According to a spokesperson, Gov. Bill Lee intends to sign a bill banning gender-related medical treatments for minors, WATE reports. The legislation, HB1/SB1, passed the House in a 77–16 vote Thursday, with three Democrats joining Republicans in voting for the bill. The Senate passed it the week before. The legislation would prohibit surgeries, puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender youth beginning July 1. Treatments that began before then would have to conclude by March 31, 2024. Medical providers who violate the ban could face fines and lose their license to practice.

TBA’s Legislative Updates podcast is new with TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Ashley Harbin. Schwarz and Harbin discuss HB40/SB122, legislation prohibiting foreign ownership of real property by nonresident aliens; HB316/SB268, the Money Transmission Modernization Act; HB337/SB489, legislation amending the Small Estate Act; and HB795/SB283, legislation allowing people to bring guns in the buildings where judicial proceedings are held, but not in the courtroom. Legislative Updates airs each week on the TBA’s Facebook page. It is also released as a podcast on the same day and can be found on the TBA’s website or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Tennessee legislators have introduced bills that would restrict the use of trotlines in Tennessee waterways. Senate Bill 1308 is sponsored by Sen. Paul Bailey (R, Dist. 15) and the corresponding House Bill 1260 is sponsored by Rep. Paul Sherrell (R, District 43). Members of the American Canoe Association said such legislation was likely after the Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission (TFWC) failed to take action on their requests recently. NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga explains that trotlines are long lines, placed under water containing multiple hooks, that fishermen use most often for catching catfish. Some water sport enthusiasts say trotlines that stretch across creeks and streams represent a safety hazard for canoers and kayakers. 

Sen. Page Walley, R-Savannah, and Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, have introduced the Tennessee Safe Crime Reporting Law that would prevent victims of trafficking from arrest on prostitution charges or simply reporting a crime and increase criminal penalties for those patronizing prostitutes. The measure is designed to overcome longstanding mistrust between trafficking victims and law enforcement, which not only puts victims in danger but hinders broader public safety efforts, advocates say. “It creates a bridge,” said Alisa Bernard, policy director of the Nashville nonprofit Thistle Farms, which brought the measure before lawmakers. “If, for example, someone sees a child being trafficked they can report that to police” without fear of their own arrest. Historically the law has treated trafficking victims forced into prostitution as offenders, “when they’re almost always a victim who has been fraudulently enticed or forced into that life,” Ragan said in a statement. The Tennessee Lookout has the full story.

More than 30 nonprofit leaders and Nashville-area business executives are appealing to the state legislature to stop pursuing legislation that targets Nashville and to reset the "increasingly adversarial relationship" with Metro. The Nashville Business Journal reports that the group warns in a Feb. 22 letter that a half-dozen bills being debated in the Republican-controlled General Assembly will undercut Nashville's growing economy while igniting "legal and governmental chaos." Much of the proposed legislation is widely seen as retaliation in response to Metro Council's vote last summer to reject a proposed bid to host the next Republican National Convention. The legislation includes bills to cut the Metro Council in half to 20 seats (a move recently rejected by Nashville voters), revoking the tax revenue that funds the Music City Center and creating new oversight boards for the Nashville International Airport and Metro’s Sports Authority with seats filled by state officials.

A group of Nashville business and civic leaders asked top Republican lawmakers yesterday to back off legislation targeting the capital city, Axios reports. In a joint letter addressed to House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, 35 prominent Nashvillians said the adversarial relationship between Metro and the state "will lead to significant harm" to Nashville. Judge Sheila Calloway, attorney Charles Robert Bone, nonprofit executive Hal Cato and attorney Aubrey Harwell are among those who co-signed the letter. Read the full letter here.

Legislation that would effectively ban transgender health care in the state has now passed both the House and Senate and is on its way to the governor’s desk, the Tennessean reports. The bill, HB1/SB1, passed the House today by a vote of 77-16. It had passed the Senate earlier this month. Under the legislation, doctors can be held liable for providing transgender related health care such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries to minors. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee announced several weeks ago that it would challenge the legislation if it became law. Read today's statement. Also today, the House approved legislation that would prohibit "adult-oriented" entertainment from public property and restrict it to age-restricted venues. According to the Tennessean, the bill classifies "male and female impersonators" as adult cabaret performers and bans "adult-oriented performances that are harmful to minors," as defined in the state’s obscenity law. The state Senate had previously approved a slightly different version so the House-passed bill will next go to the Senate for its consideration.

Tennessee Right to Life continues to oppose legislation that would stop the “criminalization” of doctors who perform abortions to save the life of the mother despite a number of proposed changes to the bill, Tennessee Lookout reports. An amendment to the bill, negotiated with the group, changes all references to doctors making “good-faith” judgments in deciding when to terminate a pregnancy to “reasonable.” It also would remove the “medical emergency” standard as one of the conditions that would justify an abortion. Doctors, who packed the House Health Committee this week, oppose the changes saying they could increase their legal exposure. They want to return to the bill’s original language. Tennessee Right to Life says it will continue to oppose the bill even with the changes.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper sent the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) similar letters of intent to move forward in the bidding and hosting process for the 2028 conventions, the Nashville Business Journal reports. The letters are not binding and require the Metro Council to approve any agreement. The council declined to pursue a bid to host a political convention in 2024 citing concerns over logistics and safety. In response, a number of Republican members of the state legislature introduced bills targeting the city’s autonomy. Proposals included defunding the convention center, giving the state control over the airport and sports authorities, and cutting the number of council members, the Tennessean reports. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, recently suggested that lawmakers might pull back on these efforts if Cooper showed the city was open to an RNC bid.

A bill passed yesterday by the K-12 Subcommittee of the Education Administration Committee aims to shield educators who do not use the preferred pronoun of a student, WTVC reports. Under HB1269/SB0466, teachers or other public school employees would not be required to use a pronoun that is not consistent with the student's biological sex. Employees also would be insulated from civil liability and adverse employment action for their use of non-preferred pronouns.