Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature adjourned its monthslong lawmaking session on Tuesday by passing a final flurry of bills, including ones aimed at diversity, equity and inclusion in governments.
Lawmakers gave final approval to a bill that would ban local governments or higher education institutions from making employment decisions based on consideration of someone’s race, ethnicity, sex, age or other demographic information, rather other metrics such as merit, qualifications, veteran status or lawful eligibility criteria. They passed another bill Tuesday that would unravel offices and programs at various levels of state and local governments that promote DEI, and delete age, gender or race requirements on certain boards.
The Tennessee bills follow the lead of President Donald Trump’s administration, which has hinged the payout of some federal funding on the deletion of DEI considerations in both public and private organizations.
“We want to make sure that we are not discriminating when it comes delivering services to our constituents,” said Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, the bill’s sponsor.
Democratic Sen. Jeff Yarbro said the legislation goes further and erodes some provisions of civil rights law that have been in law for decades.
“This is a vast overreach and we shouldn’t be going after civil rights laws and pretending like we’re only going after DEI,” Yarbro said.
Some other prominent bills noticeably didn’t cross the finish line during the session that began in January.
One of them would have installed a state oversight board for Memphis’ public school district, but it got entangled in House and Senate differences.
Another that was sent to die off in a committee would have added restrictions for which bathrooms and similar private areas transgender people can use in correctional facilities, juvenile detention centers, public higher education institutions and domestic violence shelters.
And most notably, a proposal was halted that would have aimed to challenge the constitutional precedent for children to access a public education regardless of immigration status. The bill sponsor opted to ask for federal guidance on it.
Lawmakers passed several other bills that take a hard line on immigration this session, however, including one finalized Tuesday that makes it a crime for someone to intentionally transport, house or conceal someone they know is in the country illegally, if it is done for commercial advantage or private financial gain.
The last day of legislative action coincided with the start of jury selection for the criminal corruption trial of former House Speaker Glen Casada and his onetime top aide Cade Cothren, just a few blocks away from the Capitol in Nashville. Some lawmakers will be back downtown in the coming days or weeks to testify, some for federal prosecutors, others for the defense. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who has assisted federal authorities, is one of them.
The legislative year started with a sprint on the most contentious topic on lawmakers’ plates. In a special session over a matter of days, in January they approved the governor’s universal school voucher expansion program.
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