The Tennessee House of Representatives chamber was hot Tuesday but the vibe from the Speaker’s seat was icy cold at times, particularly when aimed at two-thirds of The Tennessee Three.
The House returned to business Tuesday morning after officially gaveling in the special session on public safety late Monday afternoon. That session brought some contentious rules from Republican lawmakers that sought to limit protests and limited what lawmakers could and could not say.
Back on the House floor Tuesday at 9 a.m., lawmakers organized the business of the session — what bills were assigned to committees and which legislators would comprise those committees.
The road to the moment was violent and turbulent. A Nashville school shooting claimed the lives of three nine-year-old students and three adults. Police also shot and killed the shooter. Protestors swarmed the Capitol in April, begging and shaming lawmakers for action on gun reform. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee promised a special session on gun violence that many of his own party did not support. Once called, busloads of protestors and gun-reform advocates piled into buses to Nashville, where they rallied, marched, chanted, and sang.
While the moment in the House chamber Tuesday was serious, lawmakers are people, too. Discussing unfinished business, Rep. Joe Towns (D-Memphis) maybe took liberties with procedure and addressed an elephant in the room.
“Look, I know Tennessee is not broke,” Towns began. “We’ve got plenty of money. Why is it so hot in this joint? This building is burning up.”
To that, House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) said his office had been working with maintenance staff to get the air conditioning turned back on in the building. Towns reminded the Speaker that Tennessee is a right to work state and that “we need to fire somebody.” The light-hearted comment brought chuckles in the chamber.
Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) did not get such a straight answer or warm reception from Sexton when he asked a similar question later in the floor session.
Pearson was sworn back in to his office Monday. That came after he and Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) were expelled from the House earlier this year for a floor protest advocating gun reform. The national attention of the act brought heat to Sexton and the state GOP, and Jones and Pearson would continue to be a thorn in their sides.
If this wasn’t enough to cool the relationship between Pearson and Sexton, consider that two weeks ago, Pearson flatly called Sexton a “racist” in a Memphis Flyer story. To say the least, an exchange between the two Tuesday was contentious.
“I know we were talking earlier about air conditioning and things like that, but we’ve had lots of people coming to the Capitol to protest, and have their voices heard in this extreme heat and in this weather, and the water fountains here at the at the Capitol seem to have been turned off or not working,” Pearson said to Sexton, asking for information.
“That’s an inaccurate statement; that is not accurate,” Sexton said, quickly. “We’ve checked. That’s been a misrepresentation.” He, then, quickly moved on to recognize another lawmaker.
Not satisfied with the answer, however, Pearson later asked Sexton to clarify what he meant about the water fountains. Sexton said to his knowledge the water fountains were never turned off. On its face, the exchange seems simple. But just under the surface were hints at, perhaps, some possible GOP conspiracy to make the Capitol uncomfortable for those seeking gun control. Sexton’s quick and icy demeanor on the question seemed to hint that he knew an accusation lurked beneath the question.
Later, during an exchange with Jones, Sexton’s icy demeanor returned, this time showing him flex his legislative muscle with procedural rules on topics he seemingly wanted to avoid.
“I’m still seeking an answer as to whether members who were stripped of committee [assignments] will be restored to their rightful committees that you removed them from on April 3rd,” Jones began. Sexton immediately gaveled down the question, saying “you’re out of order” before Jones finished speaking.
Sexton moved on quickly but Jones asked why his question was out of order and why Sexton silenced his microphone. Instead of replying himself, Sexton let the House clerk explain to Jones that the body was on unfinished business and his question fell outside the scope of discussion.
“So members can ask about the heat in the building, but I I can’t ask about committees [that] constituents sent me here to represent them on?” Jones asked. ”Is that that what you’re telling me?”
Sexton, again, dodged the question, allowing the clerk to explain again about rules, finally explaining that “the House Speaker makes rulings on what is in order and not in order.” Sexton quickly moved on to other business.
If anything, the exchanges set the tone for what promises to be a turbulent session, even one so limited to a narrow slate of topics (that does not include gun reform). And it all happened before any real discussion began on the actual, meaty topics before the Tennessee General Assembly.
Committees have been scheduled on both the House and Senate sides of the legislature. Many of them are set to get underway Wednesday. The House isn’t set to meet for floor votes until noon Thursday.
