The special legislative session has come to an end with little movement toward a safer Tennessee.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, called the GOP-controlled legislature into special session in response to a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year that left three children and three staff members, including a Lee family friend, dead. Lee advocated for extreme-risk protection orders, a way for courts to temporarily remove guns from the possession of people experiencing mental health crises.
Republican leaders in the legislature rebuffed Lee's calls for ERPOs and ultimately passed just a few pieces of legislation, including additional mental health funding. Another bill encourages but does not require safer gun storage, while others require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to submit a report on human trafficking and shorten the window during which courts must report criminal proceedings to the TBI for background checks. The legislature also allocated $112 million for school safety and mental health supports.
“The goal of this session was public safety, from the very beginning,” Lee told reporters Tuesday. “There are a lot of disagreements about the way forward with that. But it's really important that, in spite of the disagreements, that we find the things that people can agree upon, so that we can make progress.”
Gov. Bill Lee at the conclusion of the August 2023 special session
Tensions were high throughout the session, with Covenant School parents and protesters advocating for further action from the Tennessee General Assembly. The House instituted a new rule banning attendees from holding signs, though a Nashville court quickly moved to reverse the rule. House leaders directed state troopers to remove attendees from multiple meetings, and the House voted to restrict the speaking rights of state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) over supposed disruptions. On Tuesday, an encounter between state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) left Republicans and Democrats hurling accusations.
"We thought there were other bills that would be beneficial and that could have helped the Covenant shooting situation in the future — we passed them,” Sexton told reporters on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we couldn't get across the finish line with the Senate and so we'll come back in January and see what we can do.”
Republicans also fought among themselves, as House GOP leaders accused the Republican-led Senate of inaction for refusing to take up a slate of bills considered in the House.
"We aren't doing the will of the people who sent us here," said Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), who called the special session a waste of taxpayer money.
