Republicans’ trifecta command of the state government now stretches past the decade mark. Durable supermajorities in the Tennessee House and Senate have enabled GOP lawmakers to push issues like abortion restrictions and LGBTQ rights into territory legally uncharted and politically unchecked. The state Capitol currently doubles as a legal laboratory for bills that violate federal and state constitutions and dismantle civil protections for women, immigrants, transgender people, queer people, Black Tennesseans, Tennesseans seeking health care and low-income Tennesseans, among other groups. One bill from first-term Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) tries to protect internal regulations and rules passed by the legislature from being challenged in court.
On Monday, activists and state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) condemned a slate of 18 bills targeting LGBTQ rights, banning books and undermining diversity and inclusion efforts at public colleges and universities. Below we highlight a small amount of legislation advanced by state leaders in February. Bills we don’t mention here include efforts by Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) to expand access to child care vouchers (mostly wiped out last month), Republicans’ mission to vacate Tennessee State University’s board of trustees and Gov. Bill Lee’s ongoing obsession with turning tax dollars into vouchers for private school tuition.
Rep. Clemmons: ‘That is a blatantly discriminatory bill designed to target specific individuals’
English-only driver’s license tests (SB1717/HB1730)
Not only would this bill require all written driver’s license exams to be in English — it would explicitly prohibit translation or interpretation. Last month, House Republicans piled on to co-sponsor the bill, which was introduced by Rep. Kip Capley (R-Summertown). It hasn’t come up for a vote on the House floor, but a press conference last week headlined by House Majority Leader William Lamberth — a vocal co-sponsor — indicates Republicans’ intent to push it through before the end of the session. Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) is steering the bill in the Senate. Supporters say road signs are in English, so the test should be too. Opponents like Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) call the bill blatant discrimination against immigrants. Tennessee currently offers the standard driver’s license test in English and Spanish. (As of press time, the bill was set to go before the Senate Transportation and Safety Commission on March 6.)
Pride flag ban (SB1722/HB1605)
Under this bill, Tennessee’s public schools can fly only specified flags, like the state flag, the American flag, a POW/MIA flag and flags related to curriculum. Its text extends the right to sue to all parents whose children are eligible to attend a school. These restrictions come from the mind of Rep. Gino Bulso, a first-term representative from Williamson County seemingly seeking notice among conservatives on culture-war issues. Contentious discussion on the House floor centered on Bulso’s real target — the rainbow-striped Pride flag. GOP legislators in the House, known to vamp about their commitments to free speech, easily approved Bulso’s bill at the end of February. Hensley is carrying it in the Senate, where the legislation passed the Education Committee 5-4 on Feb. 21, picking up nay votes from Republican Sens. Bill Powers, Jon Lundberg and Todd Gardenhire. A more divided upper chamber and the bill’s potential First Amendment violations could keep the bill off the Senate floor.
Meanwhile, more abortion-exception legislation fails
Abortion criminalization (SB1971/HB1895)
Republicans shot down exceptions for the state’s strict abortion ban with multiple House votes on several bills related to reproductive health. With the controversial “abortion trafficking" bill from Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) resembling an Idaho law blocked in federal court, the state could bring felony charges against an adult for helping transport or procure abortion medication for a minor. It’s already cleared many hurdles in the House, where co-sponsors include Lamberth, though no floor vote has been scheduled as of publication. Movement has stalled across the hall in the Senate, where the bill waits for air time in the chamber’s Judiciary Committee. House Republicans nixed bills brought by Reps. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) and Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) that would have secured abortion exceptions for people under 13 and victims of rape and incest. Neither was considered in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans’ extreme stances against abortion have cost the party at a national level since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Polling has shown that most Tennesseans support abortion-ban exceptions.
A GOP legal shield (SB2225/HB1652)
Another move from Bulso seeks to shield House rules and regulations from Tennessee courts. During August’s special session of the legislature — ostensibly called to consider gun reform — the House passed rules limiting “material disruptions” from members and allowing attendees in the gallery to be cleared for “disorderly conduct,” including for displaying signs. After a suit filed by the ACLU, a court granted a temporary restraining order against Republicans’ ban on signs in the chamber. Bulso’s brief bill states that no “circuit, chancery, or other court has subject matter jurisdiction over any legal action, challenging any rule, regulation, or procedure of the senate or house of representatives.” House Republicans appear overwhelmingly supportive, though the bill picked up a detractor — Rep. Tom Leatherwood (R-Arlington) — in the House State Government Committee. Like so many other controversial bills, this one awaits scheduling in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
