Democrat State Sen. Charlene Oliver erupted on social media last week after one of her bills was killed…and it came at the hands of a fellow Democrat. The controversy revolves around the Homes Not Hedge Funds Act that easily passed in the State Senate on March 9 by a 31-1 vote. Oliver was the Senate sponsor of the bill, which clearly had bipartisan support. The House sponsor is Aftyn Behn, another Nashville Democrat.
The legislation aims to stop institutional businesses and investors from buying up large blocs of single-family homes.President Trump issued an executive Order in January pursuing similar objectives. The U.S. Senate passed similar legislation last week, which now awaits House action.
However, the House is unlikely to act until something is done with the SAVE Act, which is currently stalled in the Senate.
After passing in the state Senate, Oliver’s bill was up in the House Cities and Counties subcommittee last Wednesday. Democrat Vincent Dixie, also a Nashville representative, moved to have the bill considered by the committee, but his motion was met with silence. There was no second, which was necessary for the Bill to move forward. The subcommittee has only one other Democrat, member, Nashville Rep. Bo Mitchell. Mitchell chose not to second Dixie’s motion, so it failed.
Behn and Oliver were both furious at the action, or inaction, of Mitchell, who says it’s a “bad bill” that mirrors what Trump is seeking to do nationally. Mitchell denies that he is getting political payback for his loss to Behn in the special election primary for Congress earlier this year, which was eventually won by Republican Matt Van Epps.
Oliver and Behn aren’t buying Mitchell’s explanation and Oliver took to social media to express her opinion of him. “F-CK YOU, Bo Mitchell,” Oliver wrote in a social media post. “You a low-down, backstabbing, misogynistic punk ass b-tch. You know what you did and why you did it. You’re holding a grudge because you lost the primary to a woman. Badly. Bigly. And because I supported her in the general, I gotta catch a stray? Killing my bill was a gutter-trifling move. Killing my bill as a fellow Democrat is unacceptable and unforgivable.”
Should be a testy week ahead among Democrats in the Legislature this week. Maybe Speaker Sexton can replace Justin Jones as Behn’s seatmate in the House with Mitchell for the rest of the session. Just sayin’.
Steve Gill is editor and publisher of TriStar Daily. He doesn’t recall this number of F-bombs being exchanged in the Legislature before, at least publicly.
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