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.

A huge number of new state laws take effect July 1, with the start of the 2024 fiscal year. But lawsuits and inaction by lawmakers make the absence of some laws as notable as the presence of others.

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State Attorney General appeals drag ban ruling

Jonathan Skrmetti’s appeal comes nearly a month after a federal judge in Memphis ruled in favor of an LGBTQ+ theater company, which argued the law restricted its performers’ free speech rights.

The Tennessee Education Association sued earlier this month over the two-pronged law, which also gradually raises the minimum teacher salary up to $50,000 for the 2026-27 school year. 

The Tennessee Attorney General filed an emergency motion asking a federal judge in Nashville to reverse the preliminary injunction, and notified the court that it would appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed tighter restrictions on ethylene oxide, or EtO, which is used in a South Memphis facility. But 20 state attorneys general are urging the EPA to forgo or defer the regulations.

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.

This D.C. Scorecard includes the censure of the Democrat who made the House’s case for former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment and a grilling of the special counsel who investigated the FBI’s handling of allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Three lawsuits in Tennessee are testing the extent to which courts will protect transgender rights against a state legislature and executive branch that have aggressively sought to roll those rights back.

Some Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission board members asked if Shelby County law enforcement agencies might be over-reacting as they send cases to the POST board.

A law that defines “sex” as a person’s gender assigned at birth could cause some residents to lose access to basic services if they can’t update their IDs, according to advocates for trans rights.

Gov. Bill Lee announced Wednesday the rollout of $194 million in grants to fund armed guards in every public school and security upgrades at all schools.

The law prohibited doctors from providing gender-affirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to anyone under 18. It also prohibited doctors from referring patients elsewhere from such care. 

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says staffing, grants and tech upgrades would help it enter backlogged criminal information into the background-check system.

Beginning July 1, Memphis leaders will lay groundwork for a statewide nonprofit association, which they see as the place that will offer research on issues germane to nonprofits and help them get legislative access in Nashville.

The D.C. Scorecard shows partisan lines still intact among the city’s four representatives on the espionage indictment against Donald Trump. Also, Cohen talks Memphis to Nashville Amtrak service, while Kustoff talks workforce at Le Bonheur.

Not since 1920, when the New York State Assembly ousted five representatives for being socialists during the post-World War I Red Scare, had a legislature expelled a member for their views.

Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty talked about several topics, including the federal court ruling declaring the state’s ban on drag shows unconstitutional and the federal debt ceiling.

Lee and a group of around 30 elected officials, TDOT employees and construction workers stood near the Crump Boulevard overpass, which is where a new roundabout is being built. The project has been talked about in some shape or another for more than 20 years. 

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The multi-year project includes the construction of a new roundabout and is designed to allow I-55 traffic to avoid the “cloverleaf” at Crump. 

Tennessee leaders anticipate the end of legal abortion will lead to more children in foster care and say a package of adoption bills will speed the placement of kids in permanent, stable family situations.

The ruling, released early Saturday morning, found that the bill was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

The D.C. Scorecard tracks a rare crossing of partisan lines among the city’s representatives in Washington on the debt ceiling compromise. They voted along partisan lines on a Republican attempt to stop the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Lee has previously praised the NRA’s efforts to protect the Second Amendment but has since faced opposition from the group as he works to pass gun control legislation.

“This is an effort of a reactionary group of lawmakers to push LGBT people back into the closet,” said attorney Brice Timmons. “We’re talking about pushing people back four decades.”