STUDENT ART EXHIBITION
FATHER RYAN WRESTLING
FEBRUARY 6, 2025 | VOLUME 37 | NUMBER 4
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Anti-voucher protesters outside of Cordell Hull
Gov. Bill Lee and Republican state leadership on the final day of special session
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
Vouchers, immigration and disaster relief pass during special session
A bird’s-eye view of the bills legislators passed to kick off the 114th General Assembly NICOLLE S. PRAINO A lot happened in just four days as the 114th General Assembly convened for a special session called by Gov. Bill Lee: The legislature sent seven pieces of legislation through committees and brought them to a vote on the floor. By the end of the week, Lee and his fellow Republican leaders in the House and Senate celebrated a win for their agendas on education and immigration enforcement, while also toutingsuccess for passing much-needed relief for disasterstricken East Tennessee. IMMIGRATION In a press conference after the special
session, Lee echoed a talking point of Republicans nationwide that the election of President Donald Trump was “a mandate to secure the border.” He added that with this legislation in Tennessee, the state will be able to “assist the president in his further agenda for public safety.” The bill creates the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division within the Department of Safety to be led by a chief immigration enforcement officer who will be appointed by the governor. That person, along with the state’s commissioner of safety (Jeff Long, former Williamson County sheriff), is tasked by the bill to work
on an agreement for enforcement of federal immigration law with the U.S. attorney general. The new department will cost the state $563,651 to create. That amount includes salaries and benefits for the chief officer (who receives the largest amount at $231,401) and three other staff members. The bill also creates a class-E felony for local officials who vote to adopt a sanctuary city policy. The state attorney general can issue an order to comply with the law, and if a local official does not, the AG can remove that official from office. That part of the bill has already received backlash from the ACLU of Tennessee, which issued a press release
calling the legislation unconstitutional and noting plans to challenge the law in court. “This is a gross escalation, criminalizing votes and speeches that members of a legislative body make on the floor,” Metro Nashville’s legal director Wally Dietz told reporters last week. “This is a very dangerous step they have taken. We cautioned against it. Their own lawyers cautioned them against it. It is a dramatic escalation.” “Nobody up here wants to be overly alarmist,” Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said of the bill. “But when you see people who have power decide that the rules don’t apply, decide that the laws don’t apply, >> PAGE 4
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