The Tennessee House of Representatives on Jan. 27 adopted the report of the ad hoc committee on rules, establishing the permanent rules of order for the 1st extraordinary session of the 114th General Assembly after a floor debate over amendment deadlines and public access to votes.

Lawmakers said the package matters because it sets amendment filing deadlines for the special session, defines when committees will accept amendments, and lays out a tentative committee schedule that will determine how quickly bills move to the floor.

Representative Lear Lambert moved to adopt the report of the ad hoc committee on rules as the permanent rules for the session. Chairman Clemens pressed the rules committee on whether the package required "24 hours notice for any amendments to committees," asking, "Is that correct?" Lambert responded, "That is not correct. There's a the committee sent that on their own. But ordinarily, it is a practice of the committees for there to be a 2 hour 2 hours before the committee begins, deadline to have any amendments in. The 24 hours is for the floor."

Several Democratic members said the 24-hour floor deadline and scheduling could limit meaningful debate on complex, consequential bills. Representative Hardaway asked whether exceptions would be made when a bill moves quickly from committee to calendar and rules to the floor, saying lawmakers outside committee membership must have a fair chance to file amendments. Representative Hardaway said he would feel more comfortable if he could be assured the bill language filed initially would be identical when the bill hit the floor.

Representative Lambert said he expected bills he filed for the special session would remain largely unchanged through committee, and that "24 hours prior to the floor seems ample enough time for anyone to file an amendment on those bills. That is really my opinion and the opinion of the rules committee." He also said committee amendment deadlines generally are two hours before a committee meets.

Representative Mitchell raised a related concern about the availability of floor amendments if bills flow rapidly through committee, asking for clarification: "So in essence, you know, there's gonna be no floor amendments discussed in this scenario." Leader Lambert replied: "The language in the rule says, 24 hours before we come onto the floor, you can file any amendment that you'd like."

Clerk of the House addressed a parliamentary question, saying the clerk's office will accept a floor amendment "after the bill has finished going through all full committees that it's assigned to. After if a bill goes to, for example, goes from transportation to finance, then we can accept those amendments after finance." The clerk clarified that calendar and rules is not counted as a substantive committee for that purpose.

The clerk also announced a committee schedule for the special session: education and disaster relief committees at 1 p.m. the next day (in separate rooms); government operations immediately following education; finance and transportation at 4:30 p.m.; calendar and rules immediately following finance. Immigration committee is tentatively scheduled to meet Wednesday at 8 a.m., followed by finance and calendar and rules.

Members also raised questions about public access to votes. Representative Powell asked how the public would know when votes would occur so constituents could obtain gallery tickets. Leader Lambert said tickets are available online for each day and explained that tickets are day-specific: "As long as somebody has a ticket for that day, they have a ticket for that day." He added that schedule changes and recess motions will be livestreamed and posted so observers can follow changes.

House leaders also discussed rules for guest behavior in the gallery. Leader Lambert warned that individuals who repeatedly violate gallery rules could be barred from returning for the remainder of the 114th General Assembly, describing an example of disruptive behavior: "If you're gonna do that kind of stuff, you're probably not going to be able to return."

After debate, the House voted to adopt the ad hoc committee's report as the rules for the special session. The clerk announced the vote as recorded: "Aye, 70 1, 22 nays." The clerk earlier reported 89 members present. The speaker then recessed the House until 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.

The newly adopted rules set the amendment filing deadlines and committee procedures that will govern how the seven bills filed for the special session proceed through committees and to the House floor.