SO ON THE SAMPLE BALLOT FOR THE TENNESSEE ELECTIONS is a constitutional amendment that I worked on, now up for popular ratification as Amendment #2. Summary:

This amendment would add to article III, section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution a process for the temporary exercise of the powers and duties of the governor by the Speaker of the Senate–or the Speaker of the House if there is no Speaker of the Senate in office–when the governor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor. While a Speaker is temporarily discharging the powers and duties of the governor, the Speaker would not be required to resign as Speaker or to resign as a member of the legislature; but the Speaker would not be able to preside as Speaker or vote as a member of the legislature. A Speaker who is temporarily discharging the powers and duties of the governor would not get the governor’s salary but would get the Speaker’s salary. The amendment would also exempt a Speaker who is temporarily discharging the powers and duties of the governor from provisions in the Constitution that would otherwise prohibit the Speaker from exercising the powers of the governor and from simultaneously holding more than one state office.

I was on the committee that drafted this, along with former Tennessee Gov. (and Speaker of the House) Ned Ray McWherter, back when Phil Bredesen was governor. Searching my archives, that was 15 years ago. Well, these things move slowly through the legislative pipeline. I’d have to check my files, but the language seems to be unchanged as far as I can tell.

The problem came up when Bredesen was bitten by a tick and laid out with some mysterious illness for a couple of months. In Tennessee, the Speaker of the Senate is also the Lieutenant Governor. But if he/she succeeds to the Governorship, he/she becomes ineligible for the Senate and loses the seat. This amendment would change that to allow a fill-in period for an incapacitated governor.