A three-judge panel in Tennessee this week delivered a blow to the state on the constitutionality of various sections of a law signed in May by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, which scrapped the existing board of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority (MNAA) and replaced it with a board with a majority state-appointed makeup.
“The statutory makeup of the new Board and the expansion of powers afforded MNAA are unconstitutional, we strike them from the Act,” the panel wrote in its ruling. “Thus, the new Board is vacated, and the old Board is reinstated without the additional powers and responsibilities contained in [the legislation].”
The panel addressed questions related to local governance, equal protection, and the separation of powers.
Lawsuit Origins
While the legislation does not specifically target Nashville by name, Nashville’s airport authority was the only one that met the guidelines of the legislation’s wording.Two other airport authorities in the state failed to meet the requirements due to having populations under 500,000, and those airports, along with the Memphis airport authority, also failed to meet a requirement of having a consolidated form of local government such as Nashville, making the changes only applicable to MNAA.
“For decades, the MNAA board has been led by some of Nashville’s most prominent business leaders, aviators and engineers,” Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said of the decision. “Their decisions show a history of bi-partisan decision-making reflecting a professional board functioning at the highest level. Under the direction of these Nashville leaders, [Nashville International Airport] has grown to meet the rapidly expanding needs of our city for today and the future. I look forward to the reinstatement of the locally appointed board.”
The state has 30 days to appeal this ruling and the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office said it is reviewing next steps in a statement to local media.
The city sued the governor and leaders of the Tennessee House and Senate in June, arguing that the state legislation violated a clause in the Tennessee Constitution referred to as the “home rule” clause, which essentially prohibits the state from enacting laws that single out a specific county or entity.
Another clause prohibits the state Legislature from passing special, local, or private acts that “have the effect of removing incumbents from municipal or county offices or altering the terms or salaries of public officers without local approval,” the city argued in its complaint.
Panel’s Ruling
The three-judge panel in Davidson County Chancery Court said the state law violated the Local Legislation Clause and the Anti-Ripper Bill Clause of the Tennessee Constitution.The court stated, “Section 2 was found to be unconstitutional because it altered the composition of the governing board of a metropolitan airport authority (MNAA) in a manner that directly affected the local government’s authority.”
The panel found other sections of the law violated the Equal Protection Guarantee of the Tennessee Constitution. These sections granted significant powers to metropolitan airport authorities in qualifying counties based on population criteria, leading to what they said was unequal treatment among airport authorities.
An injunction was issued to prevent the enforcement of the unconstitutional sections, effectively vacating the new board created by those sections.
Nashville’s city legal director Wally Dietz hailed the ruling of the panel in a statement.
“MNAA is an agency and instrumentality of the Metropolitan Government,” Mr. Dietz said. “The ruling today reinforces Metro’s right to maintain and control the airport authority. Three different three-judge panels have now protected local governments from unconstitutional state overreach. This panel was well-prepared for the argument, and we are grateful the Court carefully considered the legal issues raised.”
Republican state Rep. Johnny Garrett, who sponsored the legislation in the state House, decried the ruling in a social media post this week.
“The Court’s decision on the Airport Authority is a major setback for transparency and fair representation for TN taxpayers,” he said. “We will continue to fight for the success of our state’s investments. I appreciate the hard work of [the Tennessee Attorney General] and I look forward to an appeal.”
