The Times Free Press reports that around 350 Chattanooga residents demonstrated during a downtown rally in Miller Park Wednesday against bills that would ban public drag performances and transgender medical care for minors. The bills have had wide support in the Republican-dominated legislature and are making their way to Gov. Bill Lee's desk. Lee has supported the bills and said he plans to sign both.

Two people protesting LGBTQ-related legislation were briefly detained during an appearance by Gov. Bill Lee at a grand opening celebration in Memphis, the Commercial Appeal reports. Memphis police confirmed that both John Wilbanks and Brandy Pride were detained and issued misdemeanor citations in lieu of a physical arrest. Wilbanks is charged with disorderly conduct while Pride is charged with disorderly conduct and resisting official detention. Lee was in town for the opening of the Whitehaven YMCA.

A bill to move foreclosure advertisements from newspapers to the secretary of state's website is being pushed by the Tennessee Bankers Association, which says it will save money for homeowners and banks, the Tennessean reports. In opposition are press advocates and publishers, who say the change will financially decimate local newspapers that rely on ad revenue from notices. The Tennessee Press Association says it already pulls foreclosure ads, orders, ordinances, tax claims and other public notices from local papers and places them online. Learn more about SB1324.

A medical cannabis bill introduced by Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, failed on a nearly party-line vote yesterday in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Williamson Source reports. The bill, SB1104, would have established a framework for authorizing access to medical cannabis on a regulated basis for patients with qualifying medical conditions. It also would have established a licensing and regulatory process for those cultivating, producing, distributing, transporting, selling, and acquiring cannabis for medical use and research.

Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton said he plans to introduce legislation that would do away with federal funding for the state’s education system, WATE in Knoxville reports. The state receives $1.8 billion in funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The federal money covers many programs within the school systems. “This helps those who are most in need, the low socio-economic students, our students that need it for special ed,” says Tanya T. Coats, President of the Tennessee Education Association. Speaker Sexton said that Tennessee would replace those funds with state tax dollars, citing $3.2 billion in new spending outlined in Gov. Lee’s recent budget proposal as evidence that the state could cover the difference.

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.