2024 TN Legislative Scorecard

HB1605 would prohibit the display of any flag other than the United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag in public schools.

The Senate failed to pass HB1605 on April 23, 2024, by a vote of 13 to 6 (simple-majority vote of 17 needed). We have assigned pluses to the ayes because this bill would have rightfully banned the LGBTQ+ “Pride” flag from being displayed in government schools. Flags are age-old symbols of sovereignty, allegiance, and honor. Unlike the “Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands,” the rainbow-colored “Pride” flag represents the “abomination” of a rival global totalitarian movement and invading force that has openly mocked and declared war against the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” In Marxist fashion, it seeks to stake a territorial claim over all of society through a “long march through the institutions,” specifically by indoctrinating young students into “affirming” homosexuality and other forms of sexual perversion. Nevertheless, Americans have been warned that “Pride goes before destruction,” and “if we ever forget that we are one Nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” It explains why the U.S. Flag Code has always and only required that the U.S. flag should be displayed “daily” at “every public institution” across the country, including “during school days in or near every schoolhouse.”

HJR5 applies to Congress to “call a convention” under Article V of the U.S. Constitution for the purpose of proposing amendments that would set term limits on members of Congress.

The Senate passed HJR5 on April 11, 2024, by a vote of 18 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the noes because term limits conflict with the right of the American people to choose their representatives. Moreover, an Article V constitutional convention (Con-Con) ought to be resisted. Instead of failing to uphold their oath of office and attempting to rewrite the U.S. Constitution, legislators should act to immediately nullify all unconstitutional federal laws. Whenever the federal government assumes undelegated powers, in violation of the 10th Amendment, nullification of such acts is the proper remedy. Article V was designed to correct potential errors or defects in the Constitution, not to “misconstrue or abuse its powers.” The several States must use Article VI to enforce the Constitution, rather than use Article V to change it.

SB1505 would require the Department of Human Services to actively seek and apply for federal grants and other available federal funds for the purpose of alleviating “childhood hunger.”

The Senate failed to pass SB1505 on April 9, 2024, by a vote of 15 to 15. We have assigned pluses to the noes because feeding children is not the role of government—rather, it is the responsibility of parents or family members. There exists no “right to food” apart from a person working and earning it themselves or having received it privately and voluntarily from someone else. Taxation in the name of “social welfare” is neither just nor charitable. “Public assistance benefits” rely on the unconstitutional and discriminatory use of federal and state taxpayer money on behalf of some citizens (particularly those who have little or no tax liability) at the expense of others, resulting in more debt, dependency, and poverty. Nothing in Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution authorizes the spending of federal funds for such purposes.

  HB2124 directs local law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal officials in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States. The Senate passed HB2124 on March 25, 2024, by a vote of 26 to 7. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because persons who enter the United States illegally—which, by definition, is a crime—should not be permitted sanctuary in Tennessee, let alone be aided and abetted by local law enforcement officials. Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution clearly gives Congress power to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization.” Rather than pursue blatantly unconstitutional and anti-American policies that undermine the rule of law and erode the value of citizenship, each of the several States should exercise its sovereign powers under the 10th Amendment to end the illegal-migrant invasion and provide for the public safety.

SB2840 specifies that a court may order “reasonable visitation” to grandparents when it is in the “best interests of the child” if such visitation is opposed by the child’s custodial parent(s).

The Senate passed SB2840 on March 18, 2024, by a vote of 32 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the noes because final decision-making authority over the upbringing and care of a child belongs to the child’s parents—not their grandparents, the government, or anyone else. No law-abiding custodial parent should ever be compelled to relinquish their child under threat of the full weight and force of the judicial system. Opponents of traditional marriage and the family are also working tirelessly in each of the several States to proceed beyond “no-fault divorce” by advocating for “equal-shared parenting” and similar “best interests of the child” legislation that seeks to rewrite U.S. family law entirely, being modeled after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If these efforts are not defeated, they will have severe long-lasting consequences for parental rights in America. Tennessee officials must stand firm against this intrusion. Parental rights, as with all other fundamental rights, are protected by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment. Article VI, Section 2, of the Constitution notably requires that “Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”