House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, is planning to revive a bill aimed at stiffening sentences for serious juvenile crimes in 2024. The bill, which died during a truncated special session on public safety, seeks to classify children aged 14 and older as "serious youthful offenders" for certain offenses, allowing them to be transferred to prison through age 24. Critics argue that tougher sentences may not address the root causes of juvenile crime and could exacerbate problems such as the school-to-prison pipeline. Other bills, including those related to gun storage requirements, mass violence threats and child autopsy reports, are also expected to be reintroduced in 2024. The Tennessee Lookout has a comprehensive overview.

Gov. Bill Lee yesterday announced that long-time legislative director Brent Easley will step down next month to return to the private sector. Liz Alvey will succeed Easley in the role, effective Oct. 16. Alvey currently serves as legislative counsel. She previously worked with the Tennessee State Senate and was senior policy advisor to state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris. Lee praised Easley, one of the longest-serving members of his senior team, for his work expanding access to education, boosting economic development, and modernizing transportation and infrastructure. Easley also served as a member of the COVID-19 Unified Command, coordinating the state’s response across executive branch agencies during the pandemic.

Gov. Bill Lee is calling his special-called legislative session on public safety a success that is giving him hope for the future of Tennessee, WSMV reports. He also said that while he does not have a plan for legislation he wants lawmakers to pass when they reconvene in January, he wants to keep talking about ways to keep Tennesseans safe. “This has been an important week for Tennessee, a difficult week, but a week that’s hopeful,” he said. In a video statement released last night, Lee thanked Tennesseans, especially family members from the Covenant School, for engaging in efforts to strengthen safety across the state. He also highlighted the four bills that passed the General Assembly during the special session, saying, “Significant funding was focused on issues that matter to public safety. We improved the background check system, attacked human trafficking, made more access for safe storage. We funded mental health resources across the state. We made progress.”

The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned sine die after reaching an agreement with Gov. Bill Lee to pass three bills aimed at public safety, the Tennessean reports. Before adjourning the special session, the Senate agreed to a House amendment requiring local courts to update records in the state’s background check database within 72 hours, a House amendment funding the Department of Safety’s ad campaign on gun safety and a House amendment for mental health workers. Republican and Democrats expressed frustration that the session is over. “I’m very disappointed that we didn’t get more done in this special session,” said House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland. “In the House, we had a lot of bills that got left on the table that I hope will still be taken back up in January to help families in Tennessee be safer.” House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, said, “People expected us to do something to make the public safer. We did nothing.”

Tensions between Republicans and Democrats were apparent after adjournment Tuesday afternoon, leading to confusion and shoving on the chamber floor. As House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, attempted to leave, Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, confronted Sexton at the speaker's dais, holding handmade signs as the speaker exited the chamber. In related news, Davidson County Chancellor Anne C. Martin ruled Monday afternoon that recent House rules banning signs from the chamber's galleries and committee rooms will remain blocked, saying that the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims the new rule violated the First Amendment. The General Assembly will reconvene on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024.

A story in yesterday's issue of TBA Today misidentified state Rep. Justin Jones' district. He represents House District 52 in Davidson County.

Tennessee's special legislative session continued today with the House meeting at 2 p.m. and the Senate meeting at 4 p.m. CDT. In the House, spectators in the gallery expressed anger after the body voted 70-20 to silence Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, for the day. The Tennessean reports that Jones earlier had been ruled out of order twice by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville. Democrats walked out of the session after the vote and Sexton ordered troopers to clear the balconies. In the Senate, leaders continued to refuse to open up the committee process and consider more proposals despite a call from Gov. Bill Lee to do so. Lee reportedly asked the Senate to consider 12 previously tabled bills in an effort to broker a compromise with House leadership. The paper has a summary of the bills in question.

Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin held an expedited hearing at 11 a.m. CDT today in a legal dispute over a decision by the Tennessee House of Representatives to ban protest signs during a specially called session on public safety. Martin heard arguments from the state and ACLU, which filed suit on behalf of three attendees who were removed from a committee hearing after holding up small signs. The group argued that their free speech rights were violated. For the state, Assistant Attorney General Cody Brandon argued the signs were disruptive and that Martin overstepped her authority by temporarily blocking the rules. Martin did not immediately rule but vowed to issue a quick, thorough and thoughtful decision. Read more from the Tennessean.

An expedited hearing has been scheduled by Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin for Monday in response to a legal dispute regarding the Tennessee House of Representatives' decision to prohibit protest signs during the special legislative session. The Tennessee Lookout reports that a temporary restraining order remains in place, preventing the enforcement of the ban on signs, as granted by Martin earlier this week. House Republican leaders claim that the temporary restraining order “intrudes on the core exercise of a co-equal branch’s authority” and that “disregard for separation of powers in this instance threatens to erode the structural protections that fortify the judicial and executive branches against undue incursion by the General Assembly.” WSMV has more on their arguments.

Lawmakers will return for a second week of the special session after the state Senate met briefly as a full body today and then adjourned until Monday at 4 p.m. CDT, according to the Nashville Post. The House was scheduled to meet today at 3 p.m. CDT but was delayed by extended committee meetings. The leaders of the two chambers are seeking to reach a compromise on how many bills will be considered during the special session. The Senate yesterday passed four bills and closed its committees. House committees remain open. Yesterday, a bill that would have allowed more people to carry guns on school grounds failed on a tie vote in the House Education Administration Committee. Earlier in the day HB7064 had passed the House Civil Justice Committee. Local Memphis reports on that proposal.

The Tennessee Senate today passed three bills coming out of the Senate Judiciary Committee: a measure to remove sales tax on gun safes and provide free gun locks to Tennessee residents; a proposal to change the deadline for courts to submit records to the state background check database; and a bill to require the TBI to create an updated report on human trafficking. Additionally, the Tennessean reports that the Senate passed $16.3 million in bonus funding for mental health workers, $3 million for mental health scholarships and $10 million for a stop-gap measure to allow for more security officers in schools. Other bills, including a risk protection order proposal, a bill to arm teachers,  expanded funding and insurance coverage for mental health treatment, and a bill that would allow certain minors to be tried as adults for certain offenses that were passed by House committees, were tabled in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, also announced that Senate leadership plans to meet with House leaders to determine a path to adjourn the special session.

Earlier today, Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin issued a temporary restraining order against the Tennessee House of Representatives’ new rule barring signs in the galleries, the Tennessean reports. The order follows a lawsuit filed this morning by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee after three activists were removed by state troopers from a hearing on gun reform after being told to lower paper signs and not clap during the proceedings. A hearing on the temporary injunction is scheduled for Sept. 5.