Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.

Senate of Tennessee
Tennessee General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 8, 2019
Leadership
Speaker of the Senate	Randy McNally (R) since January 10, 2017
Speaker pro tempore	Ferrell Haile (R) since January 19, 2018
Majority Leader	Jack Johnson (R) since January 8, 2019
Minority Leader	Jeff Yarbro (D) since January 8, 2019
Structure
Seats	33
Political groups	Majority party      Republican (28) Minority party      Democratic (5)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article III, Tennessee Constitution
Salary	$19,009/year + per diem
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2018 (17 seats)
Next election	November 2, 2020 (16 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, Tennessee
Website
www.capitol.tn.gov/senate

The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue regarding the state, country, or world. The Senate also has the power to create and enforce its own rules and qualifications for its members. The Senate shares these powers with the Tennessee House of Representatives. The Senate alone has the power to host impeachment proceeding and remove impeached members of office with a 2/3 majority. The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators are to be elected from districts of substantially equal population. According to the constitution, a county is not to be joined to a portion of another county for purposes of creating a district; this provision has been overridden by the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in Baker v. Carr (369 U.S. 182, 1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (337 U.S. 356, 1964). The Tennessee constitution has been amended to allow that if these rulings are ever changed or reversed, a referendum may be held to allow the senate districts to be drawn on a basis other than substantially equal population.

Until 1966, Tennessee state senators served two-year terms. That year the system was changed, by constitutional amendment, to allow four-year terms. In that year, senators in even-numbered districts were elected to two-year terms and those in odd-numbered districts were elected to four-year terms. This created a staggered system in which only half of the senate is up for election at any one time. Senators from even-numbered districts are elected in the same years as presidential elections, and senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in the same years as mid-term elections. Districts are to be sequentially and consecutively numbered; the scheme basically runs from east to west and north to south.

Republicans attained an elected majority in the Senate in the 104th General Assembly (2005–07) for the first time since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties.

Senate Speaker

According to Article III, Section 12 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, the Speaker of the Senate assumes Office of Governor in the event of a Vacancy. The Senate elects one of its own members as Speakerand the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. The Speaker appoints a Speaker Pro Tempore who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Speaker as well as a Deputy speaker to assist the Speaker in his or her duties. The current Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor is Randy McNally, who was elected to the position in 2017. One of the main duties of the Speaker is to preside over the Senate and make Senate committee appointments based upon ability and preference of members, seniority, and party representation. The Speaker also maintains the power to remove members from Committee appointments. The Speaker, in cohort with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, chairs the Joint Legislative Services Committee which provides assistance to the General Assembly. The Speaker also controls staffing and office space with Senate staff. The Speaker serves as an ex-officio member of all standing committees.[1]

Oath and qualifications of office

Oath of office

“I [name of official] do solemnly swear that, as a member of this, the [number, ex. One Hundred Eleventh] General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, I will faithfully support the Constitution of this State and of the United States, and I do solemnly affirm that as a member of this General Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection, partiality, or prejudice; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing, whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the Constitution of this state.”[1]

Qualifications for office

“No person shall be a senator unless he shall be a citizen of the United States, of the age of thirty years, and shall have resided three years in this state, and one year in the county or district, immediately preceding the election.”[1]

Composition of the 111th General Assembly (2019–21)

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Republican	Independent	Democratic		Vacant
End of previous legislature	26	0	4	33	3
Begin	26	0	5	33	2
January 18, 2019[2]		1			1
March 13, 2019[3]	27				0
April 23, 2019[4]	28	0	5	33	0
Latest voting share	84.85%		15.15%

Senate Leadership and Members

Senate Leaders

• Speaker of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor: Randy McNally
• Speaker pro tempore: Ferrell Haile
• Deputy Speaker: Janice Bowling

Majority Party (R)	Leadership Position	Minority Party (D)
Jack Johnson	Leader	Jeff Yarbro[5]
Ken Yager	Caucus Chairperson	Raumesh Akbari

Members

District	Name	Party	Residence	Counties represented
1	Steve Southerland	Rep	Morristown	Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and part of Sevier
2	Art Swann	Rep	Alcoa	Blount and part of Sevier
3	Rusty Crowe	Rep	Johnson City	Washington, Unicoi, and part of Carter
4	Jon Lundberg	Rep	Bristol	Johnson, Sullivan, and part of Carter
5	Randy McNally	Rep	Maryville	Anderson, Loudon, and part of Knox
6	Becky Duncan Massey	Rep	Knoxville	Part of Knox
7	Richard Briggs	Rep	Knoxville	Part of Knox
8	Frank S. Niceley	Rep	Strawberry Plains	Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Union, and Jefferson
9	Mike Bell	Rep	Riceville	Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, and part of Bradley
10	Todd Gardenhire	Rep	Chattanooga	Parts of Hamilton and Bradley
11	Bo Watson	Rep	Hixson	Part of Hamilton
12	Ken Yager	Rep	Kingston	Campbell, Fentress, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Pickett, and Scott
13	Dawn White	Rep	Murfreesboro	Part of Rutherford
14	Shane Reeves	Rep	Murfreesboro	Bedford, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, and part of Rutherford
15	Paul Bailey	Rep	Sparta	Cumberland, Jackson, Overton, Bledsoe, Putnam, and White
16	Janice Bowling	Rep	Tullahoma	Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Van Buren, and Warren
17	Mark Pody	Rep	Lebanon	Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson
18	Ferrell Haile	Rep	Gallatin	Sumner, Trousdale, and part of Davidson
19	Brenda Gilmore	Dem	Goodlettsville	Part of Davidson
20	Steven Dickerson	Rep	Nashville	Part of Davidson
21	Jeff Yarbro	Dem	Nashville	Part of Davidson
22	Bill Powers	Rep	Clarksville	Stewart, Houston, and Montgomery
23	Jack Johnson	Rep	Franklin	Williamson
24	John Stevens	Rep	Huntingdon	Benton, Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Obion, and Weakley
25	Kerry Roberts	Rep	Springfield	Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Humphreys, and Robertson
26	Dolores Gresham	Rep	Somerville	Chester, Decatur, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, McNairy, and Henderson
27	Ed Jackson	Rep	Jackson	Madison, Crockett, Dyer, Lake, and Lauderdale
28	Joey Hensley	Rep	Hohenwald	Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, Perry, and Wayne
29	Raumesh Akbari	Dem	Memphis	Part of Shelby
30	Sara Kyle	Dem	Memphis	Part of Shelby
31	Brian Kelsey	Rep	Collierville	Part of Shelby
32	Paul Rose	Rep	Covington	Tipton and part of Shelby
33	Katrina Robinson	Dem	Memphis	Part of Shelby

Senate Committees

The Tennessee State Senate has 12 committees in total: 9 standing Committees and 3 Select Committees. During the 111th General Assembly, they are:[6]

Standing Committees

Committee Name	Chair
Commerce and Labor	Paul Bailey (R)
Education	Dolores Gresham (R)
Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources	Steve Southerland (R)
Finance, Ways, and Means	Bo Watson (R)
Government Operations	Kerry Roberts (R)
Health and Welfare	Rusty Crowe (R)
Judiciary	Mike Bell (R)
State and Local Government	Steve Dickerson (R)
Transportation and Safety	Becky Duncan Massey (R)

Select Committees

Committee Name	Chair
Calendar	Ed Jackson (R)
Ethics	Richard Briggs (R)
Rules	Bo Watson (R)

Past composition of the Senate

In 1921, Anna Lee Keys Worley became the first woman to serve in the Tennessee Senate.[7]

Main article: Political party strength in Tennessee

References

1. Tennessee Blue Book.
2. "Newly-appointed Senator Rosalind Kurita accepts invitation to caucus with Republicans in Tennessee Senate". Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
3. "NRepublican Paul Rose wins Senate District 32 race in special general election". Memphis Commercial Appeal. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
4. "Tennessee Election Results". www.elections.tn.gov. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
5. "Tennessee's Senate Democrats elect Nashville's Jeff Yarbro as minority leader". The Tennessean. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
6. "Legislative Senate Committees - Tennessee General Assembly". www.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
7. "Anna Lee Keys Worley". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2018.

External links

• Official website