we’re lucky it wasn’t an income tax
Here is Rep. Chris Clem’s report of his last day in session:
We spent almost all of this Saturday on two bills. The first bill dramatically increased the retirement benefits of legislators.
. . . in the end, the Democrat leadership of both chambers were able to pass this dramatic increase in legislative pensions.
The second piece of legislation that took up most of this Saturday was even more suprising. Democrat Majority Leader Kim McMillan sponsored a bill that will dramatically increase the difficulty of any write-in candidate from ever qualifying for the [ballot].
. . . We debated it for hours. The Democrats did not have the votes to pass it in either chamber. Finally, around 8 p.m. they were able to pass this bill in the Senate. They moved it to the House. I attempted to call for “the Rule.” “The Rule” simply requires all members to sit in their chair and not push the vote botton for anyone else. In other words, only members sitting in their chair should vote while under “the Rule.”I realized that 10 members were not in the chamber. Six of them had gone home and were no longer in Nashville. Democrat Speaker Jimmy Naifeh refused to recognize me and allow me to call for “the Rule.” Republicans then objected to calling for a vote. We raised the required five hands. Naifeh claimed he saw no hands. He then allowed the vote.
This is hardball politics at its worst.  Late on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, when press and public are not paying attention, and when every member of the Legislature is anxious to leave–this is when Jimmy Naifeh and John Wilder ram through laws that have no chance of passage on any other day. They violate rules to do it, and depend upon the proxy votes of people not present.
The only consolation is that the laws passed on Saturday didn’t include a state income tax. If you remember a few years back, they tried to ram that through on a Saturday. Next year, if Naifeh and Wilder are returned to power, it will be an income tax that they try to impose on Tennessee. I’ll make sure to keep my weekends free.
UPDATE:
Denny asked if there were any other reports of Saturday’s scandalous shenanigans. He’s right to ask for corroboration. Tom Humphrey provided it in his Sunday report in the Knox News.
May 30th, 2006 at 6:56 am
If true, this is outrageous and unacceptable. Other than Representative Clem’s claim, which may lack credibility because he is not seeking re-election, are there any corroborating sources? Besides not returning Wilder and Naifeh to power, do the citizens of Tennessee have any recourse for such despicable actions? I guess what’s most shocking to me is that Legislators can vote on behalf of Members who aren’t there to do it themselves. How long has that been going on, and why is it not considered unethical?
May 30th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Denny,
Good questions all around. I’ve updated the post above to show a corroborating story from Tom Humphrey.
What else can we do? We can elect senators and representatives who will not support Jimmy Naifeh or John Wilder for leadership. As for me, I will support changes in the rules that do not allow proxy votes. (Can anyone confirm if this is allowed in the Senate?)
I’ll also support legislation that changes the election filing deadline to seven days after the end of the end of the legislative session. That way, legislators will not have six to eight weeks after the April filing deadline, to pass laws knowing that they will not face opposition in November.
Bob Krumm
May 30th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Stacey Campfield reported on this as well. Had it not been for the proxy votes the bill would have died. This is the type of morally bankrupt politics that needs to be put on the front page and not buried on page B-6 of the newspaper.
So dead citizens can elect state reps, who if dead can vote in the legislature. Makes sense to me. I’m just waiting for Naifeh to start conducting seances.
I heard the remake of “The Omen” was really a story about the Tennessee legislature and Naifeh was cast as Damien.
May 30th, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Someone left you a phone message on Friday that something like this was going to happen on Saturday. Heh.
I’d like to remind people that they can watch the proceedings live on the Internet when they’re in session. Being there on Friday, however, and talking to many of them really gave me a sense of what was going to happen. It was entirely predictable.
May 30th, 2006 at 10:30 pm
Sharon, the cameras did not show the hands being raised to invoke…. “the Rule”. They stayed focused on junior governor Naifeh so the viewer was not aware of the “slight of hand” that Naifeh was pulling.
May 31st, 2006 at 2:36 am
Rick,
You’re absolutely correct. What I am referring to is a message I left Bob on Friday when it became clear to me that about 70 bills were left to be voted on, and that so many people were leaving before voting that I believed someone would pull something like this, but I didn’t know exactly which bill(s) it would be. (I was down there on Friday afternoon) What I referred to as predictable was last minute shananigans as a result of the absent House and Senate members.
May 31st, 2006 at 3:51 am
Trent Seibert reports today (Wednesday May 31) that perhaps 30 house members were absent by late Saturday. It would be nice to know which ones.
May 31st, 2006 at 11:42 am
Bob,
You were up at 3:51 a.m.? We should have had coffee! You’re on my schedule now? Heh!
Does it matter which ones were absent? They weren’t the ones who pulled this off, though I am guessing you might be thinking they asked someone to cast their vote(s)?
June 1st, 2006 at 10:16 pm
I agree Sharon, it doesn’t matter how many were absent as long as Naifeh were still in town.
Just like a rat to run for cover and not respond to reporters or the citizens of the state. Where’s Bredesen? No comment Phil?
In a way I hope Phil signs this garbage so it can be used against him this fall.
Maybe Naifeh’s missing hands will come back to choke his political career as well.
June 2nd, 2006 at 12:19 pm
[...] Ever since I’ve started this website, I’ve railed against the same kind of “sneaky procedural maneuvers” which he also decries. Though we approach several issues from opposite sides, both of us want those issues to be debated fairly and openly, and for a vote to be taken. Mr. Allen and I will each win on a few issues while losing on others, but we both recognize that first there must be a free debate and vote. [...]