Testimony Before the Tennessee Senate State and Local Government Committee on Emergency Powers of the Governor

Heartland Impact

February 25, 2025

Chairman Briggs, and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for holding a hearing on Senate Bill 27, legislation that reforms Tennessee’s emergency powers of the governor to ensure that all actions taken as such comport with the State Constitution of Tennessee.

Heartland Impact is the advocacy and outreach arm of The Heartland Institute. Both organizations are independent, national, nonprofit organizations working to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. Heartland Impact specializes in providing state lawmakers the policy and advocacy resources to advance free-market policies towards broad-based economic prosperity.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans saw their respective governors wield unprecedented power with seemingly unlimited emergency declarations. This overnight shift in governance, coupled with a plethora of governors who abused their pandemic emergency powers, has left several states in recent legislative sessions reevaluating constitutional statutes pertaining to emergency provisions and powers granted to the governor during a state of emergency. Senate Bill 27 is no exception.

With the continued economic vulnerability Americans and the dollar have faced in recent years along with upticks in viruses such as bird flu it is reasonable for Americans and state lawmakers to be skeptical of more government overreach. Unfortunately, all some governors need is another emergency or disaster to be another excuse, or reason, for unchecked decisions that could affect Americans deeply.

During the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020 and in the months that followed, the deciding factor for whether Americans could send their children to school, eat at a restaurant, or go into the office ultimately came down to which state they lived in. We saw overzealous power-hungry governors like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) lockdown New York into oblivion – leading to the closure of thousands of small businesses and keeping kids at home for months on end. On the other hand, we also saw ambitious governors such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) bucking the lockdown trend and pushing for a return to normalcy.

Between the coronavirus pandemic, natural disasters, and hot-button political issues, many states have watched helplessly in recent years as their governors wielded broad emergency powers justified by a myriad of reasons. Senate Bill 27 is a paramount step in the right direction to ensure that the governors of Tennessee, present and future, are guaranteed to exercise their emergency powers within the confines of the state Constitution.

The concept encompassed by SB 27 is straightforward and necessary: it safeguards Volunteer State citizens from any governor action that negates the very document that gives them power – the state Constitution of Tennessee.

Since 2020, The Heartland Institute developed a set of principles that legislatures could reference if, and when, governors began abusing their newfound powers. Senate Bill 27 along with other bills introduced in the Tennessee legislature since then, abide by many of those guides:

1. Resolutions to (or can) immediately nullify an emergency proclamation.
2. Time certain duration of an emergency order (renewed by the legislature).
3. Pass a resolution that requires the governor to call a special session to approve of an emergency proclamation if the legislature is out of session.
4. Permit an interim committee or group of legislative leaders to extend or reject emergency proclamations.
5. Impose specific limits to executive authority during an emergency proclamation. (i.e., restrict the governor from unilaterally closing businesses, closing houses of worship, or shutting down freedom of the press, and the right to bear arms.)

Based on this legislation there is a clear appetite among Volunteer State lawmakers and constituents to reassert themselves into the debate and create mechanisms to ensure the protection of Tennesseans during a state of emergency. Governance guided by Constitutions is a bedrock American principle and through this legislation, Tennessee has an opportunity to set an example to the tens of states that are also looking at reining in executive authority.

Thank you for your time and consideration on this important issue.

Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377- 4000.