From AP:
Let the record reflect that the Tennessee state Senate has endorsed fish tanks and live birds in barber shops.
The Senate on Wednesday voted 30-1 for a measure (SB2843) allowing Tennessee barber shops to display live fish and birds. A companion bill passed the House 95-1 earlier this month and the legislation is now headed to Gov. Phil Bredesen.
It means barber shop owner Lori Corbin may soon be able to have live fish in her aquarium.
She had been asked to drain the built-in fish tank at her shop in nearby Mt. Pleasant following a state inspection and was told she could only have fake animals in it.
Existing law bars birds, fish or other live animals in barber shops, except for animals that help people with disabilities.
The bill — which specifies that fish or birds be allowed strictly for “decorative purposes” — has provoked some laughs on Capitol Hill.
Before the Wednesday vote, Republican Sen. Mike Faulk of Kingsport asked the sponsor to describe a “decorative fish.”
“One that’s pretty to look at, I guess,” responded Sen. Eric Stewart, D-Belvidere.
Sen. Roy Herron, a Dresden Democrat, offered a tongue-in-cheek nod to his aquatic constituency when asked to explain his lone dissenting vote.
“I represent more … fish than any other member of the General Assembly,” he said, noting there are several rivers in his district. “Representing that many bodies of water, I just was afraid I might offend some of my fish constituents by subjecting them to the confines of a barber shop.”
Corbin said she wants fish in her barber shop because they “make you relaxed.”
“Barber shops are a relaxing place to go anyway,” she said. “I think it just helps people to relax more.”
Christopher Garrett, spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, said the department had reminded legislators that an overly broad amendment allowing fish in barber shops might inadvertently reverse a separate ban on fish pedicures — a practice in which small fish nibble off dead skin.
Garrett said the “department will continue to enforce the laws the Legislature passes pertaining to its areas of regulation.”
The part of the measure that applies to birds states their cages must be cleaned daily and inspected by the state.
Calvin Malone has had his own barber shop in Franklin for 21 years and said he may consider getting a small fish tank if the legislation becomes law. He’s not too sure about the birds, however, because he believes their exposed waste is unsanitary — regardless of the cleaning mandate.
“You don’t have that type of action from a fish tank,” Malone said.
