NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton is warning Nashville officials that he might attempt to withhold state funding due to the city’s recent executive order discouraging local cooperation with immigration officials.
Sexton, a Republican, first made the comments while talking to a local radio show Tuesday morning. A House GOP spokesman later confirmed Sexton’s comments to The Associated Press.
Last week, Mayor David Briley signed an executive order criticizing Tennessee’s anti-sanctuary cities law as “immoral” and “dangerous.” Briley is up for reelection on Thursday.
The law currently allows the state to withhold some funding from local governments that don’t cooperate with immigration officials.
Sexton says he’s looking over a variety of options to possibly introduce during the 2020 legislative session that could reduce state funding to the Democratic leaning city.