Legislation that would allow the state’s school voucher program to expand beyond Davidson and Shelby counties passed the Tennessee Senate last week, the Tennessean reports. Sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, SB12/HB433 expands the program to include school districts that have five schools identified in the bottom 10% of schools in the state. The law currently includes districts with 10 schools in the bottom 10%. Gardenhire said today he wanted to exclude Hamilton County from the program in 2019, but the county now has eight "failing" schools. "I want to give the parents and the students the opportunity to have a choice and not be trapped in failing schools," Gardenhire said.

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 HB176/SB124, which would require all documents recorded with the Register of Deeds to be in 12-point font size, and SB528/HB551, a measure that would make a variety of changes to adoption law. 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.

Plan now to take part in the Tennessee Bar Association’s TBA Day on the Hill on March 22. The event gives TBA members an opportunity to meet with their legislators and talk to them about issues important to the profession, such as the professional privilege tax and funding for indigent representation. Activities begin with a luncheon, followed by meetings with legislators in the afternoon, and the annual Big Shrimp legislative reception that night. Sign up now to take part.

A state House subcommittee yesterday approved a narrow exception to the Tennessee Human Life Protection Act, which took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Dobbs case. The amended bill, HB883, would clarify that termination of a pregnancy for the following reasons would not constitute a criminal abortion: medical emergencies, disposal of unimplanted fertilized eggs, removal of ectopic or molar pregnancies, medically futile pregnancies or lethal fetal anomalies. The state currently has no explicit exception in its abortion ban. Instead, the law allows doctors to argue that an abortion was medically necessary. The bill approved by the subcommittee would remove this “affirmative defense” language, WJHL reports.

The state Senate on Monday overwhelmingly passed a bill banning gender transition health care for minors in Tennessee, the Tennessean reports. SB1 bans minors in Tennessee from accessing gender dysphoria and transition treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies as well as surgeries. Those who received such treatments as minors also would be able to sue parents, guardians and physicians for authorizing that care. The legislation includes a 30-year statute of limitations. Ahead of the vote yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union threatened legal action if the bill becomes law.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessee legislature made it more difficult to sue hospitals and health care providers in cases related to COVID-19. Now, Republicans are proposing to make those temporary rules permanent, WPLN reports. The legislation also would make permanent previously enacted restrictions on mask and vaccine mandates. The Senate version of the measure, SB0011, passed that body yesterday.

A recent decision by Tennessee's attorney general could soon pave the way for 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds to carry a gun without undergoing background checks or training. State law allows permitless carry for adults aged 21 and over. Soon after the law passed, a lawsuit was filed alleging the exclusion of adults under 21 was unconstitutional. Last month, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sided with the plaintiffs and signed an agreement that would allow anyone 18 or older to carry without a license. While the judge in the case has not signed off on the proposed settlement, Republican leadership in the state House say they are moving forward with a bill on the issue soon, WPLN reports. Republican members of the General Assembly introduced a similar bill last year, but it failed to pass in the Senate.

The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Tennessee and Lambda Legal recently announced that it will bring immediate legal action against proposed restrictions on transgender youth health care should those restrictions become law. The groups specifically cite SB1/HB1, which would ban treatments for transgender youth under the age of 18. They argue these bills discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics and note that similar restrictions in Alabama and Arkansas have been enjoined by federal courts.

Tennessee Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, underwent emergency heart surgery on Friday, WSMV reports. A pacemaker was successfully installed. McNally had checked himself into Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Thursday due to an irregular heartbeat. He said he plans to return to his duties in the state legislature as soon as he is medically able.

It was a busy week for the General Assembly, Axios Nashville reports. Here are a few highlights. The full Senate passed a bill designed to regulate where drag performances can take place. The House version is still advancing through committees. Legislation to ban hormones and puberty blockers for minors cleared its last committee in the Senate. The measure is advancing in House committees, the Tennessean reports. A move to use TennCare to push insurance companies not to cover gender transition treatments also took shape. An effort to expand the state's education savings account program to include Hamilton County passed the Senate Education Committee, Tennessee Lookout reports. Finally, a bill was introduced to eliminate runoffs in local elections. The Nashville Scene has that story.