A Senate-passed bill that seeks to impose an immediate three-year residency requirement for candidates running in Democratic and Republican congressional primaries wouldn't take effect until Nov. 9 under a proposed House amendment - a change that would allow two recent transplants to Nashville to proceed with campaigns that would have been cut short under the Senate bill.
Two high-profile Tennessee Republican newcomers running in the state's redrawn 5th Congressional District would be barred from doing so under a bill approved Monday night by the GOP-controlled state Senate by a 31-1 vote margin.
Several dozen Tennessee firefighters and their supporters came to the Tennessee Capitol on Wednesday to honor a late Cleveland, Tennessee, firefighter who suffered from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder while advocating in his name for changes to state worker's compensation laws to provide coverage for PTSD for firefighters.
As Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee prepares to unveil details of his proposed K-12 public school funding formula overhaul this week, uncertainty remains as to whether state lawmakers will approve it this year or decide more time is necessary to vet the replacement for a formula that impacts 1 million students, 1,700 public schools and billions of dollars in state spending.
Tennesseans could find it easier to unsubscribe from some types of automatic renewals on paid online subscription-based products and services under a bill requiring businesses and other entities to provide the option.
A "truth in sentencing" bill pressed by Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton would require adults convicted after July 1 on any of 14 specific felony offenses to serve 100% of the sentence with the punishment "undiminished" by any time-reduction credits prisoners earn for good behavior.
A bill moving in the Tennessee House would allow students, faculty and staffers to sue public universities and colleges if they believe they are being punished for refusing to accept one or more "divisive concepts" that the legislation says "exacerbate and inflame divisions" over race, sex, ethnicity and religion.
When announcing the state's new license plate last fall following an online contest, Gov. Bill Lee proudly predicted the winning design would "take its place in Tennessee history."
"Joker's Law," the Tennessee bill seeking to boost criminal penalties for the injuring or killing of a police dog or other government service animal, is drawing criticisms from a retired police officer-turned legislator who believes the measure goes too far.
A GOP-led legislative effort to put lawmakers in operational control of Tennessee's state Board of Education with six of the panel's nine voting-member appointments is moving in the state House despite opposition from Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who now makes all the appointments.
