Gov. Bill Lee drew criticism last week when he said he had not responded to a meeting request from the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators because “we meet with those folks that are willing to work together to move forward.” Members of the Black caucus registered their anger at a press conference today, calling the answer personally offensive. Now, Lee's staff is “working to get one on the books,” a spokesperson said of a future meeting, according to the Nashville Post. The caucus has been seeking a meeting with Lee to discuss recent protests and legislation Lee signed into law making it a felony to camp out overnight on the Capitol grounds. The lawmakers also used today’s event to call on Lt. Gov. Randy McNally to apologize for a meme posted to his Facebook page that warned Black Lives Matters supporters “there’s nobody protecting you from us” if police are defunded. When it was pointed out that the meme could be interpreted as an implicit threat, it was taken down.

Gov. Bill Lee has signed into a law a bill that makes it a felony to camp on state property, Nashville Public Radio reports. The anti-protest bill went into effect last Thursday. It means people who hold overnight sit-ins on public property, like the state Capitol, face up to six years in prison and loss of their voting rights. It also creates mandatory minimum sentences for assaulting a first responder. Read more about the legislation.

Belmont University College of Law Dean Alberto Gonzales and Nashville School of Law Dean William Koch today answered questions from an ad hoc legislative committee on whether Gov. Bill Lee acted outside his legal authority during the pandemic, the Tennessean reports. Gonzales, a former U.S. attorney general, and Koch, a former Tennessee Supreme Court Justice, reported to the committee that Gov. Lee has acted appropriately, but that the legislature has the ability to reign in his executive authority ahead of the next emergency. Regarding Lee, Koch told the committee, “His executive orders are entirely consistent with the inherent power in his office and with the power you granted him” in Tennessee’s Emergency Powers Act. Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, is co-chairing the ad hoc committee with Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin. Zachary told the committee at the beginning of today’s meeting that their purpose was to consider what authority the governor should have moving forward. The committee plans to provide recommendations to the 112th General Assembly, which will convene in January.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, and Rep. Gary Hicks, R-Rogersville, have recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the Daily Memphian reports. Camper began to feel sick last week when she arrived in Nashville for the General Assembly’s special session and immediately went for testing. Despite testing negative, Camper chose to quarantine and it was later determined she had contracted the virus. The Tennessee Journal today reported that Hicks had tested positive for the virus this week and was present at last week’s special session. A total of four lawmakers have now tested positive for COVID-19, including Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston and Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, who is recovering after being hospitalized earlier this week. Former Republican Representative and mayor of Cleveland, Kevin Brooks, also tested positive.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans has sued the state and the Tennessee Capitol Commission over a July vote to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Capitol’s second floor, the Daily Memphian reports. Doug Jones, a Nashville attorney representing the group, confirmed today that a suit was filed in Davidson County Chancery Court. The group’s main legal argument is that the commission does not have authority over the second floor of the State Capitol and, therefore, cannot vote to remove the bust. Instead, they argue, the legislature must make the decision since it passed a resolution in 1973 to place the bust in the Capitol. The commission voted 9-2 in early July to relocate the bust to the State Museum after Gov. Bill Lee requested it be moved.

State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, has been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to an email sent to Republican House members by Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison. “Our friend and colleague Mike Carter is in ICU at Erlanger with Covid,” Faison wrote to colleagues. “He is asking for prayers. Let’s lift him up y’all.” Lawmakers were in Nashville last week for a special legislative session, but Carter did not attend, the Tennessee Journal reports. Following the conclusion of the regular session in June, Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, and Rep. Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland, tested positive for the virus.

The final version of the COVID-19 liability bill approved by the state Senate and House this week extends liability protection to health care providers, businesses, schools and non-profits retroactive to Aug. 3 — the date Gov. Bill Lee called the special session. An earlier version of the bill supported by the Senate would have made protections retroactive to early March when the pandemic broke out. House members opposed that provision during the regular session, arguing it was unconstitutional. Some lawmakers continued to oppose the Aug. 3 date, arguing that the state constitution prohibits any “retrospective law, or law impairing the obligations of contracts. ...” Republican Sen. Mike Bell, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued that the courts would side with the legislature since the proposal is in the public’s interest. The Herald Courier has this story from the Associated Press. Another priority for the special session was easily approved this week. Nearly every lawmaker supported a bill to establish a framework for telehealth services, the Nashville Post reports.

Tennessee lawmakers wrapped up a three-day special session yesterday after strengthening penalties against protesters and protecting businesses from COVID-19 related lawsuits, the Tennessean reports. The bill directed at protestors makes it a felony to camp overnight outside the Capitol, cause serious injury to first responders, block emergency vehicles when life or health is at stake, or trespass on the property of an elected official, law enforcement officer or judge with the intent to harass. It also makes it a misdemeanor to spit or throw bodily fluids on first responders. Finally, those who deface state buildings can be ordered to pay restoration or cleaning expenses. Those charged with felonies under the bill must be held for at least 12 hours without bond unless a magistrate certifies in writing that the defendant won't resume the behavior upon release. The final version of the bill does not allow the state attorney general to prosecute cases but allows him to highlight local prosecutors who decline to file charges through an annual report. The Senate passed the bill 26-5 on a mostly party-line vote with only Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson opposing it. The House approved the legislation 71-20. Despite earlier versions deferring the effective date, the bill now will take effect upon becoming law.

The Tennessee state Senate last week passed Gov. Bill Lee's “Tennessee Recovery and Safe Harbor Act,” News Channel 5 reports. The measure now goes to the House for a vote. The bill aims to provide retroactive COVID-19 liability protection to health care providers, businesses, schools and non-profits. Last month, Gov. Lee granted similar protections by executive order, but that order expired on July 31.

Legislation calling for harsher penalties for some protestors was today passed by a House committee after an agreement between House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and the District Attorneys General Conference, the Daily Memphian reports. The agreement removed a provision from HB8005 that would have allowed the state attorney general to prosecute vandalism and camping cases. The TBI would still be allowed to investigate crimes listed in the legislation and present them to a grand jury, but if a district attorney general refuses to prosecute, a petition could be made to the court for a district attorney pro tem. The bill passed the House Public Safety Committee, but not without a dispute between Lamberth and Rep. Larry Miller, D-Memphis, who blasted Lamberth for saying that those who opposed the measure supported spitting in the face of law enforcement officers. “You can support law enforcement officers or you can spit in their face by voting against this bill just like others have,” Lamberth said. Miller called it an “insulting” personal attack and also a lie. The Senate is expected to take up its version of the bill tomorrow.