As might be expected, more complete tributes have now been written for former Democratic Governor Ned Ray McWherter of Dresden since he passed away Monday. Many of these stories have concentrated on his time as Governor, which was noteworthy for reasons both good and bad. However, there seems to be very little attention paid by comparison to McWherter's highly influential time as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives.

 

Ned McWherter understood that Tennessee's Constitution really gives the legislative branch the vast majority of the power in our government, but he also knew that for years, previous Tennessee Governors took power that didn't belong to them by abusing what was a lack of a good committee system in the General Assembly. The Legislature often had to wait on the Governor before beginning even the most basic work, and that essentially made the House and Senate rubber stamps for an executive that was supposed to be weak.

 

House Speaker Ned McWherter changed all of that by strengthening the power, number, and role of legislative committees in the Tennessee House. He made the Calendar and Rules Committee the Great Decider, by giving it the power to essentially nix any bill that came before it, even if that legislation had already passed its designated committee or committees. This made Calendar and Rules the most powerful committee in the House, and it remains so today.

 

The McWherter reforms to the legislative committee system also made the General Assembly a bastion of Democratic domination for years even as Republican power in the State steadily grew. When current House Speaker Beth Harwell announced she would streamline committees and change how bills moved through the House, it was the first major such change since Ned McWherter had been Speaker. Many of the standing rules of various House committees still date to the order of things as Ned McWherter had established them.