NASHVILLE - Some Tennessee Republican lawmakers want a special session to direct the state to sue the Obama administration over its transgender-student bathroom directive, but Gov. Bill Haslam says he's not sure if the state even has legal standing right now.
"I would question what's the strategy, what's the purpose of having a special session?" the Republican told reporters today. "I guess that one be one of the questions about a special session is. Just exactly what are we trying to to do because currently no one is being sued" in Tennessee.
As a result, Haslam added, "I don't know if we actually would have standing."
The governor's comments came with any number of legislative Republicans clamoring for the state to do something after the U.S. Justice Department sued North Carolina over its recently enacted transgender bathroom law and last week issuing "guidance" to the nation's public schools as well as a directive saying they could lose federal funding over discrimination.
Tennessee state lawmakers considered a bill somewhat similar to North Carolina's. It would have restricted transgender students to use only those communal bathrooms matching the biological sex listed on their birth certificates. The House sponsor shelved the bill in the waning days of the session.
On Monday, a group of 26 Republican senators wrote a letter to Haslam urging some type of action.
That was followed by another letter on Tuesday from some Republican senators and GOP representatives to Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery that among other things requested he send letters to all school systems stating the state would support them in court if their practices were challenged.
Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, who wrote the second letter noted in a Tuesday interview that the state evidently doesn't have legal standing since it hasn't been sued but lawmakers wanted to ensure schools knew the state would have their back legally.
Meanwhile, House Republican Caucus Chairman Glenn Casada on Tuesday began sounding out colleagues on their appetite for calling themselves into special session. Doing so would require two thirds agreement from the Republican-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate.
Casada said Tuesday that one possibility would be to direct Slatery "to sue the federal government on the unconstitutional act of the U.S. attorney general. That appeals to Glenn."
Casada said that if U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch can cut off school funds, then "what's next? EPA saying you can't own private property?"
Republican lawmakers earlier this year passed a resolution directing Slatery to sue the federal government over its refugee resettlement program. In response to critics questioning whether they legally can do force Slatery to do so, they added a provision allowing a conservative nonprofit law firm that opposes Muslim immigration to handle the case for free.