Lawmakers wrapped up the 2025 legislative session on Tuesday, but not without pushing through some final pieces of legislation.Â
DEI Debate
The Republican-led Dismantling DEI Departments Act passed the House on April 22 despite 30 minutes of fervent debate against the legislation from Democratic representatives.Â
Republicans stay united in passing legislation, blocking Democrats’ efforts
The legislation is expected to receive a final OK from Gov. Bill Lee in coming days and will bar state agencies, local governments and public colleges and universities from promoting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. Republicans argue that the bill will level the playing field for applicants and not give certain applicants an unfair advantage.Â
“Equity is a guaranteed outcome without considering input,” said the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Aron Maberry (R-Clarksville). “Another word for that is discrimination. Identity-based politics are aimed at segregating and separating people into groups. This is ideological by nature, and it’s wrong.”
Several Democrats called the legislation racist, saying it will lead to discrimination in hiring and that Republicans are falsely conflating DEI with affirmative action.Â
“This is a racist act, and the people who support and propagate it are participating and continuing a horrible, horrendous, abhorrent legacy of racism,” Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said Tuesday. “Using legislation and policy to bludgeon the reality of the existence of people who continue to deal with the racism that you perpetuate.”Â
The legislation comes in the wake of a similar bill — the Dismantle DEI Act — which also heads to the governor’s desk. The bill will prohibit institutions of higher learning and local governments from using hiring practices based on an applicant’s race, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability.Â
Also during this session, lawmakers passed a bill to prohibit race-based policies from being used when appointing individuals to state boards. This includes policies like racial preferences and quotas, and affirmative action.Â
Vaccination ChoiceÂ
A bill that requires physicians accepting TennCare to treat patients regardless of their vaccination status passed this week. Rep. Michele Carringer (R-Knoxville) said during Monday’s House floor session that the bill was brought to her from a constituent who was experiencing “medical discrimination against families choosing not to vaccinate in Tennessee.”Â
The bill’s passage comes on the heels of Middle Tennessee’s measles count reaching six cases late last week, as confirmed by the Tennessee Department of Health.Â
Tennesseans to vote on property tax, bail and victims' rightsÂ
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Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) said on the House floor Monday that one of his constituents, a physician, raised concern that if an older child who is unvaccinated comes into the waiting room of a doctor’s office, a 9-month-old who is not yet vaccinated could be exposed.Â
Carringer said on Monday there is no way to avoid sickness.Â
“There’s no way that you can keep anybody from getting exposed,” she said. “If it’s in the air, it’s in the air.”Â
“Our children are going to school with children who are unvaccinated, and they’re playing ball, and they’re in the grocery stores," Carringer added. "There’s no way we can stop that. It is all of the ones that have come into our country that are unvaccinated that are bringing these particular illnesses.”Â
Pilot ProgramsÂ
Thanks to a bill passed this week, the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging is tasked with creating and administering a three-year pilot program to give grants to caregivers of family members diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia in an effort to offset costs of care.Â
TennCare is also set to establish a pilot program to expand its Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). The program is mainly for those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and currently exists only in Hamilton County (Chattanooga).Â
Wetland Protections
TSU’s restoration efforts have been halted by cuts to federal funding
Protections for a majority of Tennessee's wetlands will soon be deregulated following the passage of legislation on April 21. The bill is set to prevent the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation from classifying a property as a wetland unless it is federally classified as so.Â
The legislation is a stripped-down version of what its West Tennessee Republican sponsors, Rep. Kevin Vaughn (R-Collierville) and Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), originally intended — to remove all regulations from the state’s isolated wetlands. They said the purpose behind the bill was to lift regulations they believe are too strict for property owners and developers.Â
Democrats and environmental activists have said this could lead to the destruction of wetlands and favors development companies. They also say it could lead to contaminated drinking water and pose a higher risk, than otherwise, of flooding.Â
Election Laws
Two bills dealing with election laws were passed on the last day of the session.
One of those, HB 1383, seeks to align local school board elections with the election cycle of the county legislative body. The bill is considered “permissive,” meaning the county would need to adopt a resolution stating it would want to make this change. It also applies only to counties that have a charter form of government — right now, only Shelby and Knox counties.
Some legislators objected to the fact that if the legislation were to be adopted by a county, the current school board members' terms would be cut short to align with the county government election.
The bipartisan legislation was carried by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and Rep. Torrey Harris (D-Memphis). While it found no Democratic support in the Senate, passing 27-6, it was supported by some Democrats in the House as that body concurred 92-3-2 with the Senate’s amended version.
The other bill, SB 229, makes changes to some campaign finance requirements, such as removing limits to how much political action committees can donate to campaigns and expanding the use of funds to include public relations, consulting and legal expenses for a criminal matter involving the candidate or officeholder.
Earlier this month, the Tennessee Lookout reported that former Sen. Brian Kelsey (who has been pardoned by President Donald Trump for campaign-finance-related crimes) reached out to Taylor about getting an amendment on the bill. The Senate did ultimately pass an amendment to the bill. Though the House originally did not concur, after a conference meeting, both chambers adopted a bill that the Senate sponsor said was substantially similar to that of the original Senate amendment.
