Tennessee House kills bill aimed at banning local reparations studies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Republican-dominated House of Representatives introduced latest laws on Wednesday that may prohibit local governments from paying for tuition or spending money on reparations for slavery.

The move marked a rare defeat for a GOP-backed proposal originally introduced nearly a yr ago. It was easily approved by the Republican-controlled Senate last April, but lawmakers ultimately stalled because the House was engulfed in controversy over the chamber’s expulsion of two Black Democratic lawmakers for participating in a pro-gun control protest. This protest followed the fatal shooting at an elementary school in Nashville.

Interest within the reparations bill resurfaced this yr as lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee were within the means of finalizing the removal and substitute of all board members of the state’s only historically publicly funded public university for Blacks, Tennessee State University. That has sparked more outrage amongst critics who say white GOP leaders in Tennessee have long distrusted black local leaders.

As the results of TSU intensified, House members appeared hesitant to carry a potentially explosive debate on compensation. The bill was briefly debated within the House of Representatives last week, but support remained unclear.

“The idea of ​​studying reparations doesn’t take anything away from you,” said Larry Miller, a black Memphis resident, during a temporary debate within the House of Representatives. “What’s inside you that lets you say, ‘Listen, we won’t study our history. We cannot even discuss our history, we won’t even study it with money from local taxes. It’s so outdated.

Ultimately, House leaders waited until the last week of the session to revisit this measure. But as Rep. John Ragan, the bill’s sponsor, moved to the front of the House to start his opening remarks, one other Republican demanded that the assembly “table” his proposal – which might effectively shut down the Legislature for the yr.

Nearly 30 Republicans joined House Democrats in filing the bill, including House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Before the vote, Ragan maintained that the bill was vital, arguing that reparations advocates desired to “take money out of our grandchildren’s pockets as a judgment for the actions of someone else’s great-great-grandfather.”

“Is it correct to say that all Americans today must bear the guilt of a small percentage of generations long past? NO. Punishing an innocent person for an act committed by another person is never appropriate,” Ragan said Wednesday.

Under House rules, no other lawmakers could speak through the vote.

“We decided to move on and do something else,” Sexton later told reporters. “You can always come back.”

Tennessee lawmakers began seriously considering banning reparations consideration only after the state’s most populous county, which incorporates Memphis, announced it will spend $5 million to check the feasibility of reparations for descendants of slaves and find “actionable items.”

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The decision by Shelby County leaders was prompted by the fatal beating of Tire Nichols by officers in January 2023.

However, the concept of ​​banning reparations has emerged in other states.

A Republican lawmaker from Florida proposed a constitutional amendment this yr that may prohibit state and local governments from paying damages, however the measure was not adopted. The Missouri Republican has introduced a bill that may prohibit any state or local government entity from spending money on compensation based on race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or economic class. This has not progressed up to now.

Meanwhile, other states, including California, New Jersey and Vermont, have eagerly moved to check reparations.