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With a 73-20 vote on Thursday, the House approved a bill that seeks to reverse the controversial measure.

Days after the state Senate approved a bill that would nullify Nashville’s voter-approved local-hire rule, the House concurred with their action, sending the measure to the governor’s desk.

With a 73-20 vote on Thursday, the House approved a bill that seeks to reverse the controversial measure, which would require that at least 40 percent of work hours on city construction projects that cost $100,000 or more go to Davidson County residents. During the floor debate, Rep. Pat Marsh, R-Shelbyville, the bill's sponsor, summed up his intentions, saying, "This is a protection bill to help Tennessee and Tennessee's workers."

The majority of the debate centered on whether the legislature should overturn a locally made decision.

Several Democrats, including Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, warned that the bill would overturn the will of Nashvillians who last year voted in favor of the local-hire measure pushed by the city's laborers union. The vote came in the form of a charter amendment and was approved with a 58 percent to 42 percent margin.

“This sets a terrible precedent,” said Jones, who introduced an amendment to alter the bill. Lawmakers voted down Jones' amendment.

“If Davidson County has a charter amendment, I’m very uncomfortable in undoing the will of the people as expressed through an election,” said Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis.

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, pointed to a resolution that will be discussed next week on the House floor that urges Congress to recognize Tennessee's sovereignty.

“It’s the same thing," he said. "We are pressing down our will after the fact on a county of our state."

The effort to nullify a local decision is hardly new to the legislature. In the past, state lawmakers have zeroed in on other Metro ordinances.

In 2011 Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law legislation to nullify a nondiscrimination law approved by the Metro Council that required city contractors to have employment protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers. Current Nashville Mayor Megan Barry was one of the co-sponsors of the Metro Council legislation.

Last year, the legislature passed a so-called guns-in-parks bill that eliminated any local bans on people with handgun permits taking their guns into parks. That bill was also signed into law by Haslam. "This will endanger a lot of employees across the state," Doss said, adding that the rule could open the door to more accidents. "We cannot allow cities and counties to dictate to contractors who they’re going to hire.”

To amplify Doss' safety concerns, Dunn said his wife's father was killed in a construction accident where a locally hired man with limited experience was operating heavy equipment.

Rep. Harold Love, D-Nashville, attempted to remind lawmakers that the local-hire rule does not explicitly require Nashville to hire all local workers.

"Sixty percent of the other workers could be from anywhere in the country," he said. "This was just an attempt to make sure that our local workers, who are trained and who are experienced, could get local jobs on city-financed projects.”

Rep. William Lamberth, R-Cottontown, disagreed with Love's assessment, saying, “It gives every single business that is bidding on business in Nashville the incentive to hire 100 percent of their workforce as non-Tennesseans, and that exempts them out of this completely.”

Debate was cut off on the issue before several lawmakers, including Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, could weigh in. Later in the day, Clemmons blasted the vote while saying Barry needs to be given the opportunity to find an avenue that works for everyone involved.

"What we have done up here is stomped on local governments and their ability to work that out for themselves," he said.

After the House vote, Barry issued a statement, thanking Clemmons and other lawmakers who voted against the bill while also expressing disappointment with the legislature's decision to overturn "the will of the voters in Davidson County."

“Regardless of whether this legislation is signed into law at the state level, in Metro we will continue to work with contractors, labor and community organizations through our Nashville Construction Readiness Partnership workforce development initiative that will offer the access and skills needed for Davidson County residents to engage in the construction industry,” Barry said.

When asked about whether the governor intends to sign or veto the bill, Jennifer Donnals, a spokeswoman for Haslam, said, "The governor is deferred to the will of the legislature on this bill as amended. As with every piece of legislation that comes to him, he will review it in its final form before taking any action."