Nashville Butting Heads With The Tennessee Legislature — The New Normal?

WPLN | By Blake Farmer,

Blake Farmer, Chas Sisk

Published March 14, 2016 at 6:40 AM CDT

In recent years, the Tennessee legislature has trumped local governments on several issues, ranging from descrimination ordinances to living wage laws.

WPLN's Chas Sisk explains what the recent tension between cities and the state government means about Tennessee politics.

Republicans have long preached the virtues of keeping government as close to the people as possible.

But since taking control of the Tennessee legislature, they’ve frequently been accused of hypocrisy.

Republican lawmakers have tried to preempt local governments — particularly those in Democratic strongholds of Nashville and Memphis. Republicans, though, say they're justified, with the goal of maintaining uniformity across county lines.

Blake Farmer

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Blake Farmer

Blake Farmer is WPLN's assistant news director, but he wears many hats - reporter, editor and host. He covers the Tennessee state capitol while also keeping an eye on Fort Campbell and business trends, frequently contributing to national programs. Born in Tennessee and educated in Texas, Blake has called Nashville home for most of his life.

Chas Sisk

Chas joined WPLN in 2015 after eight years with The Tennessean, including more than five years as the newspaper's statehouse reporter.Chas has also covered communities, politics and business in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Chas grew up in South Carolina and attended Columbia University in New York, where he studied economics and journalism. Outside of work, he's a dedicated distance runner, having completed a dozen marathons

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