NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — There may still be life in a proposal to repeal Tennessee teachers' collective bargaining rights after its sponsor said Wednesday that a committee will reconvene to hear the bill.
The House Finance Committee voted Tuesday to send the measure back to the House Education Committee, which is closed but can be reopened by the chairman or House speaker.
Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart of Hendersonville told reporters following a meeting of GOP leadership on Wednesday that House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, is going to reopen the committee and Republican Chairman Richard Montgomery of Sevierville has agreed to vote for it on the House floor.
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The proposal stalled in the Education Committee when Republican Rep. Harry Brooks of Knoxville attempted to add an amendment that would do away with bargaining rights. The Republican-controlled panel voted 14-11 to send the bill back before the amendment was added.
The original bill seeks to shield certain areas — like teacher evaluation standards and merit pay — from union bargaining, but not do away with negotiations altogether.
The companion bill, which does do away with bargaining, passed the Senate 18-14 on Monday. Except for some difference in language, the proposed House amendment is very similar to the Senate version.
The proposal seemed doomed after several Republican members of the House Finance Committee joined in the vote to send it back. But Maggart said Wednesday that she has the votes to get the bill through the legislative process and eventually pass the amended version.
"I'm confident I have them on the floor, and I feel very good about finance," she said. "I'm moving forward with it."
Harwell had to step into the House Budget Subcommittee in March to cast a tiebreaking vote to move the measure forward.
Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga said Wednesday he expects the Education Committee to advance a new version of the bill, but that he's uncertain whether it will clear the Finance Committee.
"I really don't know," said McCormick, who is a member of the Finance Committee. "I'll vote for it, that's all I know."
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