What’s happening in the waning hours of the 2025 state legislative session
As the current Tennessee General Assembly legislative session draws to a close, bills are facing do-or-die moments in committees.
Topic: Tennessee State Government
RSSThere are 26 article(s) tagged Tennessee State Government:
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April 2025
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January 2025
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Four key issues to watch in upcoming Tennessee legislative session
Education, reproductive rights, immigration and tough-on-crime were in the spotlight last year. This year, the same topics will likely reemerge alongside new legislation focused on bail-bond reform, grocery taxes, school vouchers and more.
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July 2024
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Here’s a rundown of Tennessee laws taking effect July 1
Those bills, 224 of them to be exact, address such topics as crime, bail, abortion, gender-affirming care, teachers with firearms, drag racing, traffic stops and even official state books and foods.
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May 2024
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Transgender Tennesseans want birth certificate policy declared unconstitutional
The plaintiffs argue in court filings that sex is properly determined not by external genitalia but by gender identity, which they define in their brief as “a person’s core internal sense of their own gender.”
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April 2024
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Public-safety bills from Memphis legislators make progress in Nashville
A slate of bills targeted specifically at Memphis and sponsored by Republican state Sen. Brent Taylor have been progressing through the state Legislature. Gov. Bill Lee has signed two into law.
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Tennessee lawmakers send bill to ban first-cousin marriages to governor
The Tennessee House of Representatives cast a 75-2 vote Thursday on the bill after the Senate previously approved it without any opposition.
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February 2024
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Committee appointed to consider removing Judge Melissa Boyd
The committee could meet as soon as Thursday, March 7. The process for her removal is not the same as a formal impeachment, which would stop her from running for office again.
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Nonprofits working with DAs will disclose donors if TN bill becomes law
The bill seeks transparency from progressive criminal-justice reform groups like the Vera Institute of Justice, Justice Innovation Lab and Memphis-based Just City, which local Republican lawmakers blame in part for crime in Memphis.
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Slate of bills by state Sen. Brent Taylor target bail, juvenile crime
Some of the more than 20 bills Taylor filed take aim at Shelby County’s current bail practices and a recent Memphis City Council ordinance that banned pretextual traffic stops by Memphis Police Department officers.
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January 2024
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Bill would eliminate tax on diapers, wipes and formula for one year
“We are a pro-life state,” Martin told the House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee Wednesday, Jan. 31. “We want to be people that care about the unborn — and the born.”
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Computer system switch leaves thousands of Tennesseans without SNAP food benefits
Officials responsible for administering the food-assistance program for low-income Tennesseans appeared before a state Senate committee Wednesday to explain the problems and how they plan to solve them.
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Tennessee bill targeting AI is first of its kind in the US
Dubbed the Ensuring Likeness, Voice and Image Security — or ELVIS — Act, the bill represents one of the first attempts by a government to regulate artificial intelligence.
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Restrictions on protesters mark start to 2024 Tennessee legislative session
Members of the public were only given a fraction of the seats in the two galleries overlooking the House floor.
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November 2023
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Tenn. lawmakers unsure of how to go about rejecting federal funding
Eight hours of meetings focused on federal education funding and whether Tennessee should give that funding up wrapped last week. Here are some of the main takeaways.
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With revenue ‘returning to normal,’ state talks fiscal year 2025
Economists say the days of massive budget surpluses are over, but the state remains in a solid financial position. And the economy is not in a recession.
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US Supreme Court asked to halt state’s youth gender-affirming care ban
The request by plaintiffs in the case known as L.W. v. Skrmetti represents the first time the U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on such a law.
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September 2023
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Native Memphian appointed to lead Tennessee’s highest court
The court selected Holly Kirby to serve in the role for a two-year term, effective Sept. 1, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts announced Aug. 31.
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July 2023
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Justin J. Pearson, Justin Jones report massive fundraising after expulsions
State Reps. Justin J. Pearson and Justin Jones both now have more campaign money than any of the Republican lawmakers who expelled them in April.
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Judge refuses to reverse ruling on trans youth health care law on AG’s request
The injunction will be in place until the lawsuit runs its course. Supporters of the law say they’re prepared to appeal all the way to the Supreme Court.
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June 2023
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Federal judge blocks Tennessee law banning youth gender-affirming care
Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for minors was mostly blocked Thursday, June 28, the latest in a string of decisions against anti-trans laws in at least four states.
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May 2023
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Gov. Lee signs executive order creating nuclear energy advisory council
But opponents of nuclear energy say harm to the environment and public health — including from mining and nuclear waste — outweigh the benefits of it being a low-carbon energy source.
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April 2023
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Anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers’ funding cut from $100M to $20M
Gov. Lee proposed $100 million for the centers, which provide limited medical care and urge people not to terminate pregnancies. A Daily Memphian analysis found those centers’ revenue was about $20 million in 2020.
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Things to know about the Tennessee Three expulsion hearings
Here’s what you need to know about the expulsion of Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville from the Tennessee House of Representatives.
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Tennessee House Republicans expel Pearson and Jones but not Johnson
Tennessee Republicans voted to expel two Black Democrats, Justin Pearson of Memphis and Justin Jones of Nashville, on Thursday, April 6, for speaking out of turn during a gun-safety protest a week earlier.
Related story:
What happens now that Justin Pearson has been expelled from his House seat
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Narrow abortion exemption bill passed by Tennessee lawmakers
A bill that would add a narrow exemption to one of the strictest abortion bans in the United States is on its way to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his approval.
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