Tennessee Senate
Senate of Tennessee | |
---|---|
Tennessee General Assembly | |
Type | |
Type | |
Term limits | None |
History | |
New session started | January 10, 2023 |
Leadership | |
Speaker pro tempore | |
Majority Leader | |
Minority Leader | |
Structure | |
Seats | 33 |
Political groups | Majority party
Minority party
|
Length of term | 4 years |
Authority | Article III, Tennessee Constitution |
Salary | $24,316/year + per diem, employee benefits, travel reimbursement[1] |
Elections | |
Last election | November 8, 2022 (17 seats) |
Next election | November 5, 2024 (16 seats) |
Redistricting | Legislative Control |
Meeting place | |
State Senate Chamber Tennessee State Capitol Nashville, Tennessee | |
Website | |
www |
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 has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue regarding the state, country, or world. The Senate also has the power to create and enforce its own rules and qualifications for its members. The Senate shares these powers with the
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. Senators from even-numbered districts are elected in the same years as presidential elections, and senators from odd-numbered districts are elected in the same years as mid-term elections. Districts are to be sequentially and consecutively numbered; the scheme basically runs from east to west and north to south.[citation needed]
Senate Speaker
According to Article III, Section 12 of the
Oath and qualifications of office
Oath of office
"I [name of official] do solemnly swear that, as a member of this, the [number, ex. One Hundred Eleventh] General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, I will faithfully support the Constitution of this State and of the United States, and I do solemnly affirm that as a member of this General Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection, partiality, or prejudice; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing, whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the Constitution of this state."[2]
Qualifications for office
"No person shall be a senator unless he shall be a citizen of the United States, of the age of thirty years, and shall have resided three years in this state, and one year in the county or district, immediately preceding the election."[2]
Composition of the 113th General Assembly (2023-2025)
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Democratic | Vacant | |||
End of previous legislature | 27 | 6 | 33 | 0 | |
Beginning of 113th GA | 27 | 6 | 33 | 0 | |
Latest voting share | 81.8% | 18.18% |
Senate Leadership and Members
Senate Leaders[3]
- Speaker of the Senate, Lieutenant Governor: Randy McNally
- Speaker pro tempore: Ferrell Haile
- Deputy Speaker: Shane Reeves, John Stevens, Dawn White
Majority Party (R) | Leadership Position | Minority Party (D) |
---|---|---|
Jack Johnson | Leader | Raumesh Akbari |
Ken Yager | Caucus Chairperson | London Lamar |
Members
District | Name | Party | Residence | Counties represented |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | J. Adam Lowe | Rep | Calhoun | Bradley
|
2 | Art Swann | Rep | Alcoa | Bradley
|
3 | Rusty Crowe | Rep | Johnson City
|
Washington
|
4 | Jon Lundberg | Rep | Bristol
|
Sullivan
|
5 | Randy McNally | Rep | Oak Ridge | Knox
|
6 | Becky Duncan Massey | Rep | Knoxville
|
Part of Knox
|
7 | Richard Briggs | Rep | Knoxville
|
Part of Knox
|
8 | Frank S. Niceley
|
Rep | Strawberry Plains | Sevier
|
9 | Steve Southerland | Rep | Morristown | Sevier
|
10 | Todd Gardenhire | Rep | Chattanooga
|
Hamilton
|
11 | Bo Watson | Rep | Hixson | Part of Hamilton
|
12 | Ken Yager | Rep | Kingston
|
Scott
|
13 | Dawn White | Rep | Murfreesboro | Part of Rutherford
|
14 | Shane Reeves | Rep | Murfreesboro
|
Rutherford
|
15 | Paul Bailey | Rep | Sparta
|
White
|
16 | Janice Bowling | Rep | Tullahoma
|
Warren
|
17 | Mark Pody | Rep | Lebanon | Davidson
|
18 | Ferrell Haile | Rep | Gallatin
|
Trousdale
|
19 | Charlane Oliver | Dem | Nashville | Part of Davidson
|
20 | Heidi Campbell | Dem | Nashville
|
Part of Davidson
|
21 | Jeff Yarbro | Dem | Nashville
|
Part of Davidson
|
22 | Bill Powers | Rep | Clarksville | Part of Montgomery
|
23 | Kerry Roberts | Rep | Springfield
|
Montgomery
|
24 | John Stevens | Rep | Huntingdon
|
Weakley
|
25 | Ed Jackson | Rep | Jackson
|
Madison, and Perry
|
26 | Page Walley | Rep | Bolivar | Wayne
|
27 | Jack Johnson | Rep | Franklin
|
Part of Williamson
|
28 | Joey Hensley | Rep | Hohenwald
|
Williamson
|
29 | Raumesh Akbari | Dem | Memphis
|
Part of Shelby
|
30 | Sara Kyle | Dem | Memphis
|
Part of Shelby
|
31 | Brent Taylor | Rep | Memphis
|
Part of Shelby
|
32 | Paul Rose | Rep | Covington
|
Shelby
|
33 | London Lamar | Dem | Memphis
|
Part of Shelby
|
Senate Committees
The Tennessee State Senate has 12 committees in total: 9 standing committees and 3 select committees. Committee assignments for the 112th General Assembly were announced in the January 12, 2021 organizational session:[4]
Committee Name | Chair | Vice-chair |
---|---|---|
Commerce and Labor | Sen. Paul Bailey (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Art Swann (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Frank Nicely (R) |
Education | Sen. Jon Lundberg (R) | 2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D) |
Energy, Agriculture, and Natural Resources | Sen. Steve Southerland (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Frank Niceley (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Mark Pody (R) |
Finance, Ways, and Means | Sen. Bo Watson (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. John Stevens (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Joey Hensley (R) |
Government Operations | Sen. Kerry Roberts (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Ed Jackson (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Janice Bowling (R) |
Health and Welfare | Sen. Rusty Crowe (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Ferrell Haile (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Shane Reeves (R) |
Judiciary | Vacant | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Dawn White (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Paul Rose (R) |
State and Local Government | Sen. Richard Briggs (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Todd Gardenhire (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Page Walley (R) |
Transportation and Safety | Sen. Becky Duncan Massey (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Bill Powers (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Mark Pody (R) |
Committee Name | Chair | Vice-chair |
---|---|---|
Calendar | Sen. Ed Jackson (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Jack Johnson (R)
2nd Vice Chair: Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D) |
Ethics | Sen. Ferrell Haile (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. John Stevens (R) |
Rules | Sen. Bo Watson (R) | 1st Vice Chair: Sen. Richard Briggs (R) |
Past composition of the Senate
In 1921, Anna Lee Keys Worley became the first woman to serve in the Tennessee Senate.[6]
References
- ^ "2022 Legislator Compensation". www.ncsl.org.
- ^ a b c Tennessee Blue Book.
- ^ "Senate Leadership". capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ Kleinheider, Adam (January 13, 2021). "New 112th TGA @tnsenate committee assignments made this morning by @ltgovmcnally. @BrianKelsey will chair Education. @SenatorBriggs moves to State & Local. @HaileforSenate is new Ethics chair". Twitter.
- ^ "Legislative Senate Committees - Tennessee General Assembly". www.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "Anna Lee Keys Worley". National Women's History Museum. Retrieved August 5, 2018.