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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
With the Tennessee General Assembly set to reconvene in less than a month, bills are stacking up as lawmakers make their pitches for 2026, with the technology & AI industry, public safety, government accountability, and other topics seeing some interesting proposals.
Technology & AI:
HB1455– Would create a Class A felony for training artificial intelligence to encourage suicide or homicide or promote the creation of emotional relationships with the technology. Filed by Republican Mary Littleton.
SB1469– Prohibiting minors under 14 from sharing video content on an online platform for compensation. Would also require a parent or any other adult who features a minor in an online video for compensation to set aside a specified amount of the earnings in a trust for the minor and allows an adult who was a minor featured in such video content shared by other adults to request permanent deletion of the video. Filed by Republican Page Walley.
SB1481– Establish regulations for electric vehicle charging stations, including a new licensing requirement, imposing an electricity tax, and a monthly report of the amount of power a provider sold. Filed by Republican Page Walley.
Public Safety:
SB1464– Criminalize doxing of immigration enforcement officers. Would seek to make certain immigration enforcement actions confidential and not subject to public disclosure including sensitive information like names and addresses of officers and specific operational activities like dates, times, and strategies. Filed by Republican Jack Johnson and has picked up 14 Republican co-sponsors.
HB1441– Increase the penalty for criminal impersonation of a law enforcement officer from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony if the offense occurs while the defendant is committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence. Filed by Democrat Shaundelle Brooks.
HB1454– Expands the list of aggravating circumstances by which prosecutors may pursue the death penalty for those found guilty of child rape, including if the child was under 4 years old, the perpetrator was a registered sex offender at the time of the attack, incest, the incident was photographed or recorded, or the victim was tortured. Filed by Republican Greg Martin.
HB1459– Allowing police to impound drag racing vehicles in any municipality which passes a resolution or ordinance allowing a law enforcement officer to take and temporarily hold a vehicle involved in drag racing, with a maximum impoundment time of 5 days. Filed by Democrat John Ray Clemons.
HB1444– Increases penalty for aggravated cruelty to animals, adds aggravated cruelty as an offense for which a juvenile may be classified as a serious youthful offender. Filed by Republican John Gillespie.
Government Accountability:
SB1467– “Memphis Safe Task Force Accountability Act.” Will require district attorneys to certify to the U.S. Attorney and state legislature any downgraded charges or dismissals of charges that stem from Operation Viper or the Memphis Safe Task Force. Filed by Republican Brent Taylor.
SB1466– Authorizes recall elections for local elected officials including city and county mayors, sheriffs, trustees, registers, clerks, assessors of property, and school boards. Filed by Republican Brent Taylor, and the corresponding House Bill has been filed by Democrat Torrey Harris (HB1448).
HB1451– Requires each county to create a bi-partisan county ethics commission to provide guidance to county officials on their ethical duties, receive citizen ethics complaints, and investigate alleged ethical violations of a county official. Filed by Democrat G.A. Hardaway.
Food Freedom:
SB1471– Require retail food stores and food service establishments to provide notice to consumers whether fish is imported and whether it is farm-raised or wild fish. Filed by Republican Page Walley.
Reproductive Health:
HB1457- Expands definition of “disabled driver” to include pregnant women in their second or third trimester or those certified as a “high risk” pregnancy so they can be eligible for a handicap placard. Filed by Republican Gino Bulso.
*No legislation not filed for this topic yet, but one nonprofit is anticipating a challenge from conservative lawmakers to the controversial “Fertility and Contraceptive Protection Act” passed last year which allows for the indiscriminate creation and discarding of human embryos and undermines protections for the unborn.
Education: *No legislation has been officially filed on either of the topics below, but there is still plenty of time for lawmakers to submit their proposals on education-related (or other) measures.
Republican leadership has signaled a desire to expand the Education Freedom Scholarships program (EFS) despite continued criticisms about a lack of transparency and inability to accurately account for funds.
Homeschooling may be a topic of discussion during the session, as advocates continue to press for more freedoms and homeschool rates continue to climb in the state.
On the flip side, one school director is pressuring lawmakers to consider a bill creating further restrictions on homeschoolers, claiming parents are using the alternative form of education to avoid truancy investigations.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Guess we’ll see how many good bills are killed again by lucifer’s accursed RINO committee heads.