SJR127 Story Time Over
Posted on May 11, 2009 at 5:06 pmHouse Clerk Burney Durham read SJR0127 tonight without incident or debate. The second of three required readings of he controversial amendment is scheduled for Thursday.
UPDATE: Rep. Gary Odom says to expect some amendment propositions:
“When you’ve got a more complex proposal for a constitutional amendment, it’s very appropriate for the legislature to add more specific language dealing with the relative subject matter,” Odom said. “I think exceptions are something that should be discussed, and I believe they will be.”
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SJR 127 Trucks Along
Posted on May 5, 2009 at 2:06 pmLiberadio(!) reports on the progress of the controversial abortion resolution:
SJR127 passes out of House Finance, Ways & Means Committee and on to Calendar & Rules. One more step before it gets to the House floor.
Getting A Bit Dramatical On SJR 127
Posted on at 7:35 amThe Tennessee Guerilla Women don’t want anyone telling them what to do with their bodies but if someone does have to have a vote on their reproductive health they want them to be well-read:
The House Finance, Ways & Means Committee votes on SJR127 today. The rabid male-dominated Senate has already passed the measure. If it passes in the House too, it will then require super majority votes next year, and then Tennessee women will experience the indignity of having virtually every illiterate fool in the state get to vote on our right to control our bodies.
SJR127 Rolls Out Of Budget Sub
Posted on April 29, 2009 at 11:56 amMary Mancini reports that everyone’s favorite anti-choice resolution is moving to the floor:
SJR127 just passed out of House Budget Subcommittee to full committee. Only Rep. Armstrong and Rep. Shaw recorded “No” votes.
Getting All Misty-Eyed
Posted on April 9, 2009 at 7:11 pmFormer Senator David Fowler shares his thoughts on the progress of constitutional amendment he first proposed eight years ago:
As the original sponsor of SJR 127 back in 2001, it was particularly gratifying to seeing the Resolution take its first big step toward passage by the full House. It was a privilege to be a part of this process over the years and to work with so many wonderful organizations like Eagle Forum of Tennessee and Tennessee Right to Life. And since my retirement the matter has been ably handled in the Senate by Senator Diane Black (R-Gallatin) and today by both Representatives Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville) and Charlie Curtiss (D-Sparta). It was a great to see a Republican and Democrat, man and woman, sitting together in the Health Committee as key House sponsors.
Though these sponsors have done a great job and are to be commended, no legislation moves forward without the support of fellow legislators. We extend our thanks to the following Representatives who voted in favor of SJR 127: Joey Hensley (Vice Chair), Curt Cobb, Jim Cobb, Charles Curtiss, Vince Dean, John DeBerry, Vance Dennis, Joshua Evans, Dennis Ferguson, Dale Ford, Mike Harrison, Curtis Halford, Debra Maggart, Jason Mumpower, Bob Ramsey, Barrett Rich, David Shepard, Tony Shipley, and Mike Turner.
If you would like to send them an email, individually or collectively, to thank them for their vote, the format for their email addresses are all the same: first name.last name@capitol.tn.gov. For example, joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov. Simply saying, “Thank you for voting for SJR 127,” is sufficient.
You Get The Next One: Secretary Of State Offers To Pick Up The Tab For SJR 127 Notification
Posted on April 8, 2009 at 3:57 pmSecretary of State Tre Hargett has apparently stepped in and removed a potential roadblock to the passage of SJR127, the constitutional amendment which would allow the legislature more power to regulate abortions in Tennessee.
In a memo obtained by NashvillePost.com addressed to leaders in both parties and both chambers of the legislature, Secretary of State Tre Hargett states that his office will fund the constitutionally mandated printed public notification required of all constitutional amendments (at an estimated cost of $20,000) regardless of whether a traditional appropriation is provided for in the budget.
“[B]ecause the Department of State is obligated by the constitution to publish a proposed amendment to the constitution, we will do so even without the appropriation of additional funds,” states Hargett in the memo.
If the Department of State does have to “front” the funds needed for the publication of the notifications, however, it will be a one time-only type deal.
“The ability to absorb publication expense is not without limit. After the publication of SJR127, the publication of any additional amendments would be subject to having adequate funding,” warns the Secretary of State.
This action is not without precedent.
In 2004, in a time of similar budgetary constraints, then-Secretary of State Riley Darnell picked up the tab for the notification for two proposed constitutional amendments, one banning gay marriage and other providing a property tax break for elderly homeowners.
The Secretary’s memo gives SJR127 the wide berth conservatives had been hoping for. While $20,000 fiscal note attached to SJR127 had been jettisoned in favor of a provision to publish notification online, some legislators balked at the notion of an internet-only notification in deference to constituents without convenient and reliable internet access.
An amendment to ban a state income tax was “put behind the budget” and effectively killed in the House Budget Subcommittee last week over similar internet-only notification concerns.
A Bit Unfair
Posted on at 12:22 pmAunt B. takes on Rep. Vince Dean for passing the buck for his support for SJR127 onto his constituents:
According to Dean, if you have an abortion and it kills you, that’s a knowable and acceptable outcome to him and the people that vote for him.
One wonders, of course. Really? If a 15 year old girl’s step dad is raping her and she gets pregnant and self-aborts and dies, that’s okay? She basically deserved it? If a stay-at-home mom with three kids discovers she’s pregnant at the same time her husband loses her job, we’re all fine with her dying and leaving him with no job and three kids to raise on his own?
This is the pro-life position in this state? “Well, if some women have to die so that there aren’t any legal abortions happening, that’s okay”?
That’s the pro-life position? “Eh, so some women die. That’s okay with my constituents.”
Hello?! “Pro-life”=”some dead women”?!
SJR 127: Principle Or Payback
Posted on at 7:50 amFrom Andy Sher:
During debate on the resolution, Rep. Favors, who noted she has been in health care for 40 years, said, “I was there when the women came in … dead on arrival or hemorrhaging.” She called the resolution a “political ploy.”
Rep. Vince Dean, R-East Ridge, and Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, voted for the resolution. Rep. Favors voted no.
“I respect her opinion,” Rep. Dean said. “I have my position. And my position is in line with the wishes of my constituency.”
Avoiding The Note
Posted on April 7, 2009 at 2:16 pmHow SJR 127 can manage to escape a fiscal note:
A resolution to amend the Tennessee Constitution, tightening restrictions on abortions, could for the first time allow the state to notify citizens about a proposed change on government Web sites.
By going to the online-only notification, the state would save an estimated $20,000 needed to pay for the traditional notification in statewide newspapers.
Making Note Of The Note
Posted on at 12:24 pmAs the controversial abortion bill SJR127 passed the House Health & Human Resources committee today in the legislature, Jeff Woods makes clear that the rest of the road may not be all that easy:
Next stop for the resolution is the most critical. It carries a $20,000 fiscal note to pay for notifying voters if the issue ever makes it onto the ballot. That sends it to the House budget subcommittee, where opponents will probably try to kill it. That’s what happened to Rep. Brian Kelsey’s anti-income tax resolution last week.
UPDATE: The fiscal note reads a bit different on the legislature’s website
Surrendering The Cause
Posted on March 31, 2009 at 7:42 amMary Mancini thinks pro-lifers should just give up trying to pass a constitutional amendment giving the legislature more power to regulate abortion in the event of an overturn of Roe v. Wade:
If the members of the Tennessee legislature wanted real solutions, they would do two things. First, they’d be honest and admit that there are already a number of Tennessee laws which regulate abortion - including parental consent, a ban on late-term abortions and patient informed consent. Then, they would focus on researching and providing the most effective education and resources that would actually, you know, reduce - or completely eliminate - unintended pregnancies.
Does Stacey Campfield Have Political Aspirations?
Posted on May 2, 2008 at 7:41 pmYou’re goshdarn right he does. An interesting little dustup at the end of Capital Hill Chaos yesterday, that you probably won’t see in the papers is this one between Rep. Stacey Campfield and Rep. Kent Williams.
After chief sponsor Rep. Dolores Gresham rose to declare that she would not be attempting to bring up SJR 127, the controversial abortion resolution that ignited controversy when Rep. Dunn tried to bring it up earlier in the day, Rep. Kent Williams, a moderate representative who has supported Jimmy Naifeh for speaker and has drawn a conservative primary challenge rematch, bemoaned the election year maneuvering he had just witnessed during the day on the issue of abortion.
After going on a bit about the unfortunate political posturing over abortion, Rep. Stacey Campfield calls out Williams’ attack on posturing as a political posture of its own. Williams then declares that he has “no aspirations for a political career.” To which Campfield replies:
“Anyone who does not have political aspirations should remove their name from the ballot. Thank you.”
Capital Hill Chaos: Speaker Jimmy Naifeh Overruled [VIDEO]
Posted on at 6:27 pmPosted above, for your perusal and enjoyment and that of posterity, is a video of the recent unpleasantness that took place on the floor of the General Assembly yesterday.
It is still lengthy but, in light of the considerable confusion over the controversey, I thought it best to leave as much of the events intact as possible.
PREVIOUSLY:
Naifeh Overruled
Capitol Hill Chaos
Wanted: Dead Or Alive
Slow Train Coming
Slow Train Coming
Posted on at 9:04 amAndy Sher gets the money quote from House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh after his decision that Rep. Bill Dunn was out of order was overruled by a vote of the full General Assembly.
“If we can’t stick together on that (a subsequent procedural vote), we may just as well let Mumpower start presiding,” the powerful speaker told fellow Democrats at a hastily convened party caucus meeting, referring to Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol.
Adding insult to injury, of course, was the later admission by Dunn that he was, in fact, out of order. Five Democrats voted with Dunn and the Republicans resulting in the historic overrule.
Jimmy Naifeh Gets Overruled: The Video
Posted on May 1, 2008 at 2:22 pmRead the play by play and the definitive account at NashvillePost.com. (video courtesy of Ben Cunningham)
Naifeh Overruled
Posted on at 10:48 amBig news on SJR 127 today in the legislature. Rep. Gary Odom made a motion to suspend the rules to vote on a resolution regarding the House schedule, an issue unrelated to SJR 127.
Rep. Bill Dunn then made a motion to amend that motion to suspend so that SJR 127 could be brought up for its first of three readings.
Dunn was then ruled out of order by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.
The House Republicans then objected to that ruling. A vote was called to overrule. House Republicans won that vote by 1. A recess was then called for.
The House is now back in session and Dunn has renewed his motion.
UPDATE: Representative Dunn’s motion prevailed 51-43. Odom then withdrew his original motion. Objections were made. A motion was made to adjourn the session and recess until Tuesday. It failed. Session continues…
UPDATE II: Quarreling over the rules has lead to a microphones off discussion between Naifeh, Odom and Republican leaders.
UPDATE III: Odom’s motion to withdraw was voted down 45-51. Dunn’s amendment was thus adopted. The House then voted on whether to suspend the rules in order to bring SJR 127 to the floor. Bringing the resolution to the floor bypassing the committee process requires a two-thirds majority. The vote failed, and SJR 127 was not brought to the floor for a vote.
The two-thirds majority required to bring the resolution to the floor bypassing the committee process was not reached. SJR 127 was not brought to the floor for a vote.
Rep. Moore then called for a moment of prayer and silence for “what just went on here today.” Republican Glen Casada praised the motion and the events of the day as a true expression of representative democracy.
NashvillePost.com political reporter Ken Whitehouse was in the chamber for the events and has a full and complete blow by blow and explanation of what happened right here.
SEE ALSO:
VIDEO: Ben Cunningham
Stacey Campfield (II)
Cara Kumari blog
Crone Speaks
Michael Silence
WSMV Report
Sean Braisted
Nathan Moore
R. Neal
Rob Huddleston
Life News
David Oatney
WPLN
Knox Trivia
Tom Humphrey
First, You Hit The Hot Button Issue, Then, You Get The Votes And Then You Get The Redistricting Pen
Posted on April 23, 2008 at 4:22 pmJeff Woods puts his finger on what the Family Action Council of TN and the Republican Party’s real aim is when pushing SJR 127, a resolution which would put before the voters an amendment to the state constitution giving the legislature more latitude on the issue of abortion if Roe v. Wade is overturned:
What it’s really all about is politics. Republicans would love to stick an abortion referendum on the 2010 ballot to boost turnout for the next governor’s election.
The boost is critical not due to just wanting to recapture the Governor’s mansion (which surely they do) but because 2010 is when redistricting would traditionally occur and whomever controls the legislature holds the pen that draws the districts.
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