NASHVILLE – Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has decided not to veto a resolution demanding a lawsuit be filed over the federal refugee resettlement program in Tennessee.
The governor announced Friday that despite his concerns about the measure, he was allowing it to go forward without his signature.
“I have constitutional concerns about one branch of government telling another what to do,” Haslam said in a written statement to lawmakers.
Haslam said he had asked state Attorney General Herbert Slatery to clarify whether lawmakers have the authority to hire outside attorneys to represent the state.
Sponsors of the resolution have said that the Thomas More Law Center in Michigan has agreed to represent the state on a refugee lawsuit free of charge if the attorney general declines to sue.