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.

State Rep. Ronnie Glynn will hold the first public town hall meeting of his term on the future of public education on Thursday from 5:30-7 p.m. CST at Burt-Cobb Recreation Center, the former site of historic Burt High School. During the forum, Rep. Glynn will discuss the three education-related bills he introduced upon entering office. MainStreet Clarksville has more information on the bills; participants are encouraged to RSVP for the event on Rep. Glynn’s Facebook page.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally is asking a federal judge to consider the life circumstances and young family of former state Sen. Brian Kelsey when determining the former lawmaker’s sentence in a federal campaign finance conspiracy, Mainstreet Nashville reports. Kelsey, 45, pleaded guilty to two campaign finance conspiracy charges last November, admitting he illegally shifted "soft money" from his state campaign to his federal campaign account during his unsuccessful 2016 bid for Congress. McNally is one of several people to submit letters in support of Kelsey to Judge Waverly Crenshaw for consideration ahead of sentencing.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has filed suit against former state senator Katrina Robinson to collect financial penalties stemming from failure to timely file financial disclosures, Tennessee Lookout reports. Court filings show the registry first assessed Robinson a $7,500 fine in August 2021 for failing to file the required early year-end supplemental campaign disclosure for 2020. In November 2021, the registry added a $10,000 fine after Robinson failed to submit a 2021 mid-year campaign finance disclosure. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office is prosecuting the case, which will be heard in Davidson County Chancery Court.

Lt. Governor Randy McNally returned to work yesterday after having heart surgery last week, NewsChannel 5 reports. McNally talked with the station, saying, "I'm doing great. I am just glad Sen. [Richard] Briggs told me to get to the hospital right away. He's a cardiovascular surgeon in addition to being one of our senate chairmen. I had the procedure done, woke up and felt 100% better." McNally had a pacemaker installed last week after experiencing an irregular heartbeat.

A bill that would allow voters to recall Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert more easily has cleared a state House subcommittee, the Daily Memphian reports.  The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, reduces the number of signatures needed to hold a recall election from 15% of registered county voters to 1%. White presented the bill last fall amid the controversy over a backlog of car titles and other work in Halbert’s office. Twice in a month, Halbert closed the office for a week to catch up on that work. She received harsh criticism after she vacationed to Jamaica during the first of those shutdowns. The measure cleared the House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee this week and goes next to the House Local Government Committee.