Some in, some out
As March moves into April, bills are being dispensed with in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Over the past week:
› The Senate passed a joint resolution to ban a state property tax, joining the House which had passed the legislation earlier. The current tax is 0%, which it has been since 1949. It is the first step in enshrining the ban in the state Constitution. The measure will need to be passed by two-thirds margins in both houses of the legislature next year and approved in a statewide referendum in 2026.
› The Senate passed a so-called “red flag bill” 30-0, and since the House had earlier passed the measure 79-7, it goes to Gov. Bill Lee for his signature. The law expands the necessity for mental health professionals to report potential violence by patients related to a school or a family member of the patient. It is supported by both the Tennessee Psychological Association and a group of parents from Nashville’s Covenant School, where a woman with mental health issues killed six people a year ago.