No. 552: The show must go on

Good afternoon, everyone.

Last night, I recorded my weekly show, Office Hours, which included a rundown of the previous week's coverage, a conversation with Davidson County Republican Party chairman Lonnie Spivak, and a discussion with Jerod Hollyfield about his red flag piece. You can listen to the entire episode here.

About the time you get this email, Megan will be live on her weekly show Nashville Savvy. She'll get into the weeds about happenings during this week's special session. Today, I'll livetweet the House floor session via our Twitter account. 

And, finally, there is a mayoral debate tonight at 6:30 p.m. on Belmont's campus. We'll provide coverage of that in tomorrow's newsletter.

Onward.

↯ OFFICE HOURS, EP. 5

❏ SPECIAL SESSION: DAY THREE

Will only three public safety bills pass? If yesterday’s Senate floor session is any indication, yes. The body only passed three bills pertaining to safety on final reading, plus SB7089, which covers the tab of the special session. 

SB7086 would codify the governor’s Executive Order 100. This EO was established to streamline the Tennessee Instant Check System, ensuring up-to-date information for firearm background checks. This bill would require recent court rulings, arrests, and hospital discharges to be put into the system within 72 hours, making the information available to the TBI.

SB7085 would provide free firearm locks to Tennessee residents, require handgun safety courses to touch on storing firearms safely, and create a tax break on firearm safes and safety devices.

SB7088 would require the TBI to issue an annual report on human trafficking crimes and trends in the state, the first to be submitted by December.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

In order for a bill to be passed into law, identical copies of it—including added amendments— must make it through both the House and the Senate. As of this writing, the Senate has only passed the above bills. Therefore, unless something changes, they’re currently the only bills with a chance of making it through both chambers.

HIDDEN POWER STRUGGLES

During yesterday’s House’s Civil Justice Committee meeting, Lamberth alluded that “someone, somewhere” may be behind the Senate’s unwillingness to pass any bills beyond the three listed above:

So, there are 37 bills that are still moving through the House. Many of you that are here today… are advocating for several of those bills. Those bills are sponsored by members of the House and, as far as I’m concerned, every single one of [them] should continue moving forward. There are apparently only three that I have been told by someone in the Senate that someone, somewhere, decided that only three would move forward there. In my humble opinion, that is not acceptable. 

This morning, after being prodded by John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville), Lamberth broached the subject again. “The Senate has clearly indicated that they are not here to do the work,” he said during the House Government Operations Committee meeting.

AUTOPSY BILL MAY STILL BE IN PLAY

Among the bills the Senate tabled yesterday was SB7090, which would have allowed autopsy reports of child victims of violent crime to be blocked from public release. 

Its companion bill, HB7007, is still alive in the House and was discussed this morning during Government Operations Committee. Mary Joyce, a friend of the Scruggs family and Covenant parent Erin Kinney, testified on their behalf in support of the autopsy bill. According to Joyce,  the autopsies of the three children murdered in the Covenant shooting are currently being held by media outlets, and will be released if HB7007 goes unpassed. 

Leader Lamberth, a bill sponsor, called HB7007 a strong bipartisan bill meant to protect not just Covenant victims, but all victims: “There is no reason for people to want to look at these autopsies.” He referred to the notion of wanting to do so as a morbid curiosity. 

WILL THE SENATE ADD ANY MORE BILLS?

Though the Senate floor session was scheduled for 9 a.m., no one showed up. Since there was no quorum, Leader Randy McNally gaveled in and gaveled out. Instead, they met at 11 a.m.—but no new committee meetings have been added to the calendar.

This means that, for now, the Senate isn’t passing any more bills on final reading. Instead, there was a motion for the Senate to reconvene on Monday at 4 p.m., during which they’ll consider any amendments added to the House companion bills.

THE MORE YOU KNOW

HEADLINES

New York and California Each Lost $1 Trillion When Financial Firms Moved South (Bloomberg) From the start of 2020 through the end of March 2023, more than 370 investment companies — about 2.5% of the US total, and managing $2.7 trillion in assets — moved their headquarters to a new state.

International Market makes Southern Living’s best new restaurants list (NBJ) Patti and husband Win Myint opened the original International Market and Restaurant in 1975 and their traditional Thai steam table became a staple in the Belmont area until it closed in 2019. Their children, current owners Anna and Arnold Myint, reopened the longtime Nashville restaurant in February 2022 at 2013 Belmont Blvd.

Davidson County Judge Blocks Enforcement of Rule Prohibiting Paper Signs in House Gallery, Lobby During Special Session (Star) The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee on behalf of three Tennesseans escorted out of a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday for possessing paper signs advocating a political message.

DEVELOPMENT

• Developer Breaks Ground on 238-Unit Affordable Housing Community in East Nashville (Now Next)
• Developer Selects Local Hospitality Architect To Bring The Chole Nashville (Now Next)
• Malibu smoothie concept set for 12South (Post)
• Nations building set for two restaurants (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and our 2023 southern festival guide and 🎥 2023 movie guide.

TONIGHT

💃 México en el Corazón! @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7p, Info
+ Presented without the Nashville Symphony.

🎹 The Ivy @ Exit/ In, $15, 8p, Info
+ indie-synth

🎸 Ryan Scott (Album Release Show) @ Dee's Lounge, 8p, $10, Info
+ groovy guitar driven rock n roll

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
+ vet community here

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

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• ⛳️ The vagueness of red flag laws brings up several red flags of its own (Read)
• 🪧 What the new Transformers movie can tell us about the Hollywood strikes (Read)
• 🧠 The rise of mental illness as a trendy identity marker in America's social media era (Read)
• And check out our podcast, YouTube, and article archive for more.