The Tennessee General Assembly is advancing a bill that would bar the state’s Department of Child Services (DCS) from forcing ideology about gender and sexuality on prospective foster and adoptive parents.
SB 1738/HB 2169 passed through the House Children and Family Subcommittee on Wednesday after testimony and discussion.
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The Tennessee House of Representatives voted 70-24 on Monday to pass HB 1605, a bill prohibiting the displaying of certain flags on or in a public school, including LGBTQ pride flags.
The bill, introduced by State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) in November, now heads to the Senate.
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A Tennessee House staffer for Representative Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) was suspended from her position as an Executive Legislative Analyst until after the 2024 legislative session concludes.
The Tennessee General Assembly Director of Legislative Administration confirmed in a January 30 letter that the staffer “had an inappropriate confrontation with a Member of the House of Representatives” and “failed to maintain a satisfactory and harmonious working relationship” and disrupting work in the Tennessee House.
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Governor Bill Lee tapped former Representative John DeBerry (D-TN-Memphis) to join his Cabinet as a senior advisor. Lee’s announcement came shortly after DeBerry lost his re-election.
The governor appears to hold high regard for the former representative, though their party alignments differ.
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Incumbent John DeBerry lost Tennessee’s House District 90 to Democratic candidate Torrey Harris on Tuesday. DeBerry lost by nearly 55 points, or just over 11,000 votes.
Although DeBerry had served the office as a Democrat for the last 26 years, the Democratic Party removed him from the primary ballot over disagreements with his views on abortion and education.Â
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With three days until Election Day, voting turnouts far surpassed 2016 records for early voting. Turnout jumped from about 273,000 the first day to nearly 2.3 million in under two weeks.
These numbers represent over half of Tennessee’s registered voters. More ballots are still forthcoming.
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee Star’s Senior Reporter Laura Baigert to discuss state Representative John DeBerry’s new opponent Torrey Harris.
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State Rep. John DeBerry’s Democrat opponent in the November election condemned the long-time legislator’s vote for a bill that increased penalties for committing assault against a first responder or damaging public and private property.
DeBerry is running as an Independent in the November 3 general election for House District 90, having been ousted by the majority White Executive Committee from the Tennessee Democrat Party after serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives as an elected Democrat for nearly 26 years.
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