New Tennessee House rules to ban hecklers, banish disorderly lawmakers to vote remotely

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee House is warning lawmakers and the crowds watching legislative floor sessions that they could be booted from the room if their behavior is deemed out of line.

For lawmakers, after multiple infractions they could be removed from the floor a few days at a time and forced to vote remotely. For the public, they could be banned up to two years for particularly bad or frequently disruptive behavior. The tougher punishment options came in a news rules package passed Thursday.

“You’re on the House floor, and you’re expected to have decorum and respect for the institution,” Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton told reporters. “Same thing in the gallery.”

The stiffer rules mark another instance in the U.S. where state lawmakers are focusing on punishments when they find their peers are misbehaving. The topic returned to the forefront Thursday in Georgia, when state Sen. Colton Moore, who had been previously banned from the House chamber, was arrested after a shoving match with House employees where the right-wing Republican fell to the floor trying to enter the chamber for the governor’s state of the state.

Rowdy crowds have drawn attention in legislatures elsewhere, too. In Rhode Island, the public was blocked from entering the rotunda on Wednesday for hours for Democratic Gov. Dan McKee’s state of the state speech, including protesters calling for action on homelessness, according to news reports.

Tennessee House Republicans have been tinkering with the rules to dissuade disruption from political opponents since 2023. That’s when they expelled two Democratic lawmakers for a protest on the floor calling for gun control after a deadly school shooting. The move backfired politically, putting Tennessee in the national spotlight and elevating the Democratic representatives’ profile with huge fundraising hauls. Yet Republicans kept the same supermajority after November.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, the Democrat who survived the expulsion votes, called the Tennessee House changes “the most ridiculous, fascist rules.”

“They are sending members to ‘time out’ for being ‘out of order,’” Johnson posted on social media Thursday. “Remember that to them, if you mention the word racism, they will call you out of order.”

The changes come as Speaker Sexton has become a top target of criticism from left-leaning Capitol visitors. In pushing the changes, House Republicans noted that Congress has strict decorum rules for gallery visitors. While both Tennessee chambers are controlled by Republicans, the House has long attracted the most bombastic conflicts — both among lawmakers, but also from the gallery. The Senate has not changed its rules or aimed to quiet lawmakers or visitors.

On a few occasions, audience outcry has stalled House action after a contentious bill passed, and state troopers were ordered to clear the stands. It’s not uncommon for some to unfurl signs or shout profanities during particularly fiery debates.

In response, Republicans have sought to silence protesters they deem too unruly. In 2023, they banned visitors from carrying signs inside the Capitol and in hearing rooms during a brief special session. The rule was later challenged in court and paused by a judge, but lawmakers adjourned before the case was settled. They haven’t reinstituted the ban.

Last year, House GOP officials made half the public gallery require tickets. Each of the 99 House members would get one ticket to give to someone each day of the House session. The ticketed side holds 128 seats. The other has 120 seats and remains first-come, first-serve.

The new remote-voting penalty for lawmakers is largely tailored to one of the expelled-and-returned lawmakers. On numerous occasions, Republicans have ruled Rep. Justin Jones’ comments out-of-order and voted to temporarily silence him previously, at times saying he’s talking out of turn, speaking ill of another lawmaker or veering off-topic. Jones has said the House speaker at times has ignored his requests to speak. Jones has also claimed a double standard in which Republicans aren’t punished for comparable behavior.

Sexton likened the rule to one in Montana, where Republicans voted in 2023 to temporarily silence and banish Rep. Zooey Zephyr to remote voting. The transgender Democrat said colleagues supporting a ban on gender-affirming care for youths would have “blood” on their hands.

Also under the new rules package, gallery visitors who try to get the attention of someone on the floor, or whose actions are deemed by the House speaker to be detrimental to proceedings, will be removed and banned from returning that day or the next legislative day. If someone shows “especially egregious conduct” or is repeatedly kicked out, they could be banned longer, up to a full two-year legislative term.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, could be removed from the House floor and forced to vote remotely after being ruled out of order enough times on multiple days.

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Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy contributed from Atlanta.

Jonathan Mattise And Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press