Tennessee Senate
Senate of Tennessee | |
---|---|
Tennessee General Assembly | |
Type | |
Type | Upper house |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 8, 2019 |
Leadership | |
Speaker of the Senate | Randy McNally (R) since January 10, 2017 |
Speaker pro Tempore | Ferrell Haile (R) since January 19, 2018 |
Majority Leader | Jack Johnson (R) since January 8, 2019 |
Minority Leader | Jeff Yarbro (D) since January 8, 2019 |
Structure | |
Seats | 33 |
Political groups | Majority party
Minority party
|
Length of term | 4 years |
Authority | Article III, Tennessee Constitution |
Salary | $19,009/year + per diem |
Elections | |
Last election | November 6, 2018 (17 seats) |
Next election | November 2, 2020 (16 seats) |
Redistricting | Legislative Control |
Meeting place | |
State Senate Chamber Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, Tennessee | |
Website | |
www.capitol.tn.gov/senate |
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.
The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators are to be elected from districts of substantially equal population. According to the constitution, a county is not to be joined to a portion of another county for purposes of creating a district; this provision has been overridden by the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in Baker v. Carr (369 U.S. 182, 1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (337 U.S. 356, 1964).
The Tennessee constitution has been amended to allow that if these rulings are ever changed or reversed, a referendum may be held to allow the senate districts to be drawn on a basis other than substantially equal population.
In 1921, Anna Lee Keys Worley became the first woman to serve in the Tennessee Senate.[1]
Until 1966, Tennessee state senators served two-year terms. That year the system was changed, by constitutional amendment, to allow four-year terms. In that year, senators in even-numbered districts were elected to two-year terms and those in odd-numbered districts were elected to four-year terms. This created a staggered system in which only half of the senate is up for election at any one time. Districts are to be sequentially and consecutively numbered; the scheme basically runs from east to west and north to south.[citation needed]
Republicans attained an elected majority in the Senate in the 104th General Assembly (2005-2007) for the first time since Reconstruction; a brief majority in the 1990s was the result of two outgoing senators switching parties.
Contents
1 Senate Speaker
2 Composition of the 111th General Assembly 2019–2021
3 Senate Leadership and Members
4 Members
5 Senate Committees
6 Past composition of the Senate
7 References
8 External links
Senate Speaker
The Senate elects one of its own members as Speaker; the Speaker automatically becomes Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee. The current Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor is Randy McNally, who was elected to the position in 2017. One of the main duties of the Speaker is to preside over the Senate and make Senate committee appointments. The Speaker also controls staffing and office space with Senate staff. The Speaker serves as an ex-officio member of all standing committees.
Composition of the 111th General Assembly 2019–2021
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Independent Caucusing with Republicans | Democratic | Vacant | |||
End of previous legislature | 26 | 0 | 4 | 33 | 3 | |
Begin | 26 | 0 | 5 | 31 | 2 | |
January 18, 2019[2] | 26 | 1 | 5 | 32 | 1 | |
Latest voting share | 84.4% | 7001156000000000000♠15.6% |
Senate Leadership and Members
Senate Leaders
- Speaker of the Senate/ Lieutenant Governor: Randy McNally
- Speaker Pro Tempore: Ferrell Haile
- Deputy Speaker: Janice Bowling
Majority Party (R) | Leadership Position | Minority Party (D)[3] |
Jack Johnson | Leader | Jeff Yarbro |
Ken Yager | Caucus Chairperson | Raumesh Akbari |
Whip | Katrina Robinson | |
Floor Leader | Brenda Gilmore |
Members
District | Name | Party | Residence | Counties represented |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Steve Southerland | Rep | Morristown | Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and part of Sevier |
2 | Art Swann | Rep | Maryville | Blount and part of Sevier |
3 | Rusty Crowe | Rep | Johnson City | Washington, Unicoi, and part of Carter |
4 | Jon Lundberg | Rep | Bristol | Johnson, Sullivan, and part of Carter |
5 | Randy McNally | Rep | Maryville | Anderson, Loudon, and part of Knox |
6 | Becky Duncan Massey | Rep | Knoxville | Part of Knox |
7 | Richard Briggs | Rep | Knoxville | Part of Knox |
8 | Frank Niceley | Rep | Strawberry Plains | Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Union, and Jefferson |
9 | Mike Bell | Rep | Riceville | Polk, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, and part of Bradley |
10 | Todd Gardenhire | Rep | Chattanooga | Parts of Hamilton and Bradley |
11 | Bo Watson | Rep | Hixson | Part of Hamilton |
12 | Ken Yager | Rep | Kingston | Campbell, Fentress, Morgan, Rhea, Roane, Pickett, and Scott |
13 | Dawn White | Rep | Murfreesboro | Part of Rutherford |
14 | Shane Reeves | Rep | Murfreesboro | Bedford, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, and part of Rutherford |
15 | Paul Bailey | Rep | Sparta | Cumberland, Jackson, Overton, Bledsoe, Putnam, and White |
16 | Janice Bowling | Rep | Tullahoma | Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Marion, Van Buren, and Warren |
17 | Mark Pody | Rep | Lebanon | Cannon, Clay, DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson |
18 | Ferrell Haile | Rep | Gallatin | Sumner, Trousdale, and part of Davidson |
19 | Brenda Gilmore | Dem | Nashville | Part of Davidson |
20 | Steven Dickerson | Rep | Nashville | Part of Davidson |
21 | Jeff Yarbro | Dem | Nashville | Part of Davidson |
22 | Rosalind Kurita | Ind | Clarksville | Stewart, Houston, and Montgomery |
23 | Jack Johnson | Rep | Franklin | Williamson |
24 | John Stevens | Rep | Huntingdon | Benton, Carroll, Gibson, Henry, Obion, and Weakley |
25 | Kerry Roberts | Rep | Springfield | Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Humphreys, and Robertson |
26 | Dolores Gresham | Rep | Somerville | Chester, Decatur, Fayette, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, McNairy, and Henderson |
27 | Ed Jackson | Rep | Jackson | Madison, Crockett, Dyer, Lake, and Lauderdale |
28 | Joey Hensley | Rep | Hohenwald | Giles, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury, Perry, and Wayne |
29 | Raumesh Akbari | Dem | Memphis | Part of Shelby |
30 | Sara Kyle | Dem | Memphis | Part of Shelby |
31 | Brian Kelsey | Rep | Germantown | Part of Shelby |
32 | Vacant | Tipton and part of Shelby | ||
33 | Katrina Robinson | Dem | Memphis | Part of Shelby |
Senate Committees
The Tennessee State Senate has 12 committees in total: 9 standing Committees and 3 Select Committees. During the 111th General Assembly, they are:[4]
Committee Name | Chair |
---|---|
Commerce and Labor | Paul Bailey (R) |
Education | Dolores Gresham (R) |
Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources | Steve Southerland (R) |
Finance, Ways, and Means | Bo Watson (R) |
Government Operations | Kerry Roberts (R) |
Health and Welfare | Rusty Crowe (R) |
Judiciary | Mike Bell (R) |
State and Local Government | Steve Dickerson (R) |
Transportation and Safety | Becky Duncan Massey (R) |
Committee Name | Chair |
---|---|
Calendar | Ed Jackson (R) |
Ethics | Richard Briggs (R) |
Rules | Bo Watson (R) |
Past composition of the Senate
References
^ "Anna Lee Keys Worley". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2018..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ "Newly-appointed Senator Rosalind Kurita accepts invitation to caucus with Republicans in Tennessee Senate". Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
^ "Tennessee's Senate Democrats elect Nashville's Jeff Yarbro as minority leader". The Tennessean. Retrieved 2019-01-30.
^ "Legislative Senate Committees - Tennessee General Assembly". www.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
External links
- Official website
Coordinates: 36°09′57″N 86°47′03″W / 36.1658°N 86.7843°W / 36.1658; -86.7843