State of Disrepair: A Look at Tennessee's 2023 Legislative Session

Even for those of us who keep a close eye on the Tennessee General Assembly each year, the 2023 session was a doozy.

Remember back in early March, when liberal activism site Tennessee Holler uncovered odd social media comments left by Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) on thirst-trap posts by a young, gay aspiring superstar? It was a big enough deal to inspire a segment on Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.” (It wasn’t the last time “Update” spoofed the Volunteer State this season, as a matter of fact.) Well, McNally’s odd comments seem practically quaint in comparison to all that has transpired at the Tennessee State Capitol since.

In the wake of the tragic March 27 mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, protesters showed up in droves to demand action from the legislature on gun violence. Gov. Bill Lee and state leaders announced a series of proposals in response to the shooting, though none of them related to gun control. Then, famously, three Democratic members of the state House now known as the Tennessee Three — a reference to Johnny Cash’s longtime backing band — faced expulsion efforts from the body’s Republican supermajority for joining protesters in chants and calls for action from the well of the House chamber. After a long and bitter hearing, Black Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) were expelled from the body, while their white colleague Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) avoided expulsion by one vote. County leaders in Nashville and Memphis returned the Justins to their seats with haste, and the Tennessee GOP’s efforts backfired on the publicity front: House Republicans found themselves the butt of a nationally circulated joke, and the Tennessee Three earned invites to the White House and the admiration of Joan Baez and Bernie Sanders, among many, many others.

Soon after, leaked audio from a meeting of the House Republican Caucus revealed petty GOP infighting over the expulsion efforts. And before the month was through, allegations surfaced involving the caucus’s vice chair — Rep. Scotty Campbell (R-Mountain City) — who reportedly harassed at least one 19-year-old legislative intern. Campbell, who allegedly put his hands on the intern and offered her cannabis gummies in exchange for seeing her tattoos and piercings, resigned within hours.

Somewhere, among all the Republican supermajority’s humiliating publicity fails, they also managed to pass a bunch of legislation. A great deal of that legislation focused on punishing Metro Nashville and targeting the LGBTQ community. They also passed a budget and approved Gov. Lee’s Transportation Modernization Act. But despite Lee’s calls for action on gun reform, they didn’t pass any laws related to guns — well, except for one from Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) that protects gun manufacturers from lawsuits. As a result, Lee announced that he would be calling for a special session of the legislature to tend to the oversight. We’re still standing by to find out if and when that will take place.

In this week’s issue, we take a look at everything the Tennessee General Assembly did — and didn’t — accomplish in 2023. —D. PATRICK RODGERS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF