Two new candidates have emerged in state Senate District 19, the Nashville Post reports. Following Sen. Brenda Gilmore’s last-minute decision to retire and endorse attorney Keeda Haynes, the state’s anti-skulduggery law triggered an extended qualifying period, now set for April 28. This week, former Metro Councilmember Jerry Maynard and The Equity Alliance co-founder Charlane Oliver have picked up petitions seeking to qualify for the Democratic primary. Since leaving the council, Maynard has remained involved in local politics, including through his government relations company The Maynard Group. He also served as a fundraising liaison for Gilmore during her 2018 run for Senate. Oliver helped launch The Equity Alliance in 2016 to advocate for voting rights and other issues in local and statewide campaigns.

Senior Judge Thomas J. Wright on Monday ruled that the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance was guilty of “willfully” violating a court order barring the collection of registration fees from nonpartisan political action committees. The judge issued the injunction in 2018 after finding that the law requiring the fees was unconstitutional. He is now ordering the state agency to refund $64,000 in registration fees and threatening “coercive fines” if the agency fails to pay within 15 days, Tennessee Lookout reports. The nonpartisan political action committee Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws successfully challenged a state law that required nonpartisan PACs, but not partisan PACs, from paying a $100 registration fee. After the injunction, the agency stopped collecting the fees for more than two years but began again in January 2021 “apparently after some discussion with the Tennessee Attorney General’s office,” Wright said in his contempt order.

Legislation that would make camping on public property a misdemeanor crime was yesterday cleared by the Tennessee House and now awaits Gov. Bill Lee’s signature. House Bill 978 would make camping on the shoulder, right-of-way, bridge, overpass or underpass of a state or interstate highway a misdemeanor offense, punishable by a $50 fine or community service. Sponsors Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, claim their bill would be a useful tool law enforcement could use to address homelessness. “This is not mandatory, but just gives them the ability to do so,” Bailey said during a Senate session. Critics of the measure say it effectively criminalizes homelessness. Democrats and some Republicans opposed the legislation, which last week cleared the state Senate with a 22-10 vote and the House yesterday with a 57-28 vote. The Tennessean has the full story.

With most legislative committees now closed, budget negotiations are ongoing from last weekend, and the state budget is expected to be released as early as tomorrow. After meeting with and educating legislators and the administration through the entire legislative session on the need to reduce or repeal the professional privilege tax, the TBA applauded Governor Lee’s proposal to reduce the tax by $100 in the previously released budget amendment, and we have continued to reach out to the Governor and House and Senate leadership to keep that reduction in the budget that is currently being negotiated. There are over 22,956 attorneys licensed to practice law in Tennessee; all of whom must pay the $400 professional privilege tax, regardless of their income, employment status or whether practicing law is their main profession. Eighty two percent of the lawyers who pay the professional privilege tax are Tennessee residents. We agree with Governor Lee when in his 2020 State of the State address, he called this tax “arbitrary and unfair,” and we will continue to push legislators to at the very least reduce this discriminatory tax.  Please take a second right now and reach out to your legislators and ask them to make sure the final version of the state budget includes the provision to reduce or eliminate the professional privilege tax.

Additionally, as you know, the Department of Revenue sent out the annual notice to all attorneys that they must pay the professional privilege tax today (talk about crazy timing).  Unfortunately, any changes made by the legislature to the professional privilege tax will not go into effect until next year; therefore, all attorneys are required to pay the professional privilege tax this year.

State Sen. Brenda Gilmore, D-Nashville, yesterday announced her retirement and subsequent endorsement of Keeda Haynes for the District 19 seat she has held for one term. Haynes also announced her bid for the seat yesterday. The announcements fell on the final day to qualify for a state Senate primary race, raising questions of “skulduggery,” the Nashville Post reports. The state’s anti-skulduggery law prevents candidates from withdrawing at the last minute to help out a friend. The last-minute maneuvering could trigger an extended qualifying period for the seat, which represents North Nashville, parts of East Nashville and south to Antioch. Haynes, a former public defender, unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, in the Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional seat in 2020.

The Tennessee State House yesterday approved criminal penalties for anyone distributing abortion medication through telehealth or mail services, codifying the distribution as a Class E felony punishable by a fine up to $50,000. The bill, which now awaits a Senate vote, prohibits any dispensation of the abortion pill except prescribing done in person by a physician, the Tennessean reports. The bill comes in response to a decision by the federal Food and Drug Administration to remove in-person requirements on abortion medication due to access concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four years after the General Assembly passed legislation creating a cold case office to delve into decades-old civil rights crimes, the office opened its doors in the Cordell Hull Building. The Tennessee Civil Rights Crimes, Information, Reconciliation, and Research Center is to act as a clearinghouse for information, based on requests to open cold cases from the U.S. Department of Justice, district attorneys general and the public. The center also will conduct a statewide survey of civil rights crime cold cases and direct cases for prosecution. Read more about the center’s legislative history from Tennessee Lookout.

The bill putting residency requirements in place for most Congressional hopefuls became a law yesterday despite Gov. Bill Lee’s refusal to sign it, the Associated Press reports. Under the new law, U.S. House and Senate candidates must be Tennessee residents for at least three years and residents of the county they’ll represent for at least one. Lawmakers began seriously pursuing the measure after former President Donald Trump endorsed 5th District Congressional candidate Morgan Ortagus, who legislators pointed out is new to Nashville and Tennessee. But a spokesperson for Secretary of State Tre Hargett clarified that the “requirement does not apply retroactively” to anyone who qualified for the race by the April 7 deadline – which includes Ortagus. A lawsuit challenging the bill has already been filed by several Ortagus supporters. A spokesperson for Lee explained why the governor withheld his signature from the rule, saying he feels “voters are best able to determine who should represent them in Congress.”  

A new episode of the TBA Legislative Updates podcast is now streaming with TBA Public Policy & Government Affairs Director Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley. This week, Berkley and Brad discuss the Tennessee Supreme Court’s ruling on the Senate redistricting plan and the TBA’s probate bill (HB2359/SB1799) which just cleared the Senate, as well as providing an update on the professional privilege tax. To see a list of all of TBA’s bills, visit our online bill tracker. Legislative Updates airs every Thursday 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.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today vacated an injunction issued by a three-judge panel that prevented enforcement of a redistricting plan enacted by the General Assembly for state Senate districts. The lower court had issued the injunction after finding the map violated the state constitution. It gave the legislature 15 days to rectify the map and extended the filing deadline for Senate candidates. The state appealed to the Court of Appeals, but the Tennessee Supreme Court, on its own motion, granted appeal, saying the case raised issues of compelling public interest. Today the court said the lower court failed to “adequately consider the harm the injunction will have on the election officials and also failed to adequately consider the public interest in ensuring orderly elections and avoiding voter confusion.” The court vacated the injunction and set a new filing deadline of 4 p.m. tomorrow. Justice Sharon G. Lee dissented from the majority opinion.