A special session of the General Assembly of Tennessee that begins on Monday reflects the way in which the aggressive conservative agenda of President Trump is already encouraging Republicans to pursue their priorities at the state level.
Governor Bill Lee has proposed new measures to harden the application of the Immigration Law, including the creation of a position in the state government that would be directly coordinated with the application policies of the Trump administration law.
And has asked the legislators to review their plans to expand the use of public funds for private schools throughout the State.
What happens next in Tennessee can indicate to what extent the states led by conservatives will carry out the broader political agenda of Trump. The ordinary legislative sessions of many states are just beginning.
Republican supermayories, particularly in the south, have spent years relying on a litany of conservative policies. The administration biden often condemned their decisions or challenged them in court, but it is much more likely that the Trump administration is on the same page as them.
“During the Biden administration, the red state legislatures felt frustrated with what they saw or did not do the Biden administration,” said David Shonerd, senior director of state operations of Multistate, a signature of relations with state and local governments. “Now they have a willing and excited partner.”
He added: “They can go further if necessary.”
Lee also asked the Tennessee Legislature to address a third topic in the special session: disaster aid for communities in the eastern corner of the State, which were devastated at the end of last year by floods caused by the remains of rain of the rain of the rain of Hurricane Helene. Supporters say that using a special session to address the three issues is a way to accelerate high priority legislation by limiting what can be discussed.
“People are going to complain about anything, be it the optics or whatever, so that is just a part,” said President Cameron Sexton, a Republican. He added that “it allows us to focus on a few issues in a very short period of time and really immerse ourselves and explore those issues.”
Mr. Trump has asked other governors to follow their example on the orientation of immigration policy. Governor Ron Desantis de Florida has already summoned state legislators to a special session that begins on Monday. He asked them to consider legislation that would expand the power of local officials to stop and deport people in the country illegally. Legislative leaders said they would consider only some of the governor’s proposals.
Individual state legislators have presented their own proposals to advance Trump’s repression against undocumented immigrants. In South Carolina, state legislators are Promote the requirements for certain hospitals. to report data on the immigration status of your patients. Legislators from Georgia and Tennessee have requested more sanctions for local cities and governments that challenge state prohibitions of being a “sanctuary” jurisdiction.
A bill presented at Mississippi last week Create a hunting program with a $ 1,000 reward. In Tennessee, A bill would charge undocumented students. to attend public schools.
It is too early to say which of the bills will have the possibility of becoming law.
In Tennessee, Lee has supported the creation of what he described as a new head of immigration control for the State. He has also supported bills that would penalize local officials even more to cities that would not cooperate unconditionally with the application of immigration laws. Legislators can also present other bills on the subject.
“We are seeing that the governor aligns with Trump’s narrow and myopic vision about what it means to belong to this country,” said Judith Clerjeune, director of Defense of the Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants and Refugees of Tennessee. He added: “It is absurd to use local funds to prosecute immigrant families.”
Democrats, who are widely opposed to such policies, have accused Lee of playing politics with hurricane help by combining it in the same special session with the most divisive proposals on immigration and school vouchers. Although they are treated in separate bills in the Tennessee session, some legislators in other states and in Congress have been increasingly trying to link a crucial emergency aid to obtain changes in partisan policies.
“Providing very necessary help and financial relief to the families and communities of Tennessee devastated by the floods of September should be our unique approach and priority during this special session,” said state representative John Ray Clemmons, president of the Democratic group.
But as Republicans control a supermayoria, there is usually little need for democratic support to approve laws.
The approval of the long -standing ambitions of Mr. Lee of a program of school vouchers at the state level is perhaps the most dim of the three policy elements. Mr. Lee’s office has highlighted the support of Several mayors of the east of TennesseeBut some state school boards have voted in favor Publicly oppose the plan.
Conservative activists have worked to finance vouchers and raise the elected officials to support them. Republicans promoted a pilot version for the largest counties of Tennessee in 2019, despite concerns about undermining public education. But a strongly financed effort to spend millions of dollars in a state plan so far has failed to overcome the objections of rural conservatives that protect their local public school districts.
After failing last year, Lee said he would press legislators to resume the issue. The perspectives of approval of his proposal this year have been promoted in part by Trump, who has repeatedly said he is in favor of the creation of a federal school choice program. Trump recently appointed Penny Schwinn, a former education commissioner of the State of Tennessee who supervised the initial stages of the State Vales Program, to work in the United States Department of Education.
In the days before the special session, the Republicans circulated enthusiastic bond plan, including one of the America First Policy Institute, a deeply involved right group in the drafting of the Trump administration’s political agenda. However, it is not yet clear if that support will be sufficient to approve legislation.
“The fact that President Trump is in favor of school election has really helped us,” said Sexton.
The proposal would initially assign around $ 7,000 in money for scholarships per year to each of the 20,000 students, approximately half of whom would be students with disabilities or students of families well below the income threshold to qualify for free school lunches or price reduced. In the following years thousands of more students would be added. It would also provide a unique $ 2,000 bonus for public school teachers who are teaching this school year.
Dana Goldstein and Patricia Mazzei contributed reports.
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