Image Credit: Jody Barrett Tennessee State Representative / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
Tennessee’s General Assembly is now one week into the 2024 legislative session and Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson-District 69) has weighed in on some of the concerns of conservative voters across the state.
Last Monday, the House Select Committee On Rules met to establish this session’s rules for the House of Representatives.
During the committee meeting, Rep. Bryan Richey (R-Maryville-District 20) proposed a rule change that would have required all House committees to conduct roll call votes instead of voice votes in order to be more transparent.
This proposed rule change was voted down via voice vote.
“It’s not like we’re hiding behind this voice vote process,” Rep. Barrett said on Mill Creek View Tennessee. “We only have a limited period during the day that we can fit these in. It makes it go faster for us to be able to do the voice votes, but the thing is […] anybody that wants to have their vote recorded as a certain way, you can make a note.”
Barrett explained that all a legislator has to do in order to have their vote recorded is give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to the clerk. This means that it is very easy for legislators to put their vote on the record and create transparency with their constituents if they choose to.
The lawmaker went on to explain that a voice vote may be preferred, when bills are put before a committee “packed” with a variety of things, similar to how bills are at the federal congressional level.
“They pack all this other stuff into a bill that you have to vote no against and then they turn around and say well you voted no against saving babies or whatever the case may be, but that’s not really the thing that you were voting against,” said Barrett. “By doing this voice vote process, procedure, it eliminates some of that stuff where votes are used against you.”
Barrett also announced that he hopes to file legislation on illegal immigration.
Tennessee does not issue licenses to illegal immigrants, but the state does issue temporary licenses to people on temporary visas.
One potential bill would require the words “non-U.S. Citizen” to be presented clearly on the face of those licenses so that law enforcement knows what situation they’re dealing with.
This would also provide for less confusion if a non-U.S. Citizen attempts to show their temporary license at a voting precinct.
Another potential bill that Barrett is working on would create an aggravation of a criminal charge for defendants found to be illegal immigrants.
“If a defendant is charged with robbery and they’re determined to be an illegal alien, then [the charge] would automatically be upgraded to aggravated robbery or aggravated assault which gets a heighted sentence,” Barrett explained.
The idea, Barret says, is to make Tennessee a little less hospitable to people that are coming here illegally.
“We can’t preempt federal law […] but what we can do is change and enforce the laws that we do have here in Tennessee, that we have control of through the 10th Amendment,” he said.
The Tennessee Conservative will continue to keep our readers informed as more new bills are filed for this legislative session.
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee.
You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
