Tennessee lawmakers’ push to become the first state to designate the Bible the state’s official book hit a snag Thursday when Republican Gov. Bill Haslam vetoed the bill. Both houses of the state legislature signed off on the legislation that would place the Good Book alongside other esteemed Tennessee state symbols like the salamander (official amphibian) and the smallmouth bass (official sport fish). Despite the lawmakers’ enthusiasm, Gov. Haslam decided *official book* status wasn’t a particularly good look for the Bible or the state.
“In addition to the constitutional issues with the bill, my personal feeling is that this bill trivializes the Bible, which I believe is a sacred text,” Haslam wrote in a letter to the speaker of the statehouse. “If we are recognizing the Bible as a sacred text, then we are violating the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee by designating it as the official state book.”
The Constitution! Thank goodness. The Tennessee state Attorney General warned the state’s particularly pious legislators that designating the Bible as the state book almost certainly ran afoul of the Constitution. Haslam, despite being a Bible enthusiast, expressed similar fundamental legal concerns while explaining his veto.
“Supporters [of the bill] tried to argue the move would highlight the economic and historical impact the Bible has had on Tennessee, saying printing the Bible is a ‘multimillion-dollar industry’ for the state,” according to the Tennessean. Using this logic, Peyton Manning will likely be anointed the official Tennessee state football player by summer.
Despite the governor’s veto, however, the matter is not yet resolved. The good old-fashioned veto override is still in play! And in Tennessee it only requires a majority of both houses for the bill’s supporters to high step their way through the governor’s legislative stiff-arm (a pair of official Tennessee state football references for you). The bill’s sponsors say they’re planning on pushing for an override vote, but not everyone is so sure they’ll have the votes the second time around, according to the Tennessean.
In 2015, the House approved the measure 55-38, but the bill died in the Senate that year. When it was raised again this year, the Senate signed off 19-8 on the legislation. Here was the party break down of that vote (via the Tennessean):
Two Democrats — Sens. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, and Sara Kyle, D-Memphis — joined the 17 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill. Six Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, sided with two Democrats — Yarbro and Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis — to vote against the measure. Five Senators — four Republicans and one Democrat — did not vote on the measure.
