tennessee legislature

A bill to allow very specific exceptions to Tennessee’s abortion ban passed a key House committee Wednesday.

Natural gas is “better than” coal. This refrain is a classic argument for the fossil fuel industry, and it is how Tennessee lawmakers are persuading the state legislature to rebrand natural gas as “clean energy.”

Tennessee has enacted more anti-LGBTQ laws than any other state, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The advocacy organization hosted a rally Thursday night in protest at one of downtown Nashville’s few remaining queer bars.

A drag show flyer, a lawsuit and a dramatic meeting at a city hall in Jackson, Tennessee, seem to be partially responsible for Tennessee’s drag show restrictions

Gov. Bill Lee has signed a bill banning drag shows in public spaces, a measure that will likely force drag shows underground in Tennessee.

Lethal injection for Tennessee’s death row inmates has been on pause since last April. In the meantime, one lawmaker is proposing the use of electric chairs and firing squads as alternatives. There’s an uproar, however, against an even harsher proposal. The Criminal Justice Committee, earlier this week, passed a measure to add alternative procedures for carrying out executions.

A student government organization at the University of Tennessee at Martin passed a resolution last week condemning two bills passed by the state legislature as racist.

Advocates are urging Tennessee lawmakers to enact protections through a bill introduced this year that would prevent victims of trafficking from arrest on prostitution charges for simply reporting a crime.

Forty-one states have legalized medical cannabis to some extent. Tennessee isn’t one of them. Lawmakers both Democratic and Republican have attempted to create a system for medical marijuana, but all have failed. Some are so against it they won’t even pose the question to their constituents.

State lawmakers are defending themselves against attacks from anti-abortion groups accusing them of trying to derail Tennessee’s new restrictions.