This past week has given us a stark snapshot of some of the trouble Tennessee MAGA Republicans are having in their zeal to impose extremism from Capitol Hill upon the rest of us.
Some of this, in my view, may be laid at the desk of Governor Bill Lee and how he has chosen to invest his time of power as CEO of our Tennessee state government.
He has chosen to remain largely silent on the emotionally charged issue of gun safety, and he has doggedly elevated the interests of Tennessee’s private schools. On that latter subject, he has also divided - not united - his otherwise “supermajority” legislature who have been hearing from their school boards back home.
The calamitous week began with stories of Lee’s signature policy priority (private-school vouchers) languishing on the ropes in a divided General Assembly. It was hard to watch, with precious little in-depth news attention to the horse-trading going on behind closed doors.
Lee’s insistence on new dollars for private schooling - under the banner of “parental choice” - has already divided Tennessee’s school boards. More than 40 of them have publicly opposed vouchers because Lee’s initiative would certainly peel millions away from Tennessee’s public schools. Most of the legislature’s consideration of this has involved searching for deal-sweeteners that might draw more local school authorities into a supportive posture. It’s been a rocky road.
Then, this week ended for Tennessee Republicans reading about their home state in the national business press: How workers at the big Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga had now voted overwhelmingly (and, for the South, anti-historically) to affiliate with the United Auto Workers union.
On Monday, Governor Lee had joined with five other conservative Southern governors to publicly urge Volkswagen employees to vote “No” to the UAW affiliation choice. But the workers, almost defiantly, did not.
As often happens with this administration, Lee tried to work from his ceremonial “leadership” position as chairman of the Republican Governors Association (announced last December). Note there are 26 GOP governors across the US at the moment. Lee’s public letter to workers was co-signed by only six. These half-dozen represent six states of the Old South confederacy, where governors have been most vocal over American history about the dangers to economic prosperity of worker solidarity.
“Republican governors,” Lee wrote with the others, “are reminding the nation that common sense, conservative policies drive economic prosperity and expand opportunity, security and freedom — changing lives for the better.”
I noticed how reporters for USA Today called this a “strong” gesture by the half-dozen governors. Not the word I’d use. Maybe Lee’s RGA letter got lost in the mail. More likely, if anything, it was discarded by his constituents on the Chattanooga assembly line. My guess: Their reaction was “Who?” and a shrugging “So what?” Just another instance (like the legislature’s, on schools finance policy) of constituent defiance and silent disobedience toward a struggling sitting governor.
Both these disparate developments - Lee’s silent struggle with his own legislature for consensus on private-school funding, and the failure to smack down the UAW - seem to me markers of what’s become of state government leadership in Tennessee and the MAGA idea of governing. It is not representative of most Tennesseans, even of what I call traditional Republicans I know.
Some may argue that we can make too much of the Chattanooga vote for organized labor. But we can also make too little of it. As with earlier actions in favor of other strange social policies (e.g., Tennessee’s extreme policy on abortion and banning books) the one thing affects the other. Choices matter.
Maybe the administration’s stagger-steps here about private-school vouchers is seeming to many constituents to say less about “parental choice” and more about the quality of policy choices they are making with their temporal authority that voters have given them.
We need the state’s policy choices to better align with the interests of most Tennesseans. What happens, week in and week out, on our Capitol Hill clearly demonstrates this is not happening. Without a course correction on both floors of our state Capitol, wrong-headed policies will continue to rule, with all their mordant consequences.
Having had the “Opportunity” to attempt to testify before The State Senate and House over the past three weeks, I found the current Legislature to be just plain rude and dismissive. As many may know you have to Pre-Register and be approved to speak on the subject at hand. I wanted to speak-up against some of the legislation being considered such as allowing guns in private businesses that are posted “No Guns Allowed” and another Party Favorite, Arming Teachers!
I spent more then 15 hours waiting, (excluding drive, walking time and preparation), over 7 separate days, in Committee Rooms without ever being called, after being “Allowed” to speak on the subject. The real topper was the Senate Justice Committee, where the Chairman routinely practiced being a Clown and disparaging the waiting speakers. Mom’s for Gun Safety and some Covenant Moms were yelled at about their signage and warned they could be removed. At NO Time did anyone present warrant such a poor reaction by the Chairman. Even at the conclusion of each meeting there was never an apology by anyone on the committees for those willing to give up their time and return day after day.
Having testified here in Tennessee before and in many other States and Locals I have never witnessed such disrespect by Politicians who happen to work for their electorate. Gee, I wanted to keep this brief but could have mentioned at least a dozen other like incidents.
Thank You Keel for always speaking your mind and keeping it real. TENNESSEE WE HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM!
Great Field Notes, Keel & wonderful & appropriate photo of clouds over the Capitol!