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Special session live updates: After marathon hearing, divide emerges between House, Senate [1]
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Date: 2023-08-22
The Tennessee General Assembly will be back to work today for a special legislative session focused on public safety, mental health and gun reform.
The session officially kicked off on Monday at 4 p.m.
Follow along for live updates.
Growing divide between House and Senate
A marathon House subcommittee meeting on Tuesday illustrated what may be a growing divide between House and Senate ambitions for the special session.
Hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee killed all but three pieces of legislation it had on its afternoon agenda, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee met for four hours to consider a 33-item agenda, passing many of the items on to the full committee.
Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said he was disappointed the Senate had not worked to consider more bills concurrently with the House.
"We are here to do the work of the people," Lamberth said. "My goal, when I found out the governor was calling us into the special session, was to do as much good as we could do while we are here in Nashville. I want to make sure we leave Tennessee in a safer place than it was when we began special session."
Lamberth's comments closely followed a social media post from the Tennessee House Republicans, which said it must be exhausting for the Senate to send "so many bills to Gen. Sub instead of doing the work people sent us here to do."
Meanwhile, some criminal justice advocates spoke in opposition of bills passed out of the subcommittee on Tuesday that could send minors to adult prisons, while some Covenant families opposed a bill that would allow more people to legally bring guns on to school grounds.
"So far, as of the first day of committee, we have passed worse gun bills than we already had on the books," Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, said on social media. "The great idea of holding a special session on public safety seems to be working in reverse."
— Melissa Brown, The Tennessean
Seven of 14 bills pass in K-12 subcommittee
The House K-12 subcommittee passed seven of the 14 bills on its agenda during a swift meeting that lasted around 30 minutes Tuesday afternoon. Of the seven that did not advance, six were taken off notice and one failed.
Conversation centered largely on streamlining school alarm systems to delineate between fires, lockdowns, active shooters and other emergencies. For example, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said a fire alarm followed by a loudspeaker repeating the word "lockdown" could alert teachers, staff and students quickly to a threat.
While he supported the bills, Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, said he hopes they are only "stop gap" measures and that more funding can go toward helping schools update their alerts.
“It would be good for them to have a comprehensive plan for this new world that we’re living in where it’s more than fire," McKenzie said.
Here's a look at the bills that passed.
HB 7002 will require all schools, whether public, private or parochial, to establish a way to delineate between different alarms for things like fires, lockdowns and active shooters.
HB 7063 authorizes school districts and public charter schools to employ retried law enforcement officers and honorably discharged U.S. military veterans to serve as school resource officers.
HB 7023 authorizes law enforcement agencies to assign officers to schools that do not have a memorandum of understanding set up with the agency.
HB 7038 requires the Tennessee Department of Education to set up a school safety alert grant for school districts to offset the costs of installing new safety alert systems.
HB 7042 requires the Tennessee Department of Safety to complete an audit of each public school's safety plan at least once every five years and to report it back to state lawmakers.
HB 7061 requires the Tennessee Department of Education to notify each local school district, in writing, of all state and federal grant programs available to it for mental health services.
HB 7093 requires the Tennessee Department of Safety to inspect each public school at least once every three years for safety and security.
— Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean
House panel passes bill to keep autopsy reports of minors private
In the Public Service Subcommittee, House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, presented a bill that would make autopsy records and medical examiners’ reports of minors excluded from public records laws, making records of underage victims of violence like mass shootings unable to be requested by the public or media.
Lamberth spoke before the committee on the sensitivity of health care records and autopsy reports, and of pain families go through being notified that their children’s autopsies were released.
“There are hundreds of people that are murdered in our state every year,” he said. “Some of those are children. And when those children go through the most heinous thing ever…often, their records are public. “
Melissa Alexander, a parent at the Covenant School, gave a tearful statement of support for the bill.
“For a family already bearing the weight of such a tragic loss, the release of this sensitive, graphic information to the public (only makes it worse),” she said. “To the public, this child was just a data point. A sensational headline. Clickbait. To us, as parents, they are our hopes and our dreams.”
The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for transparency, has criticized the bill for its far-reaching consequences on public records and investigations.
"TCOG considers this bill to broad and likely to result in unintended secrecy about child deaths," the organization said on its website.
The bill went on to pass and will move forward to the full committee.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
House minority leader calls ejection outrageous
House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, called the ejection of dozens of audience members from a subcommittee meeting "outrageous."
Tennessee Highway Patrol first removed three people for holding paper signs in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee room before the chair ordered THP to clear the entire room after several people clapped.
Camper said thousands of Tennesseans have come to the Capitol, both in the spring and for the special session, to urge lawmakers to "do something about senseless gun tragedies."
"For a committee chairperson to use their position to banish grieving Tennesseans from the committee room is beyond the pale," Camper said. "This needs to be explained as to why people were removed and the room was cleared after citizens took to the time and effort to be present in their government. This is embarrassing. What are we doing?”
— Melissa Brown, The Tennessean
Covenant School parent fights tears during testimony
Covenant School parent Sarah Shoop Neumann spoke to the House Civil Justice Subcommittee through tears as she testified against in House Bill 7064, sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County.
The bill seeks to allow law enforcement officers and military, whether on-duty, off-duty, or retired, and enhanced handgun carry permit holders, to possess and carry a handgun openly or concealed in any public school building or bus, public school campus and grounds, in most circumstances.
“The presence of firearms in schools is something I cannot speak against more strongly,” she said. “Teachers in this state already lack support in the state in terms of funding, staffing and being overwhelmed. And you want to arm them?”
Neumann, who was speaking on behalf of herself, the Covenant Families Action Fund and a number of teachers at The Covenant School, said that the teachers being armed would have only made the tragedy at the Covenant School worse.
“Their hands were shaking so badly that day when they were doing what they could to keep those kids quiet, safe and secure,” she said. “They could not have handled a gun. The fact that we lost only three kids is largely due to what those teachers did that day. They could not have done those things if they were told to go out armed and attack the shooter.”
The bill went on to pass.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
Key Senate panel passes three bills, tables 52 others
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed only three bills on its 55-bill calendar before adjourning Tuesday, ending the upper chamber’s legislative business for the day. The committee tabled 52 other bills on their calendar.
Those three bills are the only ones advancing through the Senate after all of the meetings Tuesday.
Senators passed a bill backed by Gov. Bill Lee to eliminate the sales tax on gun safes and storage devices, provide free gun locks, and sponsor a public service announcement campaign on safe gun storage.
The committee also passed measures to have the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations create a new report on human trafficking, and create a new deadline for court records to be entered into the state database used for background checks.
Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, abstained from all three votes.
The committee was the final item on the Senate’s agenda for the day. Senators return for the Senate Education Committee at 8:30 a.m.
— Vivian Jones, The Tennessean
Bill on child sex trafficking
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed a bill related to child sex trafficking. The legislation would require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to give an updated report on the current state of human trafficking.
Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, a co-sponsor, said lawmakers need an update on the issue since TBI’s last report in 2013.
The bill would request that TBI submit a new report by December, so lawmakers can being with a robust package of laws to address the issue when they return in January.
The bill would require TBI to focus on the problems in communities and provide an update annually.
A TBI police director said the information is ready available to the bureau and that they already report the information in other crime reports.
— Kelly Puente, The Tennessean
Bill on TBI investigation notifications passes
In one of the few bills passed so far today, the Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously passed a bill that would change from 30 days to 72 hours the timeframe within which a court clerk must notify the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation of the final disposition of criminal proceedings against a person.
The TBI in a previous report in response to an executive order from the governor said it has struggled to meet reporting timeframe requirements for the state’s gun background check system due to limited resources, dated technology and the lack of a unified court system.
Officials with the TBI earlier this year said some counties still send court information via mail or fax and that meeting any 72-hour reporting timeframes would be difficult.
The TBI oversees the state’s gun background check system but it depends on local law enforcement and court clerks to submit timely criminal information, but they do not all use the same technology.
— Kelly Puente, The Tennessean
Demonstrators removed from committee hearing
Three demonstrators were forcefully removed from the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon after it was announced that no signs were permitted to be held aloft by audience members.
Those in attendance appeared confused as the rule was announced, with silent audience members slowly lowering paper signs and phone screens.
One woman, Allison Polidor, of Nashville, refused to lower her piece of paper emblazoned with the words “1 kid> all the guns.” State troopers lifted her from her seat and took her out of the room.
Another women, who spoke up in support of Polidor, was ushered out behind her. Moments later, another woman was removed for holding the same sign as Polidor.
“The real heroes are leaving the room right now,” a woman in the crowd shouted as officers left.
“This is an attack on our First Amendment rights,” Polidor said, wiping away tears as she was embraced by fellow activists in the hall. “I’m here for my kids, everybody’s kids. The people are in there making oppressive laws, or lack of laws, and we’re here for our kids. ... When we’ve come to point where you can’t hold up a sign, that’s not okay. That’s not democracy.”
She said the committee meeting was the first event she had attended that day with fellow activists with Tennessee Rise and Shine and Moms Demand Action, and she is planning on being present for many more.
“Just tell me where I need to go,” she said.
Minutes after the third protestor was removed from the room, the entire room was cleared of citizens and the session declared a closed session.
Audience members expressed their frustration as they left, shouting “Is this what your democracy looks like?” and “Who’s house? Our house.”
Under the cacophony of shouts, the crying of multiple Covenant School parents could be heard as they were ushered out.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
Battling shooting trauma
Melissa Roberts said she’s been traumatized since she was shot in the chest in 2017. Roberts said her neighborhood has been ravaged by gun violence.
“It hasn’t gotten better, my daughter was shot last year,” she said. “It’s really hard to be a gunshot victim. You have to go through therapy. I have post traumatic stress.”
Roberts was one of the gun violence victims who joined members of the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee for a call to action for gun control.
Aaron Marble, a pastor at at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville, said gun violence is a public health crisis.
Marble said he had to stop at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on his way to the Capitol today because one of his members, a 30-year-old man, was shot.
“He was simply at the gas station at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Marble said.
He urged people to write their lawmakers and take action during this special session.
— Kelly Puente, The Tennessean
House Transportation subcommittee punts bills to January
Little has happened so far on the House side, as the first bills presented House Transportation subcommittee were taken off notice, with bill sponsors saying they wanted to wait until regular session in January to consider them.
A House Joint Resolution sponsored by Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, to move firearm safety brochures into driver's test locations was approved.
— Melissa Brown, The Tennessean
Committee passes bill on mental health professional education
Members of the Higher Education Subcommittee passed a bill to encourage the education of more mental health professionals on Tuesday, with a number of demonstrators filling the audience to watch.
The bill, sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, will establish a loan forgiveness program for psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors after they work in the mental health field within the state for five years after receiving the grant funds.
A second bill, which was a nearly identical proposal but a different timeframe, was taken off notice.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
'Tennessee is in the crosshairs' of child sex trafficking, state senator says
As lawmakers consider a bill this special session related to child sex trafficking, more than two dozen leaders from both chambers held a news conference along with Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition to raise awareness of the issue.
A Senate committee this afternoon will consider a bill requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to give an updated report on the current state of human trafficking.
Sen. Ken Yager, a co-sponsor, called it a form of modern slavery and a scourge of society.
Yager, R-Kingston, said lawmakers passed legislation to address the issue after the most recent TBI report in 2013, but now it’s time for an update.
The bill would request that TBI submit a new report by December, so lawmakers can “hit the ground running” when they return for their regular session next year.
“Due to our geographical location, Tennessee is in the crosshairs,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, said lawmakers are planning for a “robust package” next year to fight the issue.
“We are going to make Tennessee a leader in ending this evil practice in the United States of America,” he said.
The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition, a conservative, a faith-based nonprofit, says it works to influence public policy for efforts including “defending and fighting for children” and “defending against Marxism.”
Previously, the group falsely claimed that violent threats were made about the special session, which law enforcement denied.
— Kelly Puente, The Tennessean
Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson assigned to legislative committees
Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis were both named to legislative committees in the House on Tuesday.
Jones had been stripped of committee assignments in the spring prior to his expulsion for mounting a gun reform protest on the House floor. Pearson, who was first elected in a special election earlier this year, had not yet been named to committees when he was expelled. Both won reelection to their seats earlier this month.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who is now representing Jones, previously wrote to House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, foreshadowing legal action if Jones were not reinstated to committees.
Jones attempted to ask Sexton about his committee assignment during a Tuesday morning floor session, though Sexton called him out of order. Minutes later, Sexton read out the special session committee assignments.
The House will begin its committee meetings at noon, though calendars have not yet been publicly posted.
— Melissa Brown, The Tennessean
Mental health bill tabled in committee
As lawmakers kicked off the second day of their special session today to consider a swath of public safety bills, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee met to consider a bill related to mental health.
Lawmakers, however, met and adjourned in less than two minutes. They took no action and tabled the bill.
The bill would have required health insurance carriers, including TennCare providers, to provide mental health services and treatment to the same extent that carriers and providers provide alcohol and drug dependent services and treatment.
Though it didn’t address gun control, the room was filled with people backing stricter gun laws with signs that read “I am a supporter of firearm safety.”
“That’s democracy at work,” quipped one demonstrator as they left the room.
— Kelly Puente, The Tennessean
Friction between protesters, counter-protesters
As the House session ended, demonstrators quickly flooded the halls outside the chambers to shout at the passing lawmakers.
Chants of “Their blood is on your hands,” “Aren’t you ashamed,” and “This is what democracy looks like” were intermingled with a very small group of counter-protesters shouting “Shall not be infringed,” referring to the Second Amendment.
Some friction from counter-protesters could be heard at the blockaded exit of one side of the hall, as state troopers halted any demonstrators’ movement while lawmakers walked by. A number of counter-protesters could be heard shouting at other demonstrators to let them out of the crowd because they “weren’t with them.”
Despite the sudden rush of demonstrators, the crowd quickly dispersed as numerous groups made their way towards the Cordell Hull legislative office building.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
Skirting the new rules
After House Republicans last night adopted new rules banning members of the public from holding signs in the House galleries and committees, some people in the gallery for Tuesday's floor session held up their phones with flashing text instead.
A group of parents whose children survived the Covenant shooting briefly held up a "Covenant strong" school scarf, which isn't expressly prohibited by the new rules.
The House has not yet adopted a committee schedule for the day.
— Melissa Brown, The Tennessean
Senate recesses to committees
The Senate gaveled in for the second day of the special legislative session at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, passing bills on second consideration and formally referring them to committees for consideration.
As she promised to do Monday evening, Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Manchester, filed a resolution proposing to adjourn the special session. However, the resolution was not filed before the deadline, and was not heard.
After a 20 minute meeting, senators recessed and will head to two committees that are scheduled to meet Tuesday: Commerce and Labor Committee, and Judiciary Committee.
— Vivian Jones, The Tennesean
Slow start to Special Session
Few demonstrators were present inside the Capitol early Tuesday morning, as the hot summer sun lit the empty marbled halls.
Legislators entered the chambers of the Capitol without the loud ridicule of the crowds—a first for this session—as day two of the special session commenced.
Demonstrators in attendance mostly filed into the gallery, with a later faction planning to gather in Cordell Hull.
The rope barriers present from yesterday’s demonstrations remained to limit protestors in the building.
— Angele Latham, The Tennessean
Catch up on Monday's developments
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https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/08/22/tennessee-special-legislative-session-lawmakers-return-for-day-two/70646810007/
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