Tag: 2024 legislative session

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Proposed Legislation Could Undo Strides in Public Safety in Memphis

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash.

A new bill could potentially undo policies made by the Memphis City Council in the aftermath of Tyre Nichols’ death. 

Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and Rep. John Gillespie (R-Memphis)  proposed a bill that would void the Driving Equality Act in Honor of Tyre Nichols, which prohibits officers from pulling drivers over for minor violations such as broken tail lights. It would also nullify the Data Transparency Act, which requires officers to collect traffic data and that it be published monthly. The bill would also make it legal to use unmarked cars for traffic stops.

Under SB 2572/HB 1931, the Driving Equality Act would be ineffective as the bill prohibits any legislation that would not allow law enforcement to act in their fullest capacity.

“As introduced, prohibits a local governmental entity or official from adopting or enacting an ordinance or policy that prohibits or limits the ability of a law enforcement agency to take all necessary steps that are lawful under state and federal law to fulfill the law enforcement agency’s duties to prevent and detect crime and apprehend criminal offenders,” the bill reads. “States that an ordinance or policy that is adopted in violation of the prohibition is null and void.”

Nichols’ family is encouraging lawmakers to vote no to bill, calling it a “devastating step backwards.”

“The legislation would remove critical reforms the Memphis community fought for on behalf of my son Tyre,” RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, said in a statement. “Our communities deserve law enforcement that is held to the highest standard of integrity and accountability to begin to restore trust.”

The bill has also been openly criticized by advocacy groups such as Decarcerate Memphis, who published “The People’s Report 2024: Driving While BIPOC” this week. The report found that in the months after Nichols’ death, traffic stops increased by nearly 25 percent, even though they found that “traffic stops don’t reduce or prevent crimes.” The report also showed that these stops disproportionately affect Black residents.

“While the sponsors are spreading falsehoods, the truth is Senate Bill 2572/House Bill 1931 seeks to strip local governments and law enforcement agencies of their autonomy to implement tailored public safety solutions that prioritize community safety,” the group said in a statement. “By imposing blanket restrictions on police accountability measures, this bill jeopardizes the discretion of local authorities and diverts resources away from addressing serious crimes and road safety.”

Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-Thomas, who played a vital role in the passage of the Driving Equality Ordinance said the current laws passed in the aftermath of Nichols’ death are integral in preventing “another violent death like Tyre Nichols.”

“The narrative and dishonesty being pushed by state legislators is not only wrong but removes the purpose behind the legislation which was to save Black lives, like Tyre Nichols,” Easter-Thomas said in a statement.

Lawmakers in the House Local Government and Senate State and Local Government committees will vote on the bill on Tuesday, February 27th.

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Sen. Lamar Offers Bill to Provide Continuous Healthcare Coverage For Minors

Sen. London Lamar. Photo Credit: Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus

Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) has introduced a bill to ensure that children in Tennessee not only get equitable healthcare, but they’re able to keep it.

Lamar’s bill would implement continuous eligibility for children who are enrolled in TennCare and CoverKids. Senate Bill 1828, introduced by Lamar and Memphis Democrat Rep. Antonio Parkinson, would ensure that children who have healthcare coverage under these programs are continuously having their coverage renewed.

If passed, Lamar said this bill would solve the problem of children losing state healthcare coverage due to “procedural reasons — not eligibility.”

“[SB 1828] prohibits the bureau from subjecting the minor to a redetermination of eligibility or disenrollment except under certain circumstances,” reads the bill.

Lamar said accountability measures are included to ensure fraud isn’t being committed, and parents are not applying for any children who are deceased.

Lamar said she wanted to focus on topics that impact families the most. She said the most vulnerable populations in the state tend to be children, and she wanted to push for all children to have access to healthcare.

“I know one population we can make a direct impact on is those children who are under state healthcare insurance programs,” said Lamar. “What we did find out was that many kids were taken off the health insurance plans because of clerical issues.”

The 2023 State of The Child in Tennessee report from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth showed that 29,154 children in the state were disenrolled from Medicaid due to procedural reasons, while 6,838 were disenrolled from Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for the same reason.

“A significant component to ensuring children have access to health care is to protect those who are already insured or are eligible for insurance from losing coverage due to procedural mistakes on an application,” the commission said in a statement.

Lamar said she doesn’t think procedural issues are enough to take children off of healthcare plans. She said it’s common that people change addresses and move out of state, and wanted to make sure the state does its due diligence.

“Our families and our state are stronger when every child has access to health care,” said Lamar. “When children get the health care they need, they are more likely to succeed in school, graduate from high school and attend college, earn higher wages, and grow up into healthy adults.”

While Lamar is adamant about pushing for the legislation to be passed, she anticipates that TennCare won’t want to approve it, as she believes it will want to continue its current re-enrollment process

“I think it will definitely be an uphill battle with folks across the aisle,” Lamar said. “We’re going to push the issue as best as we can to get the support we need to get this bill across the finish line. But no doubt about it, it’s going to be tough.”

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Slate of Hate: More to Come

State Capitol (Credit: Tennessee State Government)

As more bills are being introduced in the state’s General Assembly legislative session, the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP) has continued to update its “Slate of Hate 2024.”

Prior to the start of the session the advocacy group had become aware of bills that they deemed as “discriminatory” and added them to the list. These included bills that would potentially ban Pride and Black Lives Matter flags, as well as access to LGBTQ+ content.

On Tuesday, a bill was filed in the Tennessee legislature that could prohibit gender-affirming resources in local education agencies (LEAs) or public charter school.

Senator Paul Rose (R-District 32) filed SB 1810 which would require school agencies to report any request for “an accommodation to affirm the student’s gender identity to be reported to a school administrator and to the student’s parent.”

“[SB 1810] prohibits an employee of an LEA or public charter school from knowingly providing false or misleading information to a student’s parent regarding the student’s gender identity or intention to transition to a gender that differs from the student’s sex at the time of birth,” reads the bill’s summary.

The bill, if passed, would allow parents and the attorney general to take “civil action” against the “noncompliant LEA or public charter school.”

This isn’t the first bill introduced this session by Rose that has found its way on the list. He also introduced SB 1738, which was passed on first consideration. 

Under SB 1738, adoptive or foster parents are not required by the department of children’s services to “support a policy on sexual orientation or gender identity that conflicts with the parent’s sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.”

The summary of the bill is not yet complete, so it is unclear what is defined as “sincerely held religious beliefs.”

Other pieces of legislation that have found their way on the list included HB 1634 and HB 1661.

According to TEP, HB 1634, introduced by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), “removes specific sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination protections at school in favor of more general language.” This includes removing the definition of “gender identity” for “purposes of the family life curriculum.”

HB 1661 could potentially have a “chilling effect” on access to “diverse materials” in libraries the group said in an Instagram post.

“This bill authorizes the residents of a district to circulate a petition for signatures for the purposes of prohibiting each library within a district from displaying, distributing, or making readily accessible to minors any content or material in possession of a library that is specified in the petition as not meeting contemporary community standards,”  reads the bill’s summary.

The bill would also require libraries to “immediately” remove the material petitioned from “places and locations accessible to minors.”

Social media users have criticized this bill, arguing that this would not stop minors from accessing certain materials.

“Have these legislators ever heard of the internet?” said a user named Stevesmotherman,  “Kids do and search it very efficiently. They are exposed to waaaayyy worse.”

The full Slate of Hate 2024 can be found here.