Latest news with #HB217
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill to rename Nashville International Airport for President Donald Trump revived
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A bill to rename Nashville International Airport for President Donald Trump has come back after previously being removed from consideration by its sponsor. HB 217, by Chapel Hill Republican State Rep. Todd Warner, was previously 'taken off notice,' or removed from consideration, by Warner prior to being heard by the House Naming & Designating Committee on Feb. 24. While bills taken off notice by lawmakers, they usually are not up for further consideration by the general assembly; however, if a bill is brought back, it still must make its way through the usual committees before being heard on the full chamber floor. PREVIOUS: Bill to rename Nashville International Airport for President Trump dead – for now The bill saw more resistance in the committee, particularly from the Nashville lawmakers on the committee. 'First of all this bill is a waste of time and money,' Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) said of the legislation. He asked why lawmakers would rename the airport in Nashville, which is in his district, for the current president, stating Trump 'has no connection to our community' and has led the nation 'on the path of shame, on the path of recklessness.' 'I am vehemently against the renaming of this airport,' he said, nothing three-quarters of Nashvillians voted against Trump in the last election. Warner countered, stating Trump is only the second president to ever be elected to nonconsecutive terms. 'President Trump has put America first,' Warner said. 'When he puts America first, it puts Tennessee first.' Warner further took issue with Jones stating Nashvillians rejected the current president, stating Tennesseeans largely supported Trump. 'He got 65 percent of the vote the last three elections in this state,' Warner said. Additionally, Warner said Tennesseans across the state help fund the airport, not just Nashville. An amendment for the bill filed Monday, March 10, makes note of the $23 million appropriated in state funds for the airport in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The amendment also notes BNA, under the authority of the Metro Nashville Airport Authority, has proposed a $34.3 million budget request from the state. Bedford County Republican State Rep. Pat Marsh (R-Shelbyville) said he supported the idea of renaming an airport for Trump, but felt BNA was too small an airport with which to do so. 'We should name LAX or Chicago or Atlanta [for him],' Marsh said. Warner said he disagreed with Marsh, adding state lawmakers lacked the authority to rename the airports Marsh listed. ⏩ The move to rename an airport for the current president has a similar federal push. Federal lawmakers have also filed a bill to rename Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) for the president, according to Committee Chairman Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood). Bulso said he thought it would be a nice piece of 'symmetry' to have both airports serving Washington, D.C. named after presidents, noting the name of Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport (DCA). Warner said he reached out to Congressman Andy Ogles' office on the federal bill, and Ogles' office said that federal bill was 'not moving' forward. The bill ultimately moved out of the Naming & Designating Committee with a negative recommendation, with Reps. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), Rush Bricken (R-Tullahoma), Bulso, Vincent Dixie (D-Nashville), Jones, and Marsh all opposed. Reps. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson), Monty Fritts (R-Kingston), Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington) and Warner in favor. It will next be heard by the House Transportation Committee, according to the state capitol website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Wyoming House bills push for hand-counting ballots in flurry of election-related legislation
CHEYENNE — With dozens of election-related bills filed in the Wyoming House of Representatives this session, at least three are pushing for hand-counting votes in elections. However, one of the three bills, House Bill 217, 'Random hand count audits of election results,' died in the House Appropriations Committee Thursday morning. This bill would have given the secretary of state authority to select one random precinct to do a hand-count audit of the votes after an election. County clerks told committee members this bill would create a strain on time, staff and resources. Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said Natrona County recently recounted more than 34,000 ballots from the last election. This single recount took over eight hours, she said, using a voting machine and a staff of 17 workers. The cost of the recount was approximately $2,500. 'That was just one office,' Freese said. Wyoming County Clerks Association lobbyist Mary Lankford, who also worked as a county clerk in Sublette County, asked to extend the time limit from one week to 30 days, given the volume of work county clerks would undergo to hand count the ballots. Freese said the 30-day time frame was more than reasonable. Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, acknowledged that HB 217 could be duplicative of a provision in his own bill, HB 232, 'Elections-hand counting for recounts,' which passed House Appropriations earlier this week. The House speaker pro tempore added that he didn't want to further burden county clerks. 'I hear the people's concern,' Haroldson said. 'I do agree with you that, if we're not careful, we load you guys' backside so hard that you're struggling to try to get it all accomplished.' Although HB 217 died in committee for lack of a motion, Haroldson's bill passed its third and final reading in the House, and it will now cross over to the Senate for introduction. HB 232 requires an automatic hand recount in federal, statewide and legislative office races with a 2% or less difference in the county. This same automatic hand recount applies to all 23 counties if there is a 1% or less difference in statewide results for state or federal office races. Local races with a 2% or less difference between the winning and losing candidates have the option of either a hand or electronic voting machine recount under HB 232. However, a third bill, HB 215, 'Prohibition on electronic voting equipment,' pushes to get rid of electronic voting machines altogether. The bill, sponsored by Wyoming Freedom Caucus member Rep. Scott Smith, R-Lingle, would prohibit the use of electronic voting machines and establish a hand-counting tabulation process, effective July 1. It creates an exception to allow people with disabilities to use an electronic voting machine, in accordance with the Help America Vote Act. This bill will be discussed Friday in the House Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee. Lobbyists against HB 232 argued hand-counting increases the risk of human error. Civics307 blogger Gail Symons told lawmakers Monday that counting by voting machine is less expensive, more accurate and faster to process. 'I believe (HB 232) is another of the many, many bills that address a problem that does not exist,' Symons said. 'I believe it is inherently flawed — flawed in the assumption of a problem, flawed in presenting a solution that actually creates a problem.' Equality State Policy Center policy director Marissa Carpio said a University of Wyoming study found that 94% of Wyomingites were confident in the state's elections. She said the distrust of elections is due to widespread messaging, rather than coming from concerned voters. A ballot-counting issue in Weston County during the 2024 general election, which is still under investigation, was brought up both Monday and Thursday. The results of this election, showing an undervote for one of the candidates, alerted the Secretary of State's Office to conduct an audit. It was a unique situation that called for a hand recount, because of a ballot misprint. Freese said the voting machines did the job they were designed for by not counting the wrong ballots. 'The machine did its job,' Freese said. 'It saw the ones that were correct. The ballots that were not correct … those did not get counted because the bubble was in the wrong place.'
