The Role of Committees, Explained
Thanks to Executive Committee member Brooklynn White for this write-up. This is an editorial piece and does not reflect the views or opinions of the Sumner County Democratic Party.
At the September special session of the Sumner County Commission, our newly sworn in commissioners voted on and approved the committee assignments that will be used over the next 4 years. On a state level, Senator Charlene Oliver was stripped of her committee appointments for standing on her desk and speaking out against the illegal gerrymander passed to dilute black voting power and strip Memphis of their Democratic representation. Representatives such as Aftyn Behn have spoken about being put on committees they have a less direct impact on as a consequence for pushing back in a past legislative session.
Often times, a call to action will come across your social feed or end up in your inbox telling you about one of the awful bills our state legislatures are working on, and you will be encouraged to reach out to your own representatives and even other representatives that sit on a specific committee. Just last year, public outcry and the hard work of organizers were able to prevent several bills from making it out of committee here in TN, such as HB793 – a bill that would make it illegal for undocumented children to have free access to public schools. It is not uncommon to read that something “died in committee”.
A committee is group of legislators or appointed community members that are responsible for working on tasks related to a specific subject. On a county level, we have committees that are made up of both county commission members and other county employees such as the Road Superintendent that sits on the Highways Committee. We also have a few committees with appointed citizens that bring a contribution that the County Commission finds valuable, such as the volunteer firefighters and citizens with fire work experience who sit on the Volunteer Fire Department ad hoc.
Committees can be a permanent committee, meaning the committee is an ongoing committee that has its own rules and stated purpose that will always exist; these are referred to as “standing committees.” Committees could also be temporary committees assembled to make recommendations for a specific temporary need such as the Volunteer Fire Department Ad Hoc that was created by the County Commission last year to explore ways to better support our volunteer fire departments and report these findings and suggestions to the County Commission. These temporary committees are called “ad hoc.”
Committees are like mini focus groups or a group project. In a perfect world, they focus on things that fall under the umbrella of their committee and then send things out to the bigger body. If they function the way they are supposed to, committees can function like an editor if you were writing a paper.
Let’s say there is a desire to give away freeze pops on Labor Day. First it would be decided which committee this issue is best related to. Then someone would put together their legislation proposal and find someone to sponsor it (they present it). The draft would be brought up in committee and the committee should go through it and make sure it is in the best condition to go to the whole body. Then they vote on sending it out. In a legislative committee, the intended purpose of committees is to check that there is no important information missing, make sure the bill has the correct references to any legal code or laws that already exist so that it can be enforceable, ensure that the legislation is constitutional, fix typos, etc. Remember in school when your teacher would tell you to answer the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, why and then how? That is what a committee is supposed to sort out.
By the time something leaves committee and is presented to the general body, the debate should be about if the thing should happen and what kind of changes we need to make to the legislation so that people are happy with the consequences of voting for it. Committees sort out all the fine print and jargon, essentially. Sometimes more than one committee will review something before it goes to the whole body. Budget committee ends up reviewing most things. In our freeze pops example, the legislation/proposal may be worked out in one committee before being sent on to the budget committee to review before finally deciding to send it on to the whole body or to nix it.
Committees also can try to brainstorm solutions to problems. They can delve into a topic and research solutions and then present them to the wider body. We see this most often with our County Commission Committees. When we had the ice storm this past winter and had all the cleanup afterward, it was the Highway Committee that decided we needed more brush trucks. They put together all the information about what they needed and the cost associated with it, so that by the time it came to the county commission, the county commission just had to hear the proposal and then discuss and vote on it. The Volunteer Fire Department ad hoc has suggested that the county hire a position under the mayor’s office responsible for a range of tasks that will support the volunteer fire departments. The ad hoc is working on all the research and a proposal so that by the time the recommendation is made by the committee, the county commission will have facts such as the budget, what the role will look like, why it is believed to be a necessary addition, and then the county commission can debate the merit and make a decision rather than the whole commission having to become an expert or debate the smallest details. In practice, does committee work really prevent legislative bodies from debating minute details or spending their time martyring personal agendas? No. But that is a separate issue.
The final piece necessary in understanding the role committees play is understanding what it means when something “dies in committee”. Before something leaves the committee, the committee has to vote to approve to send it out. For the HB793 that would target undocumented school children, the bill was never voted to be sent to the legislative body. On a local level, if the committee on committees never reviews the submissions of people requesting to be on the library board and then votes in favor of sending them to the commission meeting as a nomination, then that nomination never gets discussed.
The point of this voting process is to make sure that whatever is being sent on for a vote is quality and worthwhile. The legislative bodies only have so much time. Every piece of legislation that is written and then sent through a committee cannot go to the general body necessarily. Every single piece of legislation written about education on a state level has to go through one of the education committees. Not every one of those pieces can and should go to the floor. Sometime legislation is redundant and multiple things could be combined into one. Instead of funding and establishing 3 separate new trade classes for high school students in 3 separate pieces of legislation, maybe they can be combined into one that can then be sent to the floor as a much stronger draft. Maybe the education committee decided to be reasonable and decide that we do not need to pass sweeping legislation about trans athletes when we have a literacy crisis and all of 5 trans athletes by the time they get to college sports anyway (just a thought).
In reality, what we often see is that committees are being used as political playbooks to push agendas by allowing bad legislation airtime but then “kill” impactful bills that the committee does not want to see make it to the floor. Often times, the impactful bills would be popular but go against the agenda of the supermajority, bought-and-paid-for committee members, or a an lobby group/person such as Moms for Liberty; or Riley Gaines calls in a favor and gets some bigotry prioritized in committee and then sent out to the floor. On a county level, we often see the budget committee refuse to send proposals on to the greater commission. I have personally seen everything from funding requests for school projects to budget increases requested by the volunteer fire departments for needed equipment be failed in the budget committee and then never even presented to the county commission as a whole.
Overall, committees are worth understanding and tuning in to. If there is something you are passionate about seeing changed, you should reach out to members of that committee to find out what is already being discussed or what suggestions you could make. If there is a problem you are annoyed about that seems like it is never being addressed, you may find out that a committee has been killing it or refusing to give it air time. Showing up and voicing your concern may go far.
Are you mad about the Flock cameras and 287(g) agreement with ICE that our Sheriff is all about? Show up to a Heath and Emergency Services Committee Meeting. Are you mad that the county won’t adequately fund our volunteer firefighters? Show up to a Budget Committee meeting. Are you irritated with the constant development or poor infrastructure? Stop complaining about the mayor on Facebook and show up to a Planning Commission meeting or Highway Committee meeting.
From an informed electorate perspective, it is a good idea to know what committees your elected officials are on and what they are or are not doing. Are they like William Lamberth, putting forth bills killing the hemp industry or trying to keep children from going to school? Voting someone out of office who does not seem to be entirely evil in the general body but who repeatedly sends on evil bills or shuts down bills that would have a positive impact on your life if they could even make it out of committee will have more of an impact than you may have considered. We have all heard about William Lamberth, but wouldn’t it be great to not only get LaToya Holcomb in office but also get Phil Barnes and Mandy Cook on some of these committees?
Finally, what committees elected officials are kept off of as punishment matters too. When the feisty social worker (Aftyn Behn) or all around fighter for all things good (Charlane Oliver) are kept off a committee that she is passionate about because she would like to put forth legislation to address the cost of living or end the grocery tax, those things have direct consequences in your life. And the people who get to put forth committee placements on a state level? The speaker of the House and Senate Leader.
If you would like to start attending committee meetings on a county level, you can find the committee meeting schedule on the county website. You can find agenda and past videos or minutes there as well. Our county has 8 standing committees that they filled this past meeting, but there are also tons of other committees such as a committee about the Sumner County Airport, the Opioid Abatement Board, the Library Board, a non-profit allocation panel, and even a Resource Authority committee among a list of others. Find out more about the county committees here.
