Senator Joey Hensley, MD

The 2nd session of the 113th General Assembly will be convening January 9, 2024. These are a few of the issues that were addressed in the first half to the 113th General Assembly.

Cracking down on TikTok use at Tennessee College Campuses - This law prohibits the Chinese-owned social media platforms TikTok and WeChat from being accessed on Tennessee public higher education institutions’ internet networks. The State of Tennessee and the Federal government have taken similar steps to mitigate the security risks of TikTok by prohibiting government internet networks and devices from supporting the social media app. These platforms pose serious national security risks to the United States.

Preventing sanctioned countries from buying real estate in Tennessee - This law prevents foreign governments, businesses and non-US citizens from the 38 countries on the U.S Department of Treasury’s sanctions list in addition to China from purchasing or acquiring real estate in Tennessee. There are currently 38 countries on the sanctions list, but China was added to the list of countries in the law that passed this year.

Prohibiting Chinese Surveillance - The General Assembly passed a law that prohibits law enforcement agencies from purchasing drones from corporations or entities which are banned under the National Defense Act of 2019. Those include drones made in China, Russia or other adversarial countries. Agencies are not required to replace existing equipment and can still use any drones they currently have. Any new devices must be purchased in compliance with the new regulations.

Protecting Tennessee businesses from local minimum wage requirements - This law protects businesses and workers in Tennessee by prohibiting local governments from imposing requirements on an employer pertaining to hours worked, work scheduled or employee output during work hours. The law preempts local governments from imposing additional wage or employee benefit mandates on private employers. It also prohibits local governments from requiring a private business to pay an hourly rate above minimum wage as a condition of contracting with the local government or operating within the local government’s jurisdiction. Finally, the law prohibits a local government from giving preference to vendors, contractors, service providers or other parties doing business with a local government based on wages or the employee benefits they provide. Local governments still maintain the right to adopt policies for their own employees.

Extending COVID-19 liability protections indefinitely – The General Assembly made permanent certain laws passed during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect citizens from government overreach and provide businesses and health care providers with liability protections from health-related claims. By making these laws permanent, lawmakers ensure that state and local governments cannot require COVID-19 vaccine mandates and that statewide standards are met before local governments can issue mask mandates in public buildings and schools. Among other things, it also guarantees a person hospitalized can have a family member with them during their stay. The new law removes the termination date on these provisions of July 1, 2023.

Protecting parental rights regarding vaccines – This law, called the Mature Minor Doctrine Clarification Act, prohibits a healthcare provider from giving vaccinations to minors without parental consent. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health issued a memo to healthcare providers that cited the Mature Minor Doctrine for authority to provide COVID-19 vaccines to minors without parental consent. After lawmakers raised concerns with the newly authorized shots being given to children without parents’ knowledge or consent, the department reversed course. This law clarifies that the Mature Minor Doctrine does not allow vaccinations to be given to minors without consent from their parents.

Ensuring smart, financially responsible investment – This year, the General Assembly passed legislation to ensure that the state is only investing taxpayer funds into financially responsible companies. The new law specifically prohibits the Tennessee Treasurer from making investments based on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) ratings, which value companies based on their advancement of environmental and social causes unrelated to core business functions. The legislation will ensure Tennessee tax dollars are being invested to maximize investment returns rather than to push a public policy agenda.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor implemented the ESG rule, which allows retirement plan managers to make investment decisions based on ESG factors instead of focusing on financial ones. In response, Congress passed legislation that would nullify the department’s new rule, but President Biden vetoed that legislation. Tennessee is one of at least nine other states that have since prohibited or discouraged ESG investments, including Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky and Montana.

The Tennessee Monuments and Memorials Commission – This law creates the Tennessee Monuments and Memorials Commission. The commission will consist of nine members appointed by the Governor, Lt. Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The members will be responsible for waivers related to monuments and historical sites. The new commission will aid the Tennessee Historical Commission in its workload to help it run more efficiently.

Marriage – In addition to current and former state judges, a new law allows current and former county and municipal judges to solemnize marriages.

Biological sex clarified in law - A new law clarifies existing code so that all branches of government use the same definition of “sex”. In Tennessee code “sex” is defined as a person’s immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of their biological sex. According to the law, evidence of a person’s biological sex includes government-issued identification that accurately reflects a person’s sex listed on their original birth certificate.

Contact Senator Hensley at

425 5th Avenue North, Suite 746

Nashville TN 37243

615-741-3100

Toll Free 1-800-449-8366

ext. 13100

Fax 615-253-0231

855 Summertown Highway

Hohenwald TN 38462

Phone 931-796-2018

Cell Phone 931-212-8823

E-mail:

[email protected]