Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson, announced yesterday that he will not run for reelection in 2022, the Nashville Post reports. “It’s hard to believe, but 10 years have passed since I first announced my candidacy in 2012, and it has been a lightning-fast decade,” Curcio wrote. Curcio, an insurance broker, represents District 69, which includes Hickman and parts of Maury and Dickson counties. He currently chairs the Criminal Justice Committee and has been vocal at the Capitol on criminal justice reform and changes to the state’s court system. “Serving in this capacity was a heck of a mountain to climb, and I now look forward to the next mountain,” he said. Democrat Valerie Sloan of Waynesboro is the only candidate to have registered with state regulators to run in the district.  

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance yesterday voted to send its investigation of former House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and former Casada chief of staff Cade Cothren to Williamson County prosecutors, the Tennessee Journal reports. The vote comes after former Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for her role in a political consulting kickback scheme in which Casada and Cothren are also implicated. The vote will also send the registry’s probe of the Faith Family Freedom Fund PAC to prosecutors. The PAC’s treasurer, a former girlfriend of Cothren, testified in January that she had created the group at Cothren’s behest, but had no further role in its activities. The PAC then lobbed attacks at former Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg, during his unsuccessful re-election bid in 2020. According to the Associated Press, Cothren has told the registry he’ll invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and won’t abide by a subpoena. Casada told the registry he was not involved with the PAC.  

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R- Oak Ridge, says he will not support a new anti-abortion bill because it would conflict with the state’s “heartbeat” abortion ban currently making its way through federal court, the Tennessean reports. The new measure, House Bill 2779, would ban almost all abortions, with no exceptions for rape or incest. It would also allow private citizens to bring civil action against abortion providers for “each abortion that the defendant performed.” McNally said the new bill could “complicate” the state’s current abortion law. Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, said the new legislation could “really upend the current tort system of law.” A House subcommittee has approved the new bill, and it will be heard by a full House committee next week. McNally says he hopes it will not advance in the Senate.

A bill that would require DNA proof of paternity before an unmarried man signs a child's birth certificate is making its way through the state legislature, News 5 reports. The bill, HB2698, is sponsored by Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis. It passed the House Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee yesterday and now heads to the Civil Justice Committee. The Senate version of the bill was scheduled for a floor vote today. Parkinson says the bill is necessary to protect those forced to pay child support after finding out a child they thought was their own was not. The Tennessee Department of Human Services has expressed concern that the proposal could affect compliance with federal regulations.

A bill to expand the federal E-Verify program in the state progressed in the Tennessee Senate yesterday as part of an effort to crack down on the employment of undocumented workers, Tennessee Lookout reports. The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee approved SB1780 after voting to increase the employee threshold. As introduced, the bill would have applied to businesses with 25 employees. The committee changed that to 35. Current law requires businesses with 50 employees or more to use E-Verify. The committee also voted to protect employers if an unauthorized employee applies for workers compensation due to an injury on the job. The state House approved its version of the bill earlier this month. Immigration advocates oppose the change, saying Tennessee already has one of the strictest E-verify laws in the nation.

The battle over the bust continues, Tennessee Lookout reports. Collierville resident Lee Miller, who claims family kinship to Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, says the bust should be moved from the Tennessee State Museum to a Maury County site where the remains of Forrest and his wife are now located (they recently were moved from a Memphis park). State Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, is sponsoring three bills dealing with relocation of the bust from the museum. She has postponed consideration of the measures due to opposition from the museum.

A proposed Tennessee ballot initiative that would have asked voters if the attorney general should be confirmed by state lawmakers instead of the state Supreme Court was defeated by the House Civil Justice Subcommittee yesterday without debate and on a voice vote. The proposal cleared required hurdles in the Senate but would have needed a two-thirds vote in the House if it had advanced through the subcommittee. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery opposed the measure saying the current system best supports the attorney general’s independence. He warned that the constitutional amendment would make the position a “political office.” The Herald Courier has the AP story.

The Tennessee House yesterday approved a bill that would implement residency requirements for all Republican or Democratic U.S. House or Senate candidates, the Associated Press reports. The legislation would require candidates be state residents for at least three years and residents of the county they would represent for at least one year – the same criteria imposed on state legislative candidates. The bill would only take effect after the November midterm and would not apply to incumbents. The state Senate last month passed a slightly different version of the bill, so both chambers must now decide on which version to adopt. It’s unclear if the legislation is legal under the U.S. Constitution, which says candidates be a citizen for at least seven years, at least 25 years old and an “inhabitant” of the state in which they want to be elected.

Two legislative staff members suspended since an FBI raid on the Cordell Hull Building in January 2021 now are being fired, Tennessee Lookout reports. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton confirmed yesterday that Nadine Korby, who worked in Rep. Kent Calfee’s office, and Carol Simpson, who worked for former House Speaker Glen Casada, will no longer be employed. They had been suspended for the past 14 months. The move comes just days after former Rep. Robin Smith resigned from the House and pled guilty to federal wire fraud.

TBA Director of Public Policy & Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorneys and TBA lobbyists Brad Lampley and Ashley Harbin, tackle this week’s news from the General Assembly on the latest episode of the TBA’s Legislative Updates. This week the trio gives a progress report on TBA-backed legislation and much more. 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.