Tick bite scare of ’06 leads to talk of an elected Lt. Gov.

A tick bite may cause Tennessee to start having an elected lieutenant governor.

An advisory panel submitted its final report to Gov. Phil Bredesen Monday on amending the constitution to establish a clear process if a governor became incapacitated. But constitutional problems that have arisen may complicate the issue.

To address those complications, Bredesen is considering having an elected lieutenant governor. That new position may run on the same ticket as a governor or prospective governor seeking the office.

“It may be really the only solution to getting some certainty in the succession,” Bredesen said after receiving the panel’s report.

The 33-member state Senate currently elects the lieutenant governor, who also serves as their speaker.

Sen. Douglas Henry (D-Nashville), a member of the Senate since 1970, is not in favor of electing a lieutenant governor, calling the idea “crazy.”

“They’re drones,” Henry said. “They do nothing except cost money.”

The Governor’s Advisory Committee on the Transfer of Chief Executive Powers was formed after Bredesen was sidelined for weeks with sickness that apparently resulted from a tick bite during the summer of 2006.

Bredesen joked about whether or not the tick or ticks that bit him knew of their power.

“I wonder if that family of ticks in my yard knows that they’re going to change the Tennessee state constitution as a result of their actions,” Bredesen quipped, acknowledging he did not know where he was bitten.

The resulting blue-ribbon panel did not recommend for or against having an elected lieutenant governor.

It did recommend laying out a process for if a governor became incapacitated as well as the line of succession in that instance.

If a governor became incapacitated, the lieutenant governor would be first in line to succeed the governor. The next in line would be the speaker of the House and then secretary of state.

The constitutional problems arose from existing prohibitions on a position serving in the legislative and executive branch at the same time.

Under the current construction of state government, the lieutenant governor is the speaker of the Senate and, under the constitution, would likely have to resign that position to temporarily become governor. The speaker of the House, who is next in line, would have to do the same.

Attorney General Bob Cooper said both the speakers of the House and Senate would be unlikely to resign their posts to temporarily become governor because they wouldn’t want to give up their powerful positions for what could be a short period.

As a result, the proposed amendment allows the respective speakers to pass on becoming governor. The secretary of state is not given that latitude and has to take the job.

Bredesen called not having a clear line of who would be governor if the chief executive became incapacitated “a little jarring.”

Electing a lieutenant governor may be the salve to fix the problem, Bredesen said.

Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville) and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) are in favor of electing a lieutenant governor as well as the secretary of state. The General Assembly currently elects the secretary of state.

“I would like to see us elect more people in Tennessee,” Kurita said.

Kurita said she would be moving a separate proposed constitutional amendment to have an elected lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

Former Gov. Ned McWherter and House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington) each said they were in favor of an elected lieutenant governor but opposed to an elected secretary of state.

“I’d keep that in the legislative branch,” McWherter said of the secretary of state’s position.

Bredesen said he would review the panel’s report and expects his administration to push the proposed amendment in the Legislature this year.