Select Committee on Rules approves Garrett package, rejects multiple individual rule changes

The Select Committee on Rules considered a lengthy set of proposed changes to the Tennessee House’s permanent rules and approved a consolidated package offered by Representative Garrett while rejecting a number of individual submissions from other members.

The committee’s action sets the procedures the full House will consider for adoption: among the measures debated were the length of floor debate (5 minutes versus the previous 15), limits on the number of bills members may file, whether family members may be permitted on the chamber floor, rules for visual aids in committee, formation of member caucuses, a firearms policy for committee rooms, and changes to the process for remote voting when a member is found repeatedly out of order.

Why it matters: the committee’s rules determine how members may speak, how legislation moves through committees and to the floor, and how members may use the chamber and gallery. Changes to debate time, bill-filing limits, recognition and decorum affect how much opportunity individual members and constituencies will have to present and challenge legislation.

The committee’s most consequential action was approval of a consolidated package of rule changes presented by Representative Garrett. That package — which includes provisions on electronic committee voting, handling of motions and points of order, limits on who may sit at the dais during committee consideration, and a sequencing requirement for multi-year presentations — passed on a committee voice vote. Committee members also voted to forward the Garrett package to the full House as a report of the Select Committee on Rules.

Several high-profile individual proposals did not pass. Leader Camper sought to restore…