Republican lawmakers will have to decide in the coming weeks whether to move forward with a slate of bills to take over Nashville’s sports authority and airport board, take charge of regulating alcohol on Lower Broadway, and preempt several laws impacting policing, elections and development.
State Republicans cut the size of the Metro Nashville Council in half last week, kicking off a process that should reveal how serious lawmakers are about taking over various aspects of the city’s government.
GOP state lawmakers passed, and Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed, the legislation into law Thursday. Metro officials responded by filing a lawsuit challenging the legislation Monday.
The legislation — which reduces the size of the council from 40 to 20 — comes after years of fighting between the Democratic-led city and Republican-led state as part of an ever-escalating race over control of Nashville. The latest triggers involved Republicans dividing up Nashville districts to flip the previously Democratic-held U.S. congressional seat and the Metro Council blocking the 2024 Republican National Convention.
“I think there are very clear negative consequences that come from some of those pieces of legislation,” state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville — who is also running for Nashville mayor — said. “I don’t expect all of them to come through, but that’s assuming some baseline of good sense that I want to believe will win the day. But who knows.”