASHVILLE - Tennessee Democrats today said Republican Gov. Bill Haslam should be "ashamed" for allowing a legislative resolution to take effect which directs the state attorney general to sue the Obama administration over a federal refugee resettlement program.
Meanwhile, the governor is also coming under fire for allowing a bill, which he also refused to sign, to become law which defunds the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's Office for Diversity and Inclusion for one year.
Tennessee governors have a choice on how they handle bills and some resolutions coming to them. They can sign, veto or allow measures to become law or take effect without their signature.
Haslam, who had reservations about both the refugee lawsuit resolution and the UT-K diversity bill chose the third option.
GOP lawmakers want the state to sue the Obama administration over the resettlement program because it would begin including some refugees fleeing violence in Syra between the Hasad regime, rebel groups and Islamic extremists.
Legislative Republicans, meanwhile, have been fuming over UT's diversity office, accusing officials of trying to impose political correctness with suggestions on its web page the campus community use "gender neutral" pronouns to accommodate LGBT students and that faculty and staff avoid mentioning "Christmas" in holiday parties.
The law takes $446,000 from the office and diverts the money toward funding engineering scholarships for minority students.
Tennessee Democratic Party spokesman Spencer Bowers charged Haslam "caved to right-wing extremists, once again" by allowing the refugee resettlement resolution to take effect.
"Refusing refugees who are in desperate need of place to seek shelter from war and hardship creates a culture of fear for the immigrant communities in Tennessee," Bowers said in his statement. "It's not who we are as a state and Governor Haslam should be ashamed of his inaction today."
Haslam said in his message to lawmakers that "I trust the Attorney General to determine whether the state has a claim in this case or in any other, and I have constitutional concerns about one branch of government telling another what to do."
So, the governor said, he is asking Attorney General Herbert Slatery to "clarify whether the legislative branch actually has the authority to hire outside counsel to represent the state."
The resolution provides that if Slatery refuses to file suit, an outside group of attorney would handle the state's case. The Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center has offered to do that for free.
The Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRCC), which advocates for refugees, called the More Law Center "an extremist and anti-Muslim law firm."
Stephanie Teatro, TIRRC's co-executive director, called the group is disappointed in Haslam's decision but agreed the resolution "is constitutionally suspect and that the legislature has overstepped its authority."
"We also agree that attempting to dismantle the refugee resettlement program will not make our communities any safer. Although we appreciate these comments, by failing to veto this dangerous and misguided resolution the governor has helped secure Tennessee's reputation as the most unwelcoming state in the country."
With regard to the UT-Knoxville diversity office issue, Senate Democratic Leader Lee Harris of Memphis noted that students at both UT-Knoxville and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga marched in protest against the measure.
"Sadly, the message being delivered by the Governor's decision is that we do not value Tennessee's vibrancy and diversity," Harris said.
The bill originally would have permanently stripped the diversity office's funding. But Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, ultimately amended his version to restrict that to one year and provided the money go toward engineering scholarships for minority students.