Attorney Dwight E. Tarwater yesterday was officially confirmed by the General Assembly as the newest justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court. Justice-designate Tarwater was nominated by Gov. Bill Lee in January after a lengthy application process that included a public hearing. He will take the bench on Sept. 1, following the retirement of current Justice Sharon G. Lee. Justice-designate Tarwater served as general counsel to former Gov. Bill Haslam from 2014 to 2019, a position he accepted after decades of work as a trial and appellate attorney in Knoxville. Justice-designate Tarwater has served on the board of directors of Legal Aid of East Tennessee, the Volunteer Legal Assistance Program and the Pro Bono Project.

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, Brad Lampley. This week they discuss HB1162/SB775, the Tennessee Revised Uniform Arbitration Act; TBA's two adoption law bills, HB854/SB919 and HB855/SB921; HB647/SB1313, TBA's medical records bill; HB40/SB122, legislation prohibiting foreign ownership of real property by nonresident aliens; HB795/SB283 the "Guns in the Courthouse" bill; and HB1177/SB710, the Tennessee Domestic Relations Arbitration Act. The program airs each week during the session on 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. 

The Senate voted 23-7 today to give final approval to a measure capping local metropolitan governing bodies at 20 members and Gov. Bill Lee promptly signed it. The bill, HB48/SB87, had cleared the House yesterday. Its effect will be to cut the Nashville Metro Council from 40 members to 20. The law calls for new districts to be drawn in time for elections in August. If that is not possible then current council members’ terms would be extended by a year. Legal challenges to the new law are widely expected, the Tennessee Journal reports.

The Republican plan to cap local metropolitan governing bodies at 20 members cleared the full House on Monday and a key Senate committee yesterday, Axios Nashville reports. The bill, HB48/SB87, would have the effect of cutting the Nashville Metro Council in half. Nashville Mayor John Cooper wrote to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R- Oak Ridge, House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R- Crossville, and Gov. Bill Lee this week outlining his opposition to the plan. At a minimum, he is asking the leaders to give Davidson County voters the power to sign off on the proposal or defer the measure for one year. Under the current bill, new districts would need to be in place for the May 18 qualifying deadline and the election on Aug. 3. Cooper says there is not enough time to implement new districts by then.

The Tennessean reports that a Republican-backed proposal to rename of a portion of Nashville's Rep. John Lewis Way after former President Donald Trump is off the table. State Rep. Paul Sherrell, R-Sparta, who sponsored the bill along with state Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, withdrew the legislation on Monday night. The bill, HB1372/SB1407, drew outrage from Nashville leaders and residents. The Metro Council in 2020 renamed a section of Fifth Avenue after the civil rights activist and longtime Democratic member of Congress from Georgia. Lewis helped lead lunch counter sit-ins along the street during the early years of the civil rights movement.

The state legislature has discussed several bills and resolutions regarding firearms this week, reports WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News. HJR0131 would establish: “…the declared public policy of the State of Tennessee relative to the right of the citizens and those within the boundaries of this State to keep, bear and wear arms.” HJR0038 would amend the Tennessee Constitution, removing the part that “authorizes the legislature to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime and to clarify that citizens have a right to keep and bear arms for their defense, and not just for common defense.” HJR0080 would urge the attorney general and reporter to review “any newly passed federal statute, regulation or executive order that may affect the rights of Tennesseans to bear arms.” If passed, it would allow them to sue if found to be an infringement. HB1189 would add protections to manufactures, sellers and dealers of firearms.

Members of the Tennessee Black Caucus are calling on legislative leaders to take action against Rep. Paul Sherrell, R-Sparta, following his remarks at a committee hearing about new execution procedures. The House Criminal Justice Committee was considering a bill to allow for use of the electric chair and firing squads in state executions when Sherrell suggested another option. “Can I put an amendment on that that would include hanging by a tree also?” The comment went viral with some calling on Sherrell to resign and others calling for him to be removed from his committees. Rep. Sam McKenzie, D-Knoxville, chair of the Black Caucus, also said the Republican Caucus should speak up. Yesterday, two days after the comment, Sherrell read an apology during a House session, WPLN reports. Rep. McKenzie said in response, “We lived a 15-generation nightmare in this country … This situation is not over.” WKRN has his comments.

TBA is out with a new Legislative Updates podcast today with TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin. This week they discuss HB318/SB270, the most recent version of Gov. Bill Lee's adoption bill; HB854/SB919 and HB855/SB921, TBA's adoption bills; HB1071/SB1393, TBA's medical records bill; HB40/SB122, legislation prohibiting foreign ownership of real property by nonresident aliens; and HB795/SB283, the "Guns in the Courthouse" bill. Legislative Updates airs each week the legislature is in session on 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.

The AP reports that Tennessee Republican lawmakers yesterday advanced legislation that would prevent transgender people from changing their driver’s licenses and birth certificates, a move that officials warn could cost the state millions in federal funding. LGBTQ-rights advocates have long argued that having a driver’s license or birth certificate match a person’s identity is not only personally important but also beneficial to avoiding harassment. If enacted, the proposal would define male and female in state law and base people’s legal gender identities on their anatomy at birth. Legislative officials tasked with calculating the fiscal impact of bills have stated that the bill would likely open the state to “civil litigation and could jeopardize federal funding” because it could conflict with federal rules.

The Department of Children’s Services (DCS) commissioner gave an update to the legislature that showed improvements to the troubled system. Margie Quin went before the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee yesterday as part of the department’s budget request. Quin highlighted several ways that DCS has made changes already this year, and how more funding could help it continue that upward trajectory. “We’re not doing all that we want to be able to do,” Quin says. “And we’re here looking for a better solution.” She says one of the biggest victories is that kids are no longer sleeping in office buildings, except for in Shelby County. WPLN has the story.