Legislation Opens Door For Non-U.S. Citizens To Receive Professional Licenses In TN

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

An amended bi-partisan caption bill in the Tennessee legislature seeks to open the door for non-U.S. citizens to be able to receive professional and commercial licenses.

When speaking of HB2309 on the House Floor prior to the vote on April 11th, bill sponsor Representative Bob Freeman (D-Nashville-District 56) read the bill’s purpose – “To be eligible for a professional or commercial license, an applicant must show that the applicant is either a United States citizen or authorized under federal law to work in the United States as verified by the SAVE program.”

The SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) program is an online service provided by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that allows federal, state, and local benefit-granting agencies to verify a benefit applicant’s immigration status or naturalized/derived citizenship.

Freeman stated that he had received questions from other members as to whether the legislation was an amnesty bill or a pathway to citizenship, and said “It does none of that.”

“This is simply allowing people that are legally within the United States, and legally authorized to work, the ability to get a professional license,” Freeman said.

The House bill’s amendment states verbatim “Authorizes an individual to apply for a professional license or a commercial license if such individual is authorized under federal law to work in the United States as verified by the federal Systematic Alien Verifications for Entitlements (SAVE) program.”

*** Click Here to Support Conservative Journalism in Tennessee. We can’t cover stories like this without your support!***

Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville-District 14 ) asked Freeman, “Those who are applying, are they legal under DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)?”

Freeman replied, “Some could definitely be legal under DACA.”

Zachary replied, “Because of that, I will not be supporting this bill.  Article 1, Section A of the Constitution is clear about the enumerated power of naturalization and immigration.  That power lies with Congress.  It does not lie with the Executive branch. DACA was instituted by President Obama, therefore, it makes it unconstitutional, which would then make them here illegally.”

Representative John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge-District 33) also voiced that he would not support the bill stating that these individuals should be seeking paths to citizenship.  

Bobbie Patray of The Tennessee Eagle Forum states that:

• the bill enables DACA grantees and individuals granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to get professional and commercial licenses. Both immigration categories allow recipients to stay in the U.S. with work authorization for a limited period of time, but whose immigration status remains ILLEGAL

• DACA grantees are only granted 2 years of “lawful presence” for purposes of deferred deportation because their immigration status remains illegal under the law; they are required to renew their DACA grant every two years

• Freeman admitted on the House floor that his bill applied to DACA grantees. However, he was mistaken when he told the members several times that DACA grantees are “legally and lawfully here” – DACA grantees are not LEGALLY in the U.S. or in Tennessee. Obama admitted that his DACA program was unconstitutional, since only Congress could change the immigration status of DACA grantees

• the bill allows for a professional license to continue regardless of the expiration of a person’s work authorization

• the bill would allow individuals who are not in the country legally, to obtain professional licenses in law enforcement and the legal profession absent licensing rules requiring U.S. citizenship or evidence of obtaining legal permanent residency (green card) status

• there is no bar in Tennessee which precludes issuing a law license to someone without legal immigration status; several other states have allowed illegal aliens with work authorization such as DACA grantees, to obtain a license to practice law

• the bill opens the door for renewed push for in-state tuition for individuals with illegal immigration status. A previous effort was made to remove in-state tuition from our state/public benefits statute which is the same premise as this bill which exempts the professional license from the state/public benefits statute

The vote was taken on the House floor with 56 votes in favor, 35 against and 3 present but not voting.

Republican Representatives voting in favor of the bill were: Rebecca Alexander, Charlie Baum, Clark Boyd, Rush Bricken, Kent Calfee, Michele Carringer, Glen Casada, John Crawford, Michael Curcio, Tandy Darby, Jeremy Faison, Andrew Farmer, John Gillespie, Curtis Halford, Patsy Hazlewood, Esther Helton, Gary Hicks, Tim Hicks, John Holsclaw, Bud Hulsey, Chris Hurt, Curtis Johnson, Eddie Mannis, Pat Marsh, Bob Ramsey, Iris Rudder, Mike Sparks, Ron Travis, Greg Vital, Todd Warner, Mark White, Sam Whitson, Ryan Williams and Dave Wright.

Republican Representatives voting against the bill were: Scotty Campbell, Dale Carr, Scott Cepicky, Mark Cochran, Clay Doggett, Rick Eldridge, Johnny Garrett, Rusty Grills, Mark Hall, Kirk Haston, David Hawk, Dan Howell, Kelly Keisling, Justin Lafferty, William Lamberth, Tom Leatherwood, Mary Littleton, Susan Lynn, Greg Martin, Debra Moody, Jerome Moon, Brandon Ogles, Dennis Powers, John Ragan, Jay Reedy, Lowell Russell, Jerry Sexton, Paul Sherrell, Bryan Terry, Chris Todd, Kevin Vaughan, Terri Lynn Weaver, Jason Zachary and Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Republican Representatives present and not voting were: David Byrd, Ron Gant and Tim Rudd.

On the Senate side, Senator Shane Reeves (R-District 14), sponsor of SB2464, indicated during a State and Local Government Committee meeting that the legislation is supported by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses,  Tennessee Alcohol and Beverage Commission, and Independent Colleges.

Reeves stated that the licenses the bill would apply to include electrician, plumber, nurse, and architect licenses, among others.

“This bill is doing what 17 other states have already done including Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi,” Reeves said.

All members of the Committee voted in favor of the bill.

The next step for Senate Bill 2464 is to be heard on the Senate floor today, April 14th, 2022.

You can find your Senator’s contact information HERE, if you wish to offer your support or opposition to this legislation.

As mentioned before, HB2309 & SB2464 were filed as caption bills with a summary vastly different from what the legislation was amended to be.

The original summary read – “State Government – As introduced, extends, from not less than 30 days to 45 days, the time before a department or agency of state government executes a state professional facilities management contract for services within a state legislative district that would result in the outsourcing of facilities management services to private, nonstate government entities, that the respective department or agency must notify each member of the general assembly representing such district of the contract. – Amends TCA Title 4.”

The amendments that made the bills were presented in committee meetings and, as with all caption bills, the summary of the legislation on the General Assembly website has not been updated.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com