The companion bill, SB2616, had already passed the Tennessee Senate.
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This legislation could also be challenged in court, however. Many constitutional attorneys would argue that the proposed residency law would be found unconstitutional if challenged in federal court Their main argument is they predict that the courts would simply point to the precedent of the Arkansas term limits case, which was decided 5-4 with justices Scalia and Thomas dissenting.
State Senator Frank Niceley has consistently pointed out that in his dissent on that case, Scalia said, “Nothing in the Constitution deprives the people of each state of the power to prescribe eligibility requirements for the candidates who seek to represent them in Congress. The Constitution is simply silent on this question. And where the Constitution is silent, it raises no bar to action by the people in other states.”
