Roll call votes defeated in the House.

As the 2024 legislative session convenes here in Tennessee, the House had an opportunity, by amending its rules, to introduce more transparency into the process.

Rep. Bryan Richey submitted an amendment that would require a roll call vote in every committee hearing as bills make their way to the House floor. But the rules committee rejected the plan.

So, we are left with the voice vote procedure in the House which puts the passage of a bill squarely in the hands of one individual, the committee chairman. This is not how representative government should work.