Mayors of Shelby County, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga are calling on the legislature to pass a bill (HB1233/SB1029) that would impose penalties on gun owners who leave firearms in cars irresponsibly. It also would require owners to report the theft — which has resulted in a decrease in illegal gun movement in other states that require it. The bill makes it a misdemeanor criminal penalty for failing to safely store a gun or for failing to report a stolen gun to law enforcement.

Multiple Tennessee child advocacy experts say they are alarmed by a sudden move to dissolve an independent children's advocacy commission and distribute its responsibilities to other state agencies, reports the Tennessean. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, was set to present Senate Bill 282 on Wednesday to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, but the legislation, backed by Gov. Bill Lee's administration, was ultimately delayed to next week. The bill essentially strips any mentions of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth from state code. The commission released a report in January finding Tennessee foster kids experience the highest levels of instability in U.S. Nearly 34% of foster cases meet that definition in Tennessee, according to the report, more than double the overall U.S. national average of 14.9%.

The Associated Press reports that 18- to 20-year-olds in Tennessee may soon be able to carry handguns in public without a permit, with or without Gov. Bill Lee’s approval. After the law was passed in 2021 that allowed gun owners aged 21 and up to carry handguns in public without a permit, the Firearms Policy Coalition sued, arguing that the age limit should be lower. In late 2022, then-Attorney General Herbert Slatery moved to negotiate a settlement, citing 2022’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights. In January, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti proposed a deal that would allow 18- to 20-year-olds to carry handguns publicly. A judge put the arrangement on hold for a 30-day period that ends tomorrow.

Tennessee Right to Life is supporting a measure that would add two narrow exceptions to the state’s abortion law, WPLN reports. The group announced support for the change after working with legislators and doctors to craft new language that would allow doctors to terminate ectopic pregnancies and provide treatment for miscarriages. The exclusions are narrower than what was included in a bill that stalled last month.

Legislation to allow the public to understand how Tennessee buys lethal injection drugs is floundering as the state correction department lobbies against it behind the scenes, Tennessee Lookout reports. HB870 would remove an exemption in Tennessee public record law, which allows the state to hide how it procures drugs for lethal injection. The exemption allows the state to protect the names of pharmacists and the manufacturers of the drug cocktail used in implementing capital punishment. The bill comes on the heels of intense public scrutiny over Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol. Last year, the state halted executions because it failed to appropriately test the execution drugs.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee was scheduled to consider legislation today that would dissolve the independent Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth. State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who sponsored the bill, said it would distribute the responsibilities of the commission to other parts of the government. SB282/HB330 is sponsored in the House by Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, but has not yet been scheduled. Gov. Bill Lee supports the move, saying reorganization will “better serve Tennessee children by incorporating important services within child and family-serving state agencies, which includes DCS.” Opponents say the change would damage an already unstable child welfare system, Tennessee Lookout reports.

After three teens escaped Saturday from the Wilder Youth Development Center in Fayette County, lawmakers and juvenile justice reform advocates are calling for changes. This latest escape comes after more than a dozen residents have broken free in recent years. "There's a lot of work that needs to be done," said Tennessee Rep. Torrey Harris, D-Memphis, who toured the facility last year. Harris said the building felt more like a prison rather than a place to rehabilitate young people. Johnnie Hatten, an investigator with Disability Rights Tennessee — which published a critical report about the facility last year — said the facility needs additional and more attentive staff. They did not even know the kids were gone until the police called, she tells Local Memphis.

The Tennessee legislature took the first step toward rejecting $1.8 billion in federal funding for K-12 education yesterday as members of a House panel approved creating a task force to determine the process for rejecting the money. If ultimately adopted, Tennessee would be the first state to reject federal funding that supports education programs, Main Street Media reports. The proposal is backed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, who has said federal funds are accompanied by federal mandates that can hinder the quality of the state’s education system. HB1249/SB1507 now advances to the full House Education Committee. The Senate Education Committee considered the bill today.

A bill that would have ended permitless carry in Nashville and Memphis failed in the legislature, WKRN reports. Lawmakers leading the effort said it was a way to address the “out of control” gun violence in Tennessee’s urban communities and would reinstate the previous carry regulations. Senator London Lamar, D-Memphis, said the previous legislation had stricter regulations, background checks and gun safety education. “I’m not against anybody using a gun, I own a gun, but I went through the class and I demonstrated that I know how to use it,” Lamar said. “It wasn’t hard.” Opponents said they didn’t think the measure would help fix the problem of gun violence.

Transgender people in Tennessee would be prevented from changing their driver’s licenses and birth certificates under legislation approved on Monday by the Republican senators, WSMV reports. The legislation, which still must clear the House chamber, would define male and female in state law and base people’s legal gender identities on their anatomy at birth. Legislative officials have warned that enacting the bill could cost the state millions in federal funding because the definition conflicts with federal rules.