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Committee postpones bill to remove financial barriers to restoring voting rights
Summary
Senate Bill 3 36, to remove court costs and permit people on child-support plans to regain voting rights, was rolled a week after testimony from formerly incarcerated voters and debate about crime categories and the scope of restoration.
Senate Bill 3 36, sponsored by Leader Ackbery, seeks to remove court costs as a barrier to restoring voting rights and to allow people actively on child-support payment plans to regain suffrage; the committee agreed to roll the bill one week to resolve overlap with other restoration proposals.
Ackbery described three principal changes in the bill: 1) removing court costs as a precondition for restoration of voting rights, while leaving the obligation to repay unchanged; 2) allowing individuals who are making child-support payments to be eligible for restoration (Ackbery noted Tennessee was then the only state tying current child-support arrears to voting eligibility); and 3) creating a pathway for persons permanently ineligible to apply for restoration after a three-year waiting period once sentence conditions are completed. The sponsor and a witness stressed the change does not pardon or erase court debts; it only severs payment from the right to vote.
Ashley Sellers, a formerly incarcerated woman now active in victim advocacy and community work, told the committee she served over 21 years and remains permanently disenfranchised under current law. "I've never been given an opportunity to vote," Sellers said, describing community work and asking the committee to allow people who have completed sentences and demonstrated rehabilitation to rejoin the electorate.
Committee members debated the scope of disqualifying offenses and whether the bill should be narrowed. Senator Roberts stressed the bill currently contains sections that would allow certain previously excluded crimes to be eligible after three years and asked whether the sponsor intended that change; Ackbery confirmed the amendment is intended to allow limited restoration with waiting periods, while keeping some serious offenses listed. Several senators suggested splitting the financial portion (court costs and child support) from the criminal-eligibility provisions to increase passage prospects.
After discussion the sponsor and committee leaders agreed to roll the measure for one week to draft and circulate amendments. The sponsor said staff would work to provide separate text narrowing the bill if the committee preferred.
