TN Bill Prohibiting Unlawful Restrictions On Churches Awaits Senate Committee Approval (Update 3/17/22)
***Update 3/17/22 – The Senate Committee deferred action until March 22nd, 2022. The article has been updated to reflect this change.***
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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
A Tennessee bill that seeks to prohibit unlawful restrictions being placed on churches and religious organizations is set to be considered by the Senate State and Local Government Committee on March 22nd, 2022.
An amended version of the House Bill (HB1694) was recently passed by the Tennessee House of Representatives in a 73-19 vote with only the Democrats voting against.
The amendment to the bill removed the caveat that unlawful restrictions would be prohibited only during states of emergency, major disaster or natural disaster.
The bill now reads (in summary): HB1694 / SB1837 prohibits a state, a political subdivision of this state, or a public official from restricting the lawful operations of a church, temple, synagogue, mosque, or other place of worship for purposes of worship services.
This is the version of the bill (SB1837) that the Senate Committee will be discussing.
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The committee deferred action on the bill on February 22nd, March 1st, March 8th and March 15th and it has now been reset on the calendar to review the bill on March 22nd.
As with any bill in the Tennessee General Assembly, the bill must pass all subcommittees and committees in both the House and Senate, then receive the majority vote on the House and Senate floor and then be signed by the Governor before becoming law.
Note from the Tennessee Conservative: The Senate Committee still has the power to kill this bill before it reaches the Senate floor for a vote. If you support this bill, contact the Committee’s Republican members (who hold the supermajority vote) prior to their meeting on March 15th.
Senate State and Local Government Committee – Republican members:
Richard Briggs (Chair) – sen.richard.briggs@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1766
Todd Gardenhire (1st Vice-Chair) – sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-6682
Page Walley (2nd Vice-Chair) – sen.page-walley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2368
Ed Jackson – sen.ed.jackson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1810
Brian Kelsey – sen.brian.kelsey@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3036
Bill Powers – sen.bill.powers@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2374
Ken Yager – sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1449
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
