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State and Local Government Committee advances bill letting attorney general seek three-judge review and withhold state funds
Summary
The State and Local Government Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 845, with an amendment, to allow the attorney general to seek a three-judge panel to declare local government actions inconsistent with state law and to direct state officials to withhold certain state funds if violations are found.
The State and Local Government Committee voted 5-1 to advance Senate Bill 845 after adopting Amendment 7091, which allows the state Attorney General and Reporter to seek a declaratory judgment from a three-judge panel that a local government action violates state law or the Tennessee Constitution and, if a violation is found, order the commissioner of finance and the state treasurer to withhold specified state funds from that local government.
The amendment and the bill matter because they create a formal process for state review of local actions, require a 60-day period for a local government to repeal or revise an action or to challenge the attorney general’s finding, and authorize withholding of state-allocated funds, including state-shared taxes, if a three-judge panel finds a violation.
Senator Lowe, the sponsor, presented Amendment 7091 and summarized its effect: "Amendment 7091 outlines pretty similar to the…
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