The 112th Tennessee General Assembly convened on January 12, 2021. This year we are pursuing proactive initiatives to expand and protect voting rights, end police brutality, and protect free speech. We also anticipate working to defeat dangerous legislation that suppresses the vote, undermines reproductive justice, harms immigrants and refugees, and discriminates against LGBTQ individuals. The list below includes initial highlights of legislation we are monitoring and lobbying so far in 2021. Please note that this list will continue to evolve as the session progresses and additional bills are filed.
Updated 03-12-21
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 7/HB 10 | Public Health – As introduced, removes provisions in current law that override the ability of various persons to object to vaccinations, immunizations, or other medical procedures on the basis of religious tenets and practices. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 339/HB 735 | Sentencing – As introduced, requires the commissioner of correction to award certain inmates up to eight months of public health emergency credits for time served during a state of emergency declared by the governor due to a public health emergency based on communicable disease. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 467/HB 35 | Local Government, General – As introduced, prohibits governmental entities and officials from mandating or limiting the number of persons who may congregate in a residence, or in a church if the number of congregants complies with occupancy limits applicable to the church | Current Status |
| Support | SB 820/HB 919 | Landlord and Tenant – As introduced, prohibits a landlord from refusing to enter into a rental agreement with a prospective tenant solely based upon the tenant being previously evicted during a public health emergency related to COVID-19. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support | SB 11/HB 1129 | Jails, Local Lock-ups – As introduced, requires the department of correction to pay an additional $5.00 per day recidivism-reduction stipend for certain county jails housing convicted felons, in which the felons attend evidence-based programs to reduce recidivism rates upon release; authorizes community colleges and colleges of applied technology to assist county governments in development of such programs. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 18/HB 561 | Election Laws – As introduced, changes the revocation of a person’s voting rights pursuant to a conviction for certain infamous crimes to a temporary suspension of voting rights for the period of confinement, probation, or parole; automatically restores a person’s voting rights upon release from confinement, probation, or parole. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 153/HB 489 | Controlled Substances – As introduced, prohibits governmental agencies from taking adverse actions against certain persons based on positive urine tests for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at the level of 35 nanograms per milliliter or less; creates a rebuttable presumption that it is not abuse for a parent or guardian to provide hemp products to a child. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 197/HB 387 | Election Laws – As introduced, creates a polling place pilot program in Davidson County jails to provide eligible inmates the opportunity to vote; expires the program on December 31, 2022. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 258/HB 924 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, authorizes law enforcement agencies to use a drone to provide or enhance security for a public event, to provide aerial coverage during a natural disaster, or to investigate the scene of a crime; extends the time within which law enforcement must determine whether evidence collected by a drone may be retained or deleted from three to 30 days. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 260/HB 59 | Forfeiture of Assets – As introduced, removes the requirement for a person to post a bond when filing a claim to seized property. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 265/HB 338 | Probation and Parole – As introduced, provides that if a prisoner is granted parole based on the requirement that the prisoner complete a pre-release program, class, coursework, or other activity, and the program, class, coursework, or activity cannot be commenced at no fault of the prisoner within one month of parole, the board must immediately release the prisoner under GPS monitoring pending completion of an eligible community-based program based on a risk and needs assessment. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 289/HB 1518 | Bail, Bail Bonds – As introduced, requires the clerk of each court with criminal jurisdiction to submit a monthly report to the administrative office of the courts including certain statistical information about arrests, release, bonds, and failures to appear; requires clerks who fail to submit the required information to pay an administrative fee. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 334/HB 843 | Correction, Dept. of – As introduced, requires that female inmates who are 50 through 74 years of age must be offered a mammogram every two years; requires that female inmates who are 40 through 49 years of age must be offered a physician consultation to inquire when a mammogram is needed; requires correctional institutions, to the best of their ability, to provide educational training on the importance of preventative health care to the inmates. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 339/HB 735 | Sentencing – As introduced, requires the commissioner of correction to award certain inmates up to eight months of public health emergency credits for time served during a state of emergency declared by the governor due to a public health emergency based on communicable disease. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 444/HB 352 | Bail, Bail Bonds – As introduced, states that forfeiture of bail shall not become final in a court located within an area that has been declared by the governor to be in a state of emergency until 180 days after the expiration of the declaration. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 452/HB 409 | Forfeiture of Assets – As introduced, adds information to be provided by the department of safety in a report detailing seizures for the previous calendar year and provided to the speakers of the senate and the house of representatives and the chairs of the appropriate committees; requires that an affidavit in support of a forfeiture warrant include information as to whether criminal charges have been filed against the owner of the property or the person in possession of the property at the time of seizure. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 461/HB 969 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, enacts the “Public Safety Through Hiring Act,” which prohibits law enforcement agencies from hiring a person as a police officer who was fired due to disciplinary infractions or while under investigation for misconduct in the line of duty, or who resigned or retired while under investigation for disciplinary infractions or misconduct in the line of duty. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 553/HB 450 | Child Custody and Support – As introduced, removes authorization to revoke, deny, suspend, or restrict driver licenses and professional licenses of obligors who have been certified by the department of human services to be in noncompliance with an order of child support if the obligor has paid any portion of the obligation or is making one or more installment payments toward certain payment plans; requires licensing authorities to reinstate licenses previously revoked, denied, suspended, or restricted due to failure to comply with a child support obligation upon payment of a reasonable fee. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 642/HB 165 | Education – As introduced, authorizes community schools and communities of schools to establish programs to make professional counseling services available to individuals held in correctional or detention facilities in this state. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 649/HB 1213 | Driver Licenses – As introduced, prohibits the suspension of a person’s driver license as a result of the person’s failure to timely pay litigation taxes, court costs, and fines assessed as a result of disposition of any criminal offense. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 811/HB 224 | Juvenile Offenders – As introduced, requires youth development centers, jails, and the department of correction to provide free telephone calls between minors and their parent or guardian. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 827/HB 916 | Prisons and Reformatory Institutions – As introduced, prohibits the use of solitary confinement for pregnant inmates and inmates who have given birth within the past eight weeks; prohibits transfer of a pregnant inmate from a jail to a state penitentiary or branch of a prison for safekeeping unless medically necessary. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 843/HB 513 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, increases the penalty for obstructing a highway from a Class B or C misdemeanor to a Class E felony and makes other related changes; creates the offense of throwing an object at another while participating in a riot; creates the offense of intimidating or harassing another while participating in a riot. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 963/HB 1318 | Search & Seizure – As introduced, requires a complainant seeking a no-knock entry provision in a search warrant or an arrest warrant to have the facts supporting the warrant reviewed by the district attorney general prior to presenting any facts to a magistrate. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 966/HB 1008 | Sentencing – As introduced, increases the maximum percentage of the sentence imposed by the court that can be reduced by sentence credits from 15 percent to 35 percent for certain offenses and makes other related changes. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1045/HB 1568 | Search & Seizure – As introduced, specifies that hemp and products derived from hemp, other than isolated THC, are not subject to seizure based solely on their composition; prohibits police searches based solely on the odor of cannabis. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1290/HB 1226 | Correctional Programs – As introduced, makes eligible for parole an inmate who is 60 years of age or older or is terminally ill; requires the Tennessee corrections institute to provide members of the general assembly the results of inspections of local jails, lock-ups, workhouses, and detention facilities within five days of the completion of inspection results. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1349/HB 1062 | Capital Punishment – As introduced, redefines the term “intellectual disability” for purposes of determining eligibility for the death penalty; allows a defendant sentenced to death prior to the effective date of the act to petition the trial court for a determination as to whether the defendant is intellectually disabled. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1380/HB 1406 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to develop certain policies regarding the use of force; prohibits magistrates from issuing no-knock warrants. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1382/HB 1533 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, removes prohibition against community oversight boards issuing subpoenas; replaces procedure for local legislative bodies to issue subpoenas on behalf of a board with procedure for boards to issue subpoenas. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1418/HB 223 | Juvenile Offenders – As introduced, enacts the “Juvenile Justice Stop Solitary Confinement Act.” | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1432/HB 993 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to provide body cameras for each officer; requires reporting of incidents of use of force, officer resignations, stops by officers, and unannounced entries into residences; requires termination of employment of any officer convicted of or found civilly liable for certain acts; prohibits the use of chokeholds by officers. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1434/HB 600 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires a law enforcement officer who conducts a search of a motor vehicle to report in person to a judge of the general sessions court within three days and provide certain statistical information; requires the clerk of the general sessions court to report the information to the administrative office of the courts; requires the administrative office of the courts to provide an annual report to the chairs of the appropriate committees of the general assembly. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1435/HB 340 | Children – As introduced, requires that an audiovisual recording be made of any interrogation of a child who has been taken into custody on suspicion that the child committed a delinquent act or unruly conduct; states that the requirement may not be waived. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1438/HB 420 | General Assembly – As introduced, creates an ad hoc committee consisting of members of the general assembly to review the current laws, rules, and policies of cash bail in this state, and report on its findings and recommendations by January 15, 2022. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1439/HB 413 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, decriminalizes the possession and casual exchange of less than one ounce of marijuana; defines casual exchange and marijuana for purposes of decriminalization. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1453/HB 1084 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, reduces the period of time, from five years to one year from the date of issuance, in which a process, warrant, precept, or summons for a misdemeanor offense must be served, returned, or quashed before it is automatically terminated and removed from the records. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1474/HB 1288 | Education – As introduced, enacts the “Keep Kids in School Act.” | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1475/HB 221 | Controlled Substances – As introduced, requires a court to grant judicial diversion for possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, regardless of a defendant’s prior criminal convictions. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1476/HB 972 | Controlled Substances – As introduced, reduces, from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C misdemeanor, the offenses of knowing possession, casual exchange, and distribution of small amounts of marijuana; establishes early release eligibility for nonviolent offenders convicted of Class A misdemeanor marijuana offenses. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1477/HB 1587 | Controlled Substances – As introduced, authorizes the retail sale of marijuana; levies a 12 percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1480/HB 1480 | Controlled Substances – As introduced, increases the amount of marijuana possessed or exchanged under the offenses of simple possession or casual exchange from less than one-half ounce to less than one ounce; prohibits the inference of purpose of selling or otherwise dispensing solely from the simple possession or casual exchange of less than one ounce of marijuana. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1485/HB 863 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, prohibits a court from issuing or a law enforcement officer from serving a no knock search or arrest warrant; defines a no knock warrant as a warrant that specifically enables an officer to enter a structure without giving notice of the officer’s authority or the purpose of the officer’s presence. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1487/HB 1574 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, establishes eligibility of person convicted of a Class E, D, or C felony to apply for and receive voter registration card upon receiving a pardon, being discharged from custody for service of the person’s maximum sentence, or being granted a certificate of final discharge from supervision by the board of parole. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1488/HB 895 | Sentencing – As introduced, directs TACIR to conduct a study comparing the length of sentences imposed on individuals currently incarcerated with current sentencing guidelines, and identify any disparities between sentences imposed for similar offenses; requires TACIR to submit a report to members of the general assembly by January 1, 2022. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1496/HB 1316 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to report findings of excessive use of force by a law enforcement officer to the district attorney general, to be reviewed for possible criminal prosecution; requires the district attorney general to review 10 percent of all allegations of excessive force in each previous calendar year. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1499/HB 1308 | Bail, Bail Bonds – As introduced, prohibits the application of a bail deposit made by or on behalf of a defendant to the payment of a judgment for fine, court costs, or restitution entered in the prosecution of a cause; excepts bail forfeitures. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1502/HB 1552 | Fines and Penalties – As introduced, allows a court to impose a payment plan for fines in equal installments or, at the request of the defendant, in graduated installments. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1547/HB 808 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, changes from a Class E felony to a Class A misdemeanor, the criminal penalty for a person engaged in camping on state property knowing that the area is not specifically designated for use as a camping area by the department or agency responsible for such land; removes the enhanced penalties for certain criminal offenses involving obstruction of highways, streets, or other passageways | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1610/HB 978 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, creates a Class C misdemeanor offense, punishable by a $50 fine and community service work, for solicitation or camping along a controlled-access highway or entrance or exit ramp; expands Equal Access to Public Property Act of 2012 to apply the offense of unauthorized camping on state property to all public property. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 109/HB 1096 | Teachers, Principals and School Personnel – As introduced, confers immunity from civil liability upon a teacher, principal, school employee, or school bus driver properly using reasonable force to correct or restrain a student or prevent bodily harm or death to another person. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 228/HB 3 | Local Education Agencies – As introduced, requires that a student’s gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event be determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student’s birth, as indicated on the student’s original birth certificate. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 230/HB 16 | Teachers, Principals and School Personnel – As introduced, enacts the “Teacher’s Discipline Act”; establishes a process for a teacher to request the removal of a student from the teacher’s classroom if the student’s behavior violates the LEA’s or school’s student discipline policy or code of conduct and repeatedly or substantially disrupts the class. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 415/HB 882 | Education, Dept. of – As introduced, enacts the “Keep Kids in School Act,” which requires the department to issue guidance and recommendations on developing a school discipline policy; requires local boards of education and charter school governing bodies to adopt a discipline policy that aligns with guidance and recommendations issued by the department. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 659/HB 1535 | Teachers, Principals and School Personnel – As introduced, prohibits teachers from using supplemental materials that are not approved by the state board. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1100/HB 1291 | Basic Education Program (BEP) – As introduced, funds school social worker positions through the BEP at a ratio of one for each 250 or fewer students. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1216/HB 800 | Textbooks – As introduced, prohibits the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission from recommending or listing, the state board of education from approving for local adoption or from granting a waiver for, and LEAs and public charter schools from adopting or using textbooks and instructional materials or supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyles. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1257/HB 44 | Basic Education Program (BEP) – As introduced, funds social worker positions through the BEP at a ratio of one per 1,500 or fewer students. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1367/HB 1233 | Education – As introduced, enacts the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act.” | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1457/HB 808 | Students – As introduced, prohibits corporal punishment in public schools. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1474/HB 1288 | Education – As introduced, enacts the “Keep Kids in School Act.” | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 1328/HB 21 | Immigration – As introduced, requires this state to refuse to consent to receive any refugees for purposes of resettlement; requires each local government within this state to refuse to consent to receive any refugees for purposes of resettlement unless resettlement within its jurisdiction is approved by a certain process. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | HJR 1 | Memorials, Congress – Urges Congress to enact legislation to prohibit the desecration of the United States flag. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 193/HB 372 | Public Employees – As introduced, prohibits a government entity from requiring an employee of the entity to attend or participate in a training, seminar, or continuing education which the employee objects to on the basis of the person’s morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 659/HB 1535 | Teachers, Principals and School Personnel – As introduced, prohibits teachers from using supplemental materials that are not approved by the state board. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 843/HB 513 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, increases the penalty for obstructing a highway from a Class B or C misdemeanor to a Class E felony and makes other related changes; creates the offense of throwing an object at another while participating in a riot; creates the offense of intimidating or harassing another while participating in a riot. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1216/HB 800 | Textbooks – As introduced, prohibits the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission from recommending or listing, the state board of education from approving for local adoption or from granting a waiver for, and LEAs and public charter schools from adopting or using textbooks and instructional materials or supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyles. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1547/HB 808 | Criminal Offenses – As introduced, changes from a Class E felony to a Class A misdemeanor, the criminal penalty for a person engaged in camping on state property knowing that the area is not specifically designated for use as a camping area by the department or agency responsible for such land; removes the enhanced penalties for certain criminal offenses involving obstruction of highways, streets, or other passageways | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 204/HB 724 | Abortion – As introduced, enacts the “Rule of Law Life Act” | Current Status |
| Support | SB 334/HB 843 | Correction, Dept. of – As introduced, requires that female inmates who are 50 through 74 years of age must be offered a mammogram every two years; requires that female inmates who are 40 through 49 years of age must be offered a physician consultation to inquire when a mammogram is needed; requires correctional institutions, to the best of their ability, to provide educational training on the importance of preventative health care to the inmates. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 494/HB 1079 | As introduced, permits a person to petition a court for an injunction to prohibit a woman who is pregnant with the person’s unborn child from obtaining an abortion. Requires the petitioner to prove that they are the father of the unborn child and that there is a reasonable probability that the respondent will seek an abortion before the court issues the injunction. Requires the petitioner to execute a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity that is not subject to being rescinded or challenged. Establishes that if the respondent violates the injunction they can be held in civil or criminal contempt. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 827/HB 916 | Prisons and Reformatory Institutions – As introduced, prohibits the use of solitary confinement for pregnant inmates and inmates who have given birth within the past eight weeks; prohibits transfer of a pregnant inmate from a jail to a state penitentiary or branch of a prison for safekeeping unless medically necessary. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 828/HB 1181 | Abortion – As introduced, requires disposition of aborted fetal remains to be by burial or cremation; requires the department of health to promulgate certain rules and forms; and makes certain other changes regarding the disposition of fetal remains. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 956/HB 642 | Health, Dept. of – As introduced, requires the department to create an evidence-based implicit bias training program for healthcare professionals related to maternal and infant mortality; requires the department to collect certain data; and establishes a perinatal patient bill of rights. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1222/HB 1425 | Abortion – As introduced, enacts the “Every Mom Matters Act,” which requires a woman to complete a free resource access consultation with the department of health prior to having an abortion. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1367/HB 1233 | Education – As introduced, enacts the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act.” | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 193/HB 372 | Public Employees – As introduced, prohibits a government entity from requiring an employee of the entity to attend or participate in a training, seminar, or continuing education which the employee objects to on the basis of the person’s morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 228/HB 3 | Local Education Agencies – As introduced, requires that a student’s gender for purposes of participation in a public middle school or high school interscholastic athletic activity or event be determined by the student’s sex at the time of the student’s birth, as indicated on the student’s original birth certificate. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 562/HB 233 | Marriage – As introduced, deletes statutes on marriage licensing and ceremonies; limits the jurisdiction of circuit courts and chancery courts in cases involving the definition of common law marriage to the principles of common law marriage. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 657/HB 578 | Children – As introduced, prohibits the provision of sexual identity change therapy to prepubescent minors; prohibits the provision of sexual identity change therapy to minors who have entered puberty unless a parent or guardian has written recommendations for the therapy from at least three physicians; punishes violations as child abuse; designates violations by healthcare professionals as professional misconduct. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1216/HB 800 | Textbooks – As introduced, prohibits the state textbook and instructional materials quality commission from recommending or listing, the state board of education from approving for local adoption or from granting a waiver for, and LEAs and public charter schools from adopting or using textbooks and instructional materials or supplemental instructional materials that promote, normalize, support, or address lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, or transgender issues or lifestyles. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1224/HB 1182 | Public Buildings – As introduced, requires a public or private entity or business that operates a building or facility open to the general public to post a notice at the entrance of each public restroom and at each entrance of the building of the entity’s or business’s policy of allowing a member of either biological sex to use any public restroom within the building or facility, if the entity or business maintains such a policy. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1367/HB 1233 | Education – As introduced, enacts the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act.” | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 135/HB 197 | Public Records – As introduced, provides a mechanism by which a public records custodian may enter into mediation with a records requestor for the purpose of stopping requests that constitute harassment; if mediation fails, authorizes a records custodian to seek an injunction against the records requestor. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 289/HB 1518 | Bail, Bail Bonds – As introduced, requires the clerk of each court with criminal jurisdiction to submit a monthly report to the administrative office of the courts including certain statistical information about arrests, release, bonds, and failures to appear; requires clerks who fail to submit the required information to pay an administrative fee. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1539/HB 1553 | Public Records – As introduced, enacts the “Accountability and Engagement Through Transparency Act.” | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 193/HB 372 | Public Employees – As introduced, prohibits a government entity from requiring an employee of the entity to attend or participate in a training, seminar, or continuing education which the employee objects to on the basis of the person’s morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 258/HB 924 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, authorizes law enforcement agencies to use a drone to provide or enhance security for a public event, to provide aerial coverage during a natural disaster, or to investigate the scene of a crime; extends the time within which law enforcement must determine whether evidence collected by a drone may be retained or deleted from three to 30 days. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 456/HB 43 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, prohibits law enforcement from entering private property for the purpose of engaging in surveillance or setting up surveillance equipment to search for and collect evidence or obtain information or other data unless the officer has obtained a search warrant or a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement exists. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 461/HB 969 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, enacts the “Public Safety Through Hiring Act,” which prohibits law enforcement agencies from hiring a person as a police officer who was fired due to disciplinary infractions or while under investigation for misconduct in the line of duty, or who resigned or retired while under investigation for disciplinary infractions or misconduct in the line of duty. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 963/HB 1318 | Search & Seizure – As introduced, requires a complainant seeking a no-knock entry provision in a search warrant or an arrest warrant to have the facts supporting the warrant reviewed by the district attorney general prior to presenting any facts to a magistrate. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1045/HB 1568 | Search & Seizure – As introduced, specifies that hemp and products derived from hemp, other than isolated THC, are not subject to seizure based solely on their composition; prohibits police searches based solely on the odor of cannabis. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1380/HB 1406 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to develop certain policies regarding the use of force; prohibits magistrates from issuing no-knock warrants. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1382/HB 1533 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, removes prohibition against community oversight boards issuing subpoenas; replaces procedure for local legislative bodies to issue subpoenas on behalf of a board with procedure for boards to issue subpoenas. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1432/HB 993 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to provide body cameras for each officer; requires reporting of incidents of use of force, officer resignations, stops by officers, and unannounced entries into residences; requires termination of employment of any officer convicted of or found civilly liable for certain acts; prohibits the use of chokeholds by officers. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1434/HB 600 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires a law enforcement officer who conducts a search of a motor vehicle to report in person to a judge of the general sessions court within three days and provide certain statistical information; requires the clerk of the general sessions court to report the information to the administrative office of the courts; requires the administrative office of the courts to provide an annual report to the chairs of the appropriate committees of the general assembly. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1453/HB 1084 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, reduces the period of time, from five years to one year from the date of issuance, in which a process, warrant, precept, or summons for a misdemeanor offense must be served, returned, or quashed before it is automatically terminated and removed from the records. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1485/HB 863 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, prohibits a court from issuing or a law enforcement officer from serving a no knock search or arrest warrant; defines a no knock warrant as a warrant that specifically enables an officer to enter a structure without giving notice of the officer’s authority or the purpose of the officer’s presence. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1496/HB 1316 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to report findings of excessive use of force by a law enforcement officer to the district attorney general, to be reviewed for possible criminal prosecution; requires the district attorney general to review 10 percent of all allegations of excessive force in each previous calendar year. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 258/HB 924 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, authorizes law enforcement agencies to use a drone to provide or enhance security for a public event, to provide aerial coverage during a natural disaster, or to investigate the scene of a crime; extends the time within which law enforcement must determine whether evidence collected by a drone may be retained or deleted from three to 30 days. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 456/HB 43 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, prohibits law enforcement from entering private property for the purpose of engaging in surveillance or setting up surveillance equipment to search for and collect evidence or obtain information or other data unless the officer has obtained a search warrant or a judicially recognized exception to the warrant requirement exists. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1162/HB 1239 | Election Laws – As introduced, authorizes the state election commission and each county election commission to utilize technology to identify the fingerprints of voters for purposes of conducting elections in this state in collaboration with state agencies that maintain a database of fingerprints in this state. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1359/HB 1330 | Employees, Employers – As introduced, prevents employers from taking adverse action against certain job applicants and employees with regard to drug tests indicating the use of marijuana. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1432/HB 993 | Law Enforcement – As introduced, requires law enforcement agencies to provide body cameras for each officer; requires reporting of incidents of use of force, officer resignations, stops by officers, and unannounced entries into residences; requires termination of employment of any officer convicted of or found civilly liable for certain acts; prohibits the use of chokeholds by officers. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support | SB 136/HB 204 | Human Rights – As introduced, enacts the “CROWN Act: Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair” to define race and protective hairstyle for purposes of the Tennessee Human Rights Act. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 193/HB 372 | Public Employees – As introduced, prohibits a government entity from requiring an employee of the entity to attend or participate in a training, seminar, or continuing education which the employee objects to on the basis of the person’s morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 308/HB 721 | Health Care – As introduced, encourages department of human services to develop a partnership with minority and other community-based organizations to improve the health of racial and ethnic minorities and to extend public health legal services to minority and low-income individuals receiving social and medical services; requests department to utilize temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) funds to support such partnerships. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 956/HB 642 | Health, Dept. of – As introduced, requires the department to create an evidence-based implicit bias training program for healthcare professionals related to maternal and infant mortality; requires the department to collect certain data; and establishes a perinatal patient bill of rights. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1064/HB 1329 | Banks and Financial Institutions – As introduced, prohibits a licensee engaged in the business of deferred presentment services from contracting for or receiving a fee or charge exceeding a 36 percent annual percentage rate on the unpaid balance of the amount financed. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 7/HB 10 | Public Health – As introduced, removes provisions in current law that override the ability of various persons to object to vaccinations, immunizations, or other medical procedures on the basis of religious tenets and practices. | Current Status |
| Oppose | HJR 150 | Naming and Designating – Designates the Bible as the official State Book. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 193/HB 372 | Public Employees – As introduced, prohibits a government entity from requiring an employee of the entity to attend or participate in a training, seminar, or continuing education which the employee objects to on the basis of the person’s morals, ethics, values, or religious beliefs. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 467/HB 35 | Local Government, General – As introduced, prohibits governmental entities and officials from mandating or limiting the number of persons who may congregate in a residence, or in a church if the number of congregants complies with occupancy limits applicable to the church | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oppose | SB 204/HB 724 | Abortion – As introduced, enacts the “Rule of Law Life Act” | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 494/HB 1079 | As introduced, permits a person to petition a court for an injunction to prohibit a woman who is pregnant with the person’s unborn child from obtaining an abortion. Requires the petitioner to prove that they are the father of the unborn child and that there is a reasonable probability that the respondent will seek an abortion before the court issues the injunction. Requires the petitioner to execute a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity that is not subject to being rescinded or challenged. Establishes that if the respondent violates the injunction they can be held in civil or criminal contempt. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 828/HB 1181 | Abortion – As introduced, requires disposition of aborted fetal remains to be by burial or cremation; requires the department of health to promulgate certain rules and forms; and makes certain other changes regarding the disposition of fetal remains. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 956/HB 642 | Health, Dept. of – As introduced, requires the department to create an evidence-based implicit bias training program for healthcare professionals related to maternal and infant mortality; requires the department to collect certain data; and establishes a perinatal patient bill of rights. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1222/HB 1425 | Abortion – As introduced, enacts the “Every Mom Matters Act,” which requires a woman to complete a free resource access consultation with the department of health prior to having an abortion. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1370/HB 1252 | Tort Liability and Reform – As introduced, states that there is no cause of action for wrongful birth based on a claim that a person would not or should not have been born or for wrongful life based on a claim that a person would or should have been aborted. | Current Status |
| Position | Bill Number | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support | SB 2/HB 1560 | As introduced, alters the appointment and composition of the state and county election commissions; transfers duties from the secretary of state to the coordinator of elections. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 3/HB 971 | Redistricting, Legislative – As introduced, enacts the “Fair Maps Act,” which establishes requirements for the process of redistricting congressional and general assembly districts. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 18/HB 561 | Election Laws – As introduced, changes the revocation of a person’s voting rights pursuant to a conviction for certain infamous crimes to a temporary suspension of voting rights for the period of confinement, probation, or parole; automatically restores a person’s voting rights upon release from confinement, probation, or parole. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 23/HB 1283 | Election Laws – As introduced, permits the use of a photo identification card issued by this state, the United States, or an accredited postsecondary institution of education in this state for purposes of verifying the identity of an eligible voter. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 105/HB 1157 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires county election commissions that purchase or lease voting machines on and after July 1, 2021, to purchase or lease precinct-based optical scanners. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 197/HB 387 | Election Laws – As introduced, creates a polling place pilot program in Davidson County jails to provide eligible inmates the opportunity to vote; expires the program on December 31, 2022. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 218/HB 95 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires each county to use precinct-based optical scanners for elections beginning no later than January 1, 2022. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 249/HB 209 | Election Laws – As introduced, authorizes up to two members of an LLC that owns property in a city to vote in the city’s elections. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 684/HB 896 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, allows certain persons deprived of the right of suffrage to apply for a voter registration card and have the right of suffrage provisionally restored if the person enters into a payment plan to become current on all child support obligations | Current Status |
| Support | SB 687/HB 689 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires a county purchasing direct recording electronic voting systems to ensure that the systems have the capability to create a voter-verifiable paper audit trail for each ballot cast. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 835/HB 1251 | As introduced, prohibits a county election commission from transmitting an application to vote absentee to a voter unless the voter makes a request for the ballot in writing. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 927/HB 937 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires a county election commission purchasing or entering into a contract to obtain a voting system to ensure that the system produces a voter-verifiable paper audit trail. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 947/HB 1324 | Election Laws – As introduced, authorizes the use of an identification card issued by an accredited institution of higher education in this state for purposes of voter identification at a polling place; requires the secretary of state to conduct studies on such use and file reports regarding such use. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 957/HB 1557 | Redistricting, Legislative – As introduced, enacts the “Tennessee Independent Redistricting Commission Act,” which establishes a nine-member independent redistricting commission beginning in 2021. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1162/HB 1239 | Election Laws – As introduced, authorizes the state election commission and each county election commission to utilize technology to identify the fingerprints of voters for purposes of conducting elections in this state in collaboration with state agencies that maintain a database of fingerprints in this state. | Current Status |
| Oppose | SB 1164/HB 1221 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires the state and county election commissions to maintain on their respective websites the name of each voter who requests an application to vote by absentee ballot and a link to the voter’s digital or electronic signature on the application. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1302/HB 1487 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires county election commissions, in the manner they deem appropriate, to call, send text messages, or email notifications to voters whose registration may be purged as a result of the address verification program, with instructions on how the voters may verify or correct their address information. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1413/HB 805 | Election Laws – As introduced, deletes a provision making it a Class A misdemeanor for a person who is not an employee of an election commission to give an unsolicited request for an application for an absentee ballot to any person; deletes a provision making it a Class E felony for a person who is not an employee of an election commission to give an application for an absentee ballot to any person. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1487/HB 1574 | Criminal Procedure – As introduced, establishes eligibility of person convicted of a Class E, D, or C felony to apply for and receive voter registration card upon receiving a pardon, being discharged from custody for service of the person’s maximum sentence, or being granted a certificate of final discharge from supervision by the board of parole. | Current Status |
| Support | SB 1541/HB 1429 | Election Laws – As introduced, requires department of safety to automatically register a qualified person to vote from information on an application for a driver license or photo identification card unless the person opts out. | Current Status |
