State Election Bill Could Change Everything

Electoral Earthquake On the Docket

From Davis Hunt

Much hay has been made of voting laws in Tennessee and across the country lately. You've probably heard about the SAVE Act at the federal level, and maybe some proposed laws at the state level too. The Banner wrote about some of the proposals at the state-level yesterday, but focusing so narrowly on “disparate impact” type bills, they missed the Big Kahuna. 

There's a proposal moving through the General Assembly right now that could change how local elections work in Nashville. The bill, sponsored by Scott Cepicky in the House and Joey Hensley in the Senate, would move the date of city elections to line up with the August primary or November general election.

In other words, the off-cycle August 2027 Metro elections would get pushed to November 2028, landing on the same ballot as the presidential race every four years. The bill has momentum on the hill and is on the calendar for next week’s Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar.

In 2023, only 1 in 5 Nashville residents voted in local elections. The goal of this bill is to get more people to show up. During Presidential elections, 3 in 5 residents vote. When so few people vote in Metro elections, you end up with a government that is not actually representative of the city.

Would moving these elections to Presidential years boost turnout? Almost certainly. And with more voters showing up, you'd see a whole new group of people shaping local politics.

✹ DOES NASHVILLE WANT YOU TO STAY?

The Zoning Phantom Leadeth the Taxman Zoning, land use, and property tax disputes have animated political discussions in Nashville since Mayor Freddie O'Connell first took office in September 2023.

​Through his Substack, Built to Think, and organization, Save Our Nashville Neighborhoods, Chris Remke has emerged as the city’s most potent critic of the Metro agenda. He's effectively drawn attention to everything from Nashville’s inflated growth projections to the smoke-and-mirrors assurances given to homeowners about how upzoning would affect them, and most recently, the betrayal of local businesses now saddled with unwieldy tax bills.

​Join us Thursday evening, March 26th, for a wide-ranging discussion on what Metro is trying to achieve and where they've gone wrong.

​This event is for the benefit of The Pamphleteer, Nashville, and priced with that in mind. Bard-level subscribers receive free admittance.

LOCAL COLOR

🚰 Water Credit Napkin Math On Tuesday, the Metro Council deferred the final vote on a bill that would award Nashville water and sewer users with a one-time reimbursement in response to the ice storm. While some support the credit as a good-faith effort to put some extra change in the pockets of Nashvillians, others argue the $10-$25 dollar reimbursement is a pittance that doesn’t actually target those most impacted by Winter Storm Fern.

Councilmember Quin Evans Segall emphasized that everybody experienced some sort of loss during the storm: “This isn't a ton of money for people, but for a lot of folks it'll go a little bit of the way to replacing what was in their food or their freezer or what went down their pipes.” Segall also argued that dispersing relief using a more targeted approach is less ideal because "there are a lot of people who are just not going to do that, who are not going to take the time to do that, who might be embarrassed, who don't understand how to do that.”

The napkin math got a bit confusing when Metro Finance framed the reimbursement as a way that Metro Water could redistribute the windfall it accrued during the storm. “There's an increase in unexpected revenue due to the storm, so the credits are essentially giving back that unexpected revenue,” explained Metro’s Assistant Finance Director Mary Jo Wiggins.

Later in the discussion, Councilmember Courtney Johnston asserted that downplaying the cost and overstating the benefit rings hollow. The price tag to distribute the proposed credit is $6-$7 million.

Johnston explained that only 26 percent of Nashvillians saw an increase in their water bill. Out of that 26 percent, 48 percent experienced what’s considered a normal bill variance. 

The assertion tracks. During a press conference in January, Metro Water Director Scott Potter encouraged Nashvillians to drip their water, assuring customers that dripping 3 faucets for 24 hours only costs about $1.70.

“This is a huge fiscal note for our utility to be spending money that's not solving a problem that we need to solve,” said Johnston. “I think we all want to help people, but we want to help people in a meaningful way,” she concluded, advocating for the council to steward utility dollars responsibly and come up with a more targeted way to meaningfully reimburse those devastated by the storm.

The council will vote on the bill during its first meeting in April. 

NON-LOCAL COLOR

⏰ Lock the Clock State Representative Chris Todd (R-Madison County) gave an update on his bill that would lock Tennessee on standard time throughout the year. Todd said that 569 voters were recently polled in Madison County and “nearly 76 percent said Tennessee should stop changing clocks twice a year,” while “about 68 percent support staying on standard time year-round.”

Despite having more than 17 cosponsors on his bill, the legislation died in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. Perhaps it's because Tennessee has already passed a bill to get rid of time change.

In 2019, a trigger law was signed by the governor that would fix Tennessee clocks on daylight saving time year-round, as opposed to Todd’s attempt to lock in standard time. But the law only takes effect if Congress allows states to do so.

Last year, Senator Bill Hagerty cosponsored the Sunshine Protection Act, which would allow states to observe DST all year. No action has been taken on the bill since February 2025.

Though similar pieces of legislation continue to stall in Congress, eliminating the spring forward/fall back cycle is popular among Americans. Originally, the United States adopted daylight saving time as a temporary energy-saving measure during World War I. The time shift stayed and has gradually stretched to cover a longer portion of the calendar.

Now, the real debate is over which fixed time is preferable: permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time.

Permanent daylight saving time keeps clocks one hour ahead, so daylight shifts late. Those who support it argue it's better for recreation after work, after-school activities, and businesses that stay open in the evenings.

Sunrise and sunset happen earlier in the day under permanent standard time. Scientists and doctors mostly support this option because human circadian rhythms are tied to morning sunlight, not evening light.

HEADLINES

• 🧊 Nashville woman detained by ICE released. After more than two weeks in ICE custody, Nashville Noticias journalist Estefany Rodríguez walked out of a Louisiana detention center Thursday afternoon, free on bond. Rodríguez’s legal case remains ongoing. (Banner)
• 🎒 Tennessee Senate advances bill expanding cross-district public school transfers.  While Tennessee currently allows parents to send their children to schools outside their zip code, they can only apply ahead of the school year. The proposed legislation would allow children to apply for transfer every semester. (Fox 17)
• 💸 State wants to bankroll the East Bank using money from the convention center. Top Tennessee lawmakers want to tap into the sizable surplus in Music City Center's bank account to finance projects on the East Bank. The bill would extend the window of time that Nashville's tourism development zone remains activated (this zone is where state and local sales taxes are rerouted to the convention center authority). The legislation would also reroute some of the authority's surplus revenue and send it directly to the East Bank Development Authority. (NBJ)

✹ METRO COUNCIL WATCH

Who bankrolls your councilmember? We analyzed every donation to every council member to show you whether they're funded by their constituents or someone else. Higher grades go to those who raise more money locally. (Take a Look)

DEVELOPMENT

• Bell Construction Breaks Ground On Williamson County Juvenile Justice Center (Now Next)
• Indoor golf club plans fifth Nashville area location (NBJ)
• National fireworks, light shows company opens local office (Post)
• Boden picks Nashville for second U.S. location (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Coma Cinema + Trace Mountains @ The Blue Room, 7p, $23.41, Info

🪕 Robert Earl Keen @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $78, Info

🪕 Kyle Ray @ The Basement, 7p, $17.72, Info

🎻 Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs in Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $36, Info

🪕 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

SATURDAY

🎸 Lucero - Celebrating 20 years of “Nobody's Darlings" @ The Basement East, 8p, $45.02, Info

🎸 Low Gap w/ Will Slater @ The Basement, 7p, $22.59, Info

🎸 Randy Rogers @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $102, Info

🎻 Dolly Parton's Threads: My Songs in Symphony @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $36, Info

🎸 Kelley’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

SUNDAY

🎸 Pat Metheny @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $36, Info

🪕 Bluegrass Jam @ Station Inn, 7p, Free, Info
+ a night for musicians and singers from all over the world to gather and enjoy making music together

🪕 Sundays Between with Easy Green @ Tennessee Brew Works, 1p, Info
+ a bluegrass celebration of the music of the Grateful Dead

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Finish Repealing Tennessee’s CON LawsToday's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik, and Camelia Brennan.