The state has moved forward with a bill to codify "pretextual stops" despite the wishes of the parents of Tyre Nichols, who was killed by Memphis Police in 2023.
RowVaughn and Rodney Wells on Friday asked Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) not to bring HB1931/SB2572 to a vote in the state Senate yet. However, Taylor told the Wells family he had decided to advance the bill, leaving the family emotional as they walked out of the legislature before the discussion began.
“I just thought it was in the best interest of everybody involved, the Wells family and the community back home, to go ahead and have closure with this, so that everybody can move forward from here,” Taylor told media after the vote. “Because a delay would not have changed the outcome of this vote, and I just thought it’d be better to go ahead and have full closure.”
The passage came after some back-and-forth prior to the House vote on the bill. Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) called Rep. John Gillespie (R-Memphis) a liar for bringing the bill to the floor. Gillespie denied Pearson's assertions that he told Nichols' parents the legislation would not be on the floor.
On the Senate floor during discussion, Sen. Charlene Oliver (D-Nashville) raised her hand to speak and said she was recognized by the clerk. However, she was skipped over when Sen. Ken Yager (R-Kingston) called the question to push forward a vote.
“They didn't want to hear the truth,” Oliver told the media. “That was wrong, and they know it. This is a slap in the face, and it's dancing on the grave of Tyre Nichols.”
Oliver and other Democrats held a press conference in which they stressed that this was not the first example of what they feel is such inappropriate treatment.
“What they did to Sen. Oliver today was disrespectful,” Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) said. “The Republican caucus chair still called the question, but if any one of their members … say, ‘Oh, my hand was raised, I didn’t get a chance to speak,’ he pulls back his question and allows them to speak but didn't let Sen. Oliver do it.”
Taylor told the media when asked about Oliver not being able to speak that it was “unfortunate” but “that’s what happens.”
Data Privacy
HB1837/SB1745 passed in the Senate unanimously after passing in the House at the end of February. The bill prohibits public higher learning institutions from sharing students’ personal information with a third party, unless there is a written agreement that the information will be used only for the purpose for which such information is originally requested.
Let's take a look at 'Meet Baby Olivia,' the shady anti-abortion video Republicans want to make Tennessee's kids watch
‘Baby Olivia’
HB2435/SB2767, a caption bill, as amended would enact the “Baby Olivia Act” that requires schools to show students a computer-generated animation or high-definition ultrasound that shows the development of organs in early fetal development. The bill refers to “Meet Baby Olivia,” a video by anti-abortion advocacy group Live Action. The bill passed the House Calendar and Rules Committee Thursday and is headed to the house floor Monday afternoon. It will also be heard in the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.
Health Care Bills
SB2396 failed in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee due to no motion taken on the legislation. The bill would have required places offering gender-affirming care to also provide gender “detransition.”
SB2125 failed to get a second in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. It would have guaranteed enrollment in TennCare coverage for children up to 6 years old. A similar bill from Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) failed in late February.
Lamar did pass SB1832 out of committee and the full Senate unanimously. The bill creates the Tennessee Maternal Health Equity Advisory Committee within the state's Department of Health.
Wins for Dems
In addition to Lamar, Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) also passed a bill out of committee and in the full Senate on Thursday. SB1048 sets new caseload requirements in the Department of Children’s Services. It would also require the department to employ special response team personnel, who could help with emergencies and help in maintaining standard caseloads. The department will have to notify the governor, members of the General Assembly and the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth if staff requirements are not met.
Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) passed SB1807, which would establish an Office of Rail and Public Transportation within the Department of Transportation. The bill would require the office to determine the costs and requirements, including engineering, needed to implement passenger rail service on certain corridors.
Immigration Enforcement
HB2124, carried by Rep. Rusty Grills (R-Newbern), passed the House mostly along party lines.
It would require law enforcement agencies to share immigration status with Department of Homeland Security officials, including if a person is not “lawfully present” in the country. Grills said the legislation is necessary to prevent crime committed by those who are in the country illegally. However, Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said during discussion that there is not a way to “force” local law enforcement to do such work.
“Your legislation ignores the reality of implementation, which is why it is a very weak piece of legislation that needs more time if it were to ever be considered,” Pearson said. “When you have people who march in Nashville and in Tennessee advocating against immigrants and saying people who are Mexican need to be deported, and then we have racist legislation that we seek to pass that helps to support these very negative ideologies — this is wrong. This is not how you address a crisis.”
Currently, local law enforcement is “authorized” to share the information with DHS — but not required to do so. The bill also specifies cooperation with federal officials for “identification, apprehension, detention, or removal” of those in the country illegally.
“Instead of supporting cities and counties across Tennessee in doing what's best for their constituents, our representatives want to take us backwards, and pretend they know what's best for our neighborhoods by distracting our local law-enforcement agencies with federal immigration issues,” Judith Clerjeune, campaigns and advocacy director at Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Votes, says in a statement. “Not only is HB2124 a confusing piece of legislation that creates additional legal ambiguity regarding what exactly law enforcement officers are required to do, it's just bad policy.”
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
