NASHVILLE, Tenn. — State lawmakers returned to the legislature on Monday, after the Tennessee Senate adjourned on Thursday passing three bills on public safety. More than 50 others were tabled in a Senate committee leading up to the floor session.
The House of Representatives was set to return at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, and while they met Rep. Justin Jones (D - Nashville) was ruled out of order twice. He is a member of the "Tennessee Three." The second time, he was discussing HB 7023, which allows law enforcement agencies to assign officers to serve as school resource officers at a school.
He was discussing statistics surrounding the impact of school resource officers on minority students and students with disabilities. Speaker Cameron Sexton (R - Crossville) ruled that he was out of order, and the House moved to take a vote on whether to bar him from being recognized during debate or remarks for the rest of the day.
The House voted to silence him for the rest of the day. Since Jones was barred from being recognized, he also could not introduce bills or amendments for the rest of the day. The punishments for lawmakers increase each time they're ruled out of order. After the fourth time they are silenced, they can't be recognized for the rest of the session.
Lawmakers said Democratic lawmakers left the chamber after Jones was silenced. The chamber soon wrapped up after Democratic lawmakers left the chamber.
Rep. John Ragan (R - Oak Ridge) stopped the discussion about the ruling. The balcony, where members of the public gather, was also ruled out of order and was cleared by troopers. As people were made to leave, they chanted "fascists" at House members and chanted "vote them out."
Rep. Justin Pearson (D- Memphis), another member of the Tennessee Three, said Rep. Gino Bulso (R - Brentwood) was ruled out of order twice during the session. But Daniel Hucks, the assistant chief clerk, said the first ruling was just a warning.
Rep. Sexton also released a statement about the decision to silence Jones for the day. It is available below.
“The House rules were voted on by members at the start of special session and adopted by the legislative body. The body has the ability to affirm or deny the Speaker’s decision to rule Rep. Jones out of order. The body affirmed the Speaker’s decision”
HB 7023 passed, and so did several others. Bills that previously passed in the Senate which provide gun locks to Tennessee residents upon request and require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to submit a report on human trafficking crimes were passed in the House as well. Another administrative bill changing the timeframe for court clerks to make reports to the TBI also passed both the House and Senate.
A bill by Rep. Justin Zacahry (R - Knoxville) that requires mental health professionals to notify law enforcement or the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services if a patient makes specific threats against a person also passed. It was tabled in the Senate.
The House will reconvene on Tuesday.