Legislative Update, February 2, 2019

 

Tennessee General Assembly information, click HERE. For information on State Senators, including phone numbers and email addresses, click HERE; for House members, click HERE. For information on legislation, click HERE.
Don't forget that you can now watch the Senate committee meetings and floor sessions online by going HERE; House committee meetings and floor sessions online HERE.
Phone calls can go to the legislative Switchboard at 615-741-3011 or to the Toll Free number 1-800-449-8366+1 last four digits of office phone number (available online).

 

"The battle for high morals and Godly patterns always will remain unfinished business.  Like the striving for perfection, there is no place to quit.  Once a warrior enters the troop, it is a lifetime commitment.  Let us put on the full armor and go forth to attain our objective of keeping American great by keeping American Good!!"  Dr. Shirley Curry, Eagle Forum national board member, 1978. [Shirley 'practices what she preaches' as she is STILL on the National Board as well as being Vice Chairman of TN Eagle Forum.]

FOR YOUR PRAYER LIST: 
State Rep. Jeremy Faison stable after wreck in Smith Co. 
SMITH COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Faison is in stable condition after a car crash late Friday morning.
According to a crash report from THP, Faison was driving a Ford F-150 on I-40 East in Smith County when he crossed the center line into the right lane where he made contact with a tractor-trailer. 
The report says the tractor-trailer braked hard and attempted to avoid Faison's car but was unable to. Faison's car went off the road, hit a guardrail, and rolled over multiple times. Faison went to Tenova Hospital and then was checked into Vanderbilt University Medical Center.





HALEY'S CORNER:  Well, unfortunately all the snow that was forecast for middle TN and never materialized, did fall on the Knoxville area and kept Haley home on Tuesday.  


JAIME'S CORNER:
Wednesday was filled with a short floor session and meetings with many legislators. We met some of the new representatives at the capitol, and overall had a very nice morning. I can’t wait to start seeing what bills are going to be part of this session and see everything fully in action. 


 

THE HEARTBEAT BILL:
NOTE:  One never ceases to be amazed when observing how God moves and uses some terrible things for good.  It appears that what New York did with their bill that legalizes abortion up until the baby is born, has really energized the pro-life community all over the country and here in TN for sure. It has definitely increased support for Rep. Huss' 'heartbeat bill'!!

HB 0077 by *Van Huss , Lamberth, Cepicky, Hill M, Moon, Eldridge, Griffey, Sherrell, Calfee, Crawford, Zachary, Todd, Hill T, Reedy, Hall, Rudd, Ragan, Smith, Hulsey, Doggett, Howell, Byrd, Leatherwood, Williams, Powers
Abortion - As introduced, prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected; requires fetal heartbeat testing prior to an abortion; creates exceptions
 

Tennessee gov, top GOP lawmakers back heartbeat abortion ban
POSTED 12:48 PM, JANUARY 30, 2019, BY AP, UPDATED AT 05:21AM, JANUARY 31, 2019
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee and the top two GOP state lawmakers say they support a push to ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, as early as six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.
Tennessee is among several states considering heartbeat bills amid hopes from some abortion opponents nationwide that a conservative U.S. Supreme Court majority will review the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and uphold stricter abortion prohibitions.
And with backing from the three top officials, Tennessee’s push is likely to gain traction in the ongoing state legislative session.
The fetal heartbeat bill is at odds with the legal standard set by the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling, which prohibits states from banning abortions before viability. Additionally, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery in 2017 deemed a heartbeat bill “constitutionally suspect.”
Generally speaking, the new governor told reporters Wednesday he will look at individual bills and decide if he favors them, and “the courts will have to decide for themselves whether it’s constitutional or not.”

 

 
Where do they get off with this? Thankfully someone finally blew the whistle:

House Subcommittee Chairman Issues Warning to Colleagues About Bureaucrats Undermining the Legislative Process .



YAY! THIS IS HUGE - THANK YOU SPEAKER CASADA!!! 
House makes it easier for public to see bill amendments earlier .
Posted on January 16, 2019 by Deborah Fisher
In what may seem like a small tweak, the Tennessee House of Representatives has added a new feature to the bill tracking process online that will add a great deal more public transparency into amendments earlier.
Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada said that amendments that are added in a House subcommittee will now go directly online so that the public can see them instead of waiting until the amendment passes a full committee.


 

LOT OF BILLS THAT WE WILL BE OPPOSING:

LEGALIZING USE OF MARIJUANA:
SB 0260 by *Kyle, (HB 0234) by *Johnson G
Controlled Substances - As introduced, declares that a person who holds a valid medical marijuana patient identification card issued by another state does not commit an offense in this state if the person possesses, or distributes to another cardholder, marijuana not in excess of one-half ounce.

POTENTIAL FOR ILLEGALS TO VOTE?:
SB 0090 by *Akbari, (HB 0133)by *Love
Election Laws - As introduced, authorizes the use of a driver license from another state to establish a person's identity for the purposes of being issued a photo identification license by the department of safety for the purposes of voting.  

DID YOU KNOW:  As of December 2018, twelve states allow illegal aliens to procure driver licenses. In some of those states, the law indicates that the license cannot be used as identification or for voting in federal elections. However, this Tennessee bill is cleverly worded to ignore those restrictions and allow the license from the other state to operate as a gateway document to procure valid voting ID in Tennessee.
 

LEGALIZING SPORTS BETTING:
SB 0016 by *Akbari, (HB 0001) by *Staples
Gambling - As introduced, authorizes sports betting in this state only in jurisdictions that approve sports betting by local option election; imposes a 10 percent tax on gaming revenue; distributes 40 percent of the tax to the general fund for general appropriations, 30 percent to Tennessee colleges of applied technologies and community colleges for equipment and capital projects, and 30 percent to local governments for education and infrastructure; establishes the Tennessee gaming commission to regulate sports betting; authorizes the commission to collaborate with the Tennessee bureau of investigation for purposes of enforcement
 

EXPANDING GAMBLING:
SJR 0097 by *Niceley
Constitutional Amendments - Proposes an amendment to Article XI, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee concerning charitable lotteries to authorize the general assembly to authorize the operation of Bingo games to benefit public and private schools. -

 

OTHER NEWS OF NOTE:

Tennessee Republicans look at axing subpoena power from Nashville's police oversight board .

House Speaker Casada names senior staff .

Bill Lee Delivers First of Many Planned Video Addresses From Family’s Franklin Ranch to Summarize His Work as Governor .

Majority of Tennessee Counties See Unemployment Rates Drop
Tennessee Ends 2018 with Continued Low Unemployment across Much of the State

State Rep. London Lamar Reportedly Gets Leniency from State Board Over Campaign Violations .