House protects Tennessee workers’ right to private votes
House Republicans last Thursday passed legislation ensuring Tennessee workers’ rights are protected by secret ballot in union-organizing elections.
House Bill 1342, sponsored by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, and State Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, prohibits an employer who accepts economic development incentives from Tennessee from disclosing an employee or subcontractor’s personal contact information to a labor organization without consent.
Tennesseans voted in 2022 to codify the right-to-work in the state constitution. This measure protects Tennessee workers from being fired for not joining or paying a union.
House Bill 1342 ensures taxpayer dollars are not used to support coercive union tactics like card check. The legislation protects workers’ right to a private ballot in union elections and respects their right to privacy at home when companies take taxpayer-funded economic incentives. The companion bill is currently advancing through the Senate.
Republicans protect foster children from abusive parents
Legislation to help further protect foster children from abusive parents was approved by the Tennessee House of Representatives.
House Bill 752 would make it a Class C misdemeanor for the first time a foster parent in a kinship placement allows a child to visit a parent despite a court order prohibiting the contact.
The fine for first-time offenses would be $50. Subsequent violations would result in a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
There are approximately 121 children in Tennessee who are currently in kinship foster care and have a visitation restriction in place against their parents, according to information from the Department of Children’s Services.
Law aims to minimize trauma for child victims of sexual assault
Both chambers of the General Assembly passed legislation that aims to minimize trauma for underage victims of sexual assault during the criminal justice process.
Current state law allows minors who have been sexually assaulted to be interviewed by trained professionals and recorded to for court proceedings. The law only allows these videos to be used in court for minors under the age of 13 and only for sexual offenses.
The law also adds an additional qualification for forensic interviewers that increases the credibility of forensic interviews and their admissibility in a court of law. The bill will prevent children from being further traumatized by being required to testify in court in front of their abuser. House Bill 557 now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature.
House passes zero tolerance for threatening school violence
The Tennessee House of Representatives approved legislation to enhance the punishment for students who threaten violence at school.
House Bill 340 expands what constitutes a zero-tolerance offense to include threatening mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity. A violation would result in a student being expelled from school for at least one calendar year.
It would be up to the local director of schools or the head of a charter school to determine whether the expelled student must attend an alternative school or virtual classes.
Other zero-tolerance offenses include bringing a firearm onto school property; committing aggravated assault or assault that results in bodily injury to a school employee; or is in unlawful possession of any drug, including any controlled substance, on school grounds or at a school-sponsored event. The companion version of the bill is still currently advancing through the Senate.
