The Tennessee Democratic Party sent a fundraising email out shortly after the Tennessee House passed the redistricting proposals.
The email came from the Digital Director for the Tennessee Democratic Party, Cassie Jackson, and makes a monetary request for the stated purpose of funding a lawsuit to fight the new redistricting maps.
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President Donald Trump has offered an endorsement in race to represent Tennessee’s 5th District in Congress.
Former spokesperson for the United States Department of State, Morgan Ortagus, is reportedly weighing a run. Sources tell The Tennessee Star Ortagus moved to Tennessee after her service in the Trump administration
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The Tennessee State House approved their congressional and legislative redistricting proposals on Monday evening. The vote was 70-27, 70-26, and 70-26 on the house legislative district, senate legislative district, and congressional redistricting plans, respectively.
As has been a longstanding tradition in the Tennessee General Assembly, the House deferred to the the Senate’s plan on the new senate legislative district boundaries and the Senate is doing the same on the state house legislative district boundaries. The Senate approved the congressional and house legislative district proposals on January 20 and will vote on the house district boundaries on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.
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Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) announced on Tuesday that he will not seek reelection.
This comes in the wake of the Tennessee General Assembly’s passage of the new redistricting maps, which split Nashville amongst three congressional districts. Under the old maps, the city of Nashville comprises the bulk of the 5th Congressional District.
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A bill filed in the Tennessee State House criminalizing the online posting of false business reviews has received a sponsor in the state Senate.
Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-SD-28) filed the companion bill to HB1664, SB1832, on January 20, 2022.
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A Tennessee lawmaker has filed a bill that would allow certain Tennesseans to carry rifles or shotguns, not just handguns.
Representative Rusty Grills (R-Newbern-HD77) has filed a bill that “renames enhanced and concealed handgun carry permits as enhanced and concealed firearm carry permits and authorizes a permit holder to carry any firearms, rather than handguns, that the permit holder legally owns or possesses; expands the circumstances in which a permit holder may carry a firearm.”
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Two Tennessee Republican legislators have filed companion bills banning biological males from competing in women’s collegiate sports.
State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-SD28) and Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge-HD33) filed SB1862 and HB1894 on Thursday. Senator Hensley is a physician who achieved his M.D. at the University of Tennessee-Memphis.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that a $3.65 million dollar grant of federal dollars will fully fund a new traffic management center.
The $3.65 million dollars in federal funds comes from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program grant selected through the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT).
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Democrat Nashville lawmakers Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville-HD55) and Sen. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville-SD19) filed a bill that would change the start times of high schools and middle schools, ostensibly giving students more time to sleep.
HB1836 and SB1818 were filed on Wednesday and amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-3004, by adding “Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, each public high school shall begin classroom instruction no earlier than eight-thirty a.m. (8:30 a.m.). Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, each public middle school shall begin classroom instruction no earlier than eight o’clock a.m. (8:00 a.m.).” These changes would go into effect for the 2023-2024 school year.
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The Tennessee Senate passed their congressional redistricting plan, which splits up Nashville amongst three congressional districts as well as the senate legislative redistricting plan. Both plans passed the Tennessee Senate by a vote of 26-5.
Amendments were added to both plans, SB0781 and SB0780, providing more detail on the district lines.
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Nashville Metro Council met on Tuesday and took several actions. Metro Council passed their own redistricting plans for council and school board, in addition to passing a resolution urging the General Assembly to reject the proposed congressional redistricting plans that are heading to the House and Senate floors and continuing the legislative process on license plate readers.
BL2021-1052, an ordinance on third reading, is “An ordinance approving and adopting a plan for redistricting the Councilmanic Districts of The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and revising the school districts pursuant to Article 18, Section 18.06 of the Metropolitan Charter.” The list of the new boundaries and the maps were posted on the bill’s website.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper has announced additional funds are going to Nashville’s communities to “support grassroots violence reduction efforts” through his Community Safety Partnership program.
In a press release, Mayor Cooper said: “Community safety requires a community-wide effort,” Mayor Cooper said. “This work takes all of us, supporting one another and learning from each other. And it takes Metro government, championing that response and investing in the strategies that work best for our neighborhoods.”
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Wesley Somers of Hendersonville, was supposed to be sentenced Tuesday in federal court for his role in the Nashville courthouse fire but the sentencing was delayed for a second time, to February 22, 2022.
It was previously reported that Somers’ original sentencing date was December 1st, 2021, and had been moved to January 18th, 2022. The reasons for the second postponement to February 22, 2022 are now clear.
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Metro Nashville Council had their January 18 meeting where they passed a resolution urging the General Assembly to reject the proposed congressional maps that split Nashville amongst three congressional districts. It also considered issues like license plate readers, redistricting, board appointments, settlements for property damages, approval of grant applications, zoning, and other expenditures totaling millions of dollars.
Councilmembers Zulfat Suara and Ginny Welsch late filed a resolution “urging the Tennessee General Assembly to reject the redistricting plan splitting Davidson County into three congressional districts.” The Rules Committee had no objection to the inclusion of the resolution. The resolution passed by voice vote, with one no, and three abstentions. There was no major discussion on the resolution.
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The proposed new congressional redistricting plans have been voted out of their respective committees and are heading to the Senate and House floors.
Ultimate passage is considered likely.
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Wesley Somers, aged 26, of Hendersonville was supposed to be sentenced today in federal court for his role in the Nashville courthouse fire but the sentencing has been delayed for a second time.
Somers was originally supposed to be sentenced on December 1st, 2021 and it had been postponed to January 18th, 2022. The Clerk’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee told The Tennessee Star that Mr. Somers’ counsel made a motion to postpone, yet again. The new sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 22nd at 1pm.
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The congressional redistricting process continues to move forward through the Tennessee General Assembly.
The next stop in the state House is the State Government Committee and the next stop in the state Senate is the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both committees are set to meet Tuesday.
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Election season is heating up in Tennessee. The midterm congressional elections occur this year and the release of the proposed new maps has led to even more discussion about potential candidates and district races in Tennessee.
In addition to satisfying the federal and state requirements to run for public office, candidates seeking the Republican nomination in Tennessee must satisfy the Tennessee GOP’s governing criteria in order to qualify for the nomination contest.
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Metro Nashville Council has posted the agenda for the next meeting, which takes place on January 18.
Included in the agenda are board appointments, settlements for property damages, approval of grant applications, zoning, and other expenditures totaling millions of dollars.
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The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance fined Nashville Metro Councilmember Jonathan Hall to the tune of $360,000 at their meeting on Thursday.
The Registry found Councilmember Jonathan Hall guilty of campaign finance law violations related to his run for Council in 2018 and 2019. Councilmember Hall represents District One on the Metro Council which covers Bordeaux, parts of North Nashville, Whites Creek and Joelton.
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The Tennessee House Republican Leader has filed a bill lowering the handgun carry age from 21 to 18.
Tennessee House Republican Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland-HD44) filed HB1735 on Thursday, January 13th.
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The Tennessee Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Redistricting released their plans and maps for congressional and state senate redistricting.
The Senate version of congressional redistricting is substantially similar to the House plan, which was released on Wednesday. These plans split Nashville amongst three congressional districts. Under the current district lines, Nashville is in the 5th Congressional District and is represented by Congressman Jim Cooper. The current 5th District consists of all of Davidson and Dickson counties, and part of Cheatham County.
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Two Tennessee lawmakers are targeting organized street racing.
State Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis-HD97) and State Senator John Stevens (R-Huntingdon-SD24) have teamed up to introduce identical bills, HB1661 and SB1673. These bills create a new offense in the state code, aggravated reckless driving.
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The Tennessee State House Select Committee on Redistricting met on Wednesday, releasing the new plan for Congressional redistricting. The plan includes the proposed new maps, which are listed on the committee website.
Tennessee’s current delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has a partisan breakdown of seven Republicans and two Democrats. Democrat Congressman Jim Cooper’s 5th Congressional District and Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen’s 9th Congressional District currently center on Nashville and Memphis, respectively.
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Davidson County’s ten state representatives are back at the Capitol this week for the General Assembly session, joining it’s four state senators.
As previously reported, redistricting and education are pressing issues.
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The Metro Nashville School District and the State Department of Education is set to hold a town hall meeting Wednesday night at 6:30pm. Parents, students, teachers, and community members are encouraged to share their thoughts on state education funding. The meeting is scheduled to last an hour.
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The Tennessee General Assembly is now back in session, and redistricting and education among the most pressing issues the state’s “part time” lawmakers are set to address as they returned to the capital Tuesday.
According to the General Assembly website, “Session beings the second Tuesday in January at 12:00 Noon. There is no defined adjournment date. But, the General Assembly usually adjourns in mid April.”
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The second person to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from the May 30, 2020 Nashville Metro Courthouse fire will be sentenced on January 18, 2021. The first was Shelby Ligons, 22, of Nashville.
On May 31, 2020 Metro Nashville Police Department announced that Wesley Somers, aged 26, of Hendersonville, had been arrested “on charges of felony arson, vandalism, & disorderly conduct for setting fire to Nashville’s Historic Courthouse”. Somers was identified by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department – Specialized Investigation Division after receiving numerous tips from citizens who had seen videos from the incident.
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The Republican National Committee has narrowed the list of potential 2024 biennial presidential nominating convention host cities down to four.
According to Politico, Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Nashville have made the final four.
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A Tennessee legislator filed a bill which would criminalize the posting of false reviews about businesses on the internet.
If passed, the House Bill 1664 would classify those actions as Class B misdemeanors under the Tennessee Code. The maximum penalties for a Class B misdemeanor conviction in Tennessee are fines of up to $500, as much as 6 months in jail, or both.
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Tuesday’s Metro Council meeting featured dozens of agenda items in addition to the end of Nashville’s vehicle emissions program and the allocation of $3.15 million to the Metro Nashville Police Department for tasers.
In all, the Metro Nashville City Council addressed 84 items on the agenda published prior to the meeting. The municipal body dealt with issues ranging from children’s safety, building codes, and zoning to allocation of taxpayer funds, allocation of COVID-19 relief funds, the election of notaries, and more.
Six additional items totaling $16,500,000 in taxpayer funding was approved.
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Nashville is pursuing bids to host the Republican and Democrat presidential nominating conventions, at Governor Bill Lee’s request.
Mayor Cooper spokesperson Ben Eagles told Axios that economic interests will be at the forefront of the mayor’s mind.
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Metro Nashville is expanding COVID-19 testing hours, offering testing on the weekends for the month of January, starting Saturday.
Testing demand has been high. On Monday, nearly 1,300 individuals were tested at the Metro testing centers close to 1,600 were tested on Tuesday. That is only the number of people tested at Metro testing sites. It does not include people who get tested at other sites, like pharmacies, doctor’s offices, at home, or other places.
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Nashville Metro Council voted last night to give Metro Nashville Police Department $3.15 million dollars to fund the purchase of new tasers. That was far short of the $5.8 million that MPND had requested.
As previously reported, The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) had requested a budget for new tasers, stating that the tasers in current use are obsolete and are not reliable.
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It is now up to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether Nashville is violating the constitutional rights of homeowners by forcing them to pay for sidewalks in exchange for building permits. The 6th Circuit and other U.S. circuit courts are the second highest courts in the federal judicial system.
Nashville citizens Jason Mayes and Jim Knight have been engaged in an ongoing lawsuit with the city.
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Metro Nashville Public Schools said on Monday that shutting down in-person learning and switching the district to remote learning is “not an option”.
An email sent out to staff by MNPS stated, “So, to be clear, switching the district to remote learning during this wave is not an option, and closing schools is not an option without extending the school year into the summer”. This is in compliance with current state guidelines, individual classrooms or schools may temporarily switch to remote learning for up to seven days, school districts are not allowed to. The need must also be documented.
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Metro Nashville Council unanimously voted to end emissions testing in Davidson County.
In August of 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency greenlit the ending of vehicle emissions testing programs by approving a revision to the state’s air quality plan, clearing the way for Metro Council to hold this vote.
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