Are TN Republicans changing their minds again after massive negative national press - this time on their failure to condemn Neo-Nazis and white supremacists? nashvillepost.com/politics/legis…
. Since Rep. Ramsey brought up pre-mtgs, let’s talk abt them. 1) Attending pre-mtgs is not mandatory for having your bill heard. 2) Pre-mtgs are mostly attended by lobbyists trying to kill or push bills. 3) They’re also designed to pre-script sub and full comm mtgs...
. ...What does that mean? It means decisions to kill or pass bills are often made in the pre-mtgs, not in sub and full committee hearings where the public is allowed. Thus, what you see in committee if you attended is often simply going thru motions w/pre-determined outcomes.
. Why do this? The Repubs want to hurry through session as quickly as possible. They aren’t fond of members of the public trying to influence legislation, so if decisions are made ahead of time things go quickly and everything is scripted regardless of the public.
What does this mean for public testimony? Well...you decide. Some would argue it has little, if any, effect bc they’ve already decided if they’re going to kill or pass a bill before anyone has a chance to speak on the bill. They’re not weighing testimony, they’re being polite.
. Why do you think they wouldn’t let the Las Vegas shooting survivors speak? They probably decided in pre-mtg that they were going to kill the bump stock bill, so odds are they didn’t want to “waste time” listening to anyone speak on a bill they had no intention of passing.
. This is the dirty little secret of the legislature-more often than not, committee meetings are simply theater without any debate. Many Dems don’t go bc lobbyists have more say than they do.
Case in point: MaKayla’s law, a bill that would have required parents or guardians to safely store their firearms out of the reach of children. Pre-mtg came, the comm chair decided to pass it through. After the pre-mtg, the NRA lobbyist chased him down the hall...
. ...and told him that if he allowed MaKayla’s law out of subcommittee, she’d make sure he had a well-funded primary opponent. The next day, MaKayla’s Law died in subcommittee and the republican Rep was re-elected w/ona primary challenge.
