NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - State lawmakers concluded the legislative session without an agreement on how they would go about exerting their newfound power to reject gubernatorial nominations to fill judicial vacancies.
In one of the final acts before adjourning last week, a proposed compromise between the House and Senate received just four positive votes in the upper chamber, meaning lawmakers won’t have a say on nominations until at least next year.
Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris of Collierville called a proposed compromise the “worst recommendation” he had seen in his time in the General Assembly.
Tennessee voters in November approved a constitutional amendment that included giving lawmakers the power to refuse gubernatorial appointments. But the language of the ballot measure did not specify how lawmakers should go about rejecting nominees.
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