Gov. Bill Lee officially calls Tennessee lawmakers back for Aug. 21 special session

Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday officially called the Tennessee General Assembly back for a special session sparked by the deadly shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville.

The session follows the March 27 shooting, where three adults and three children were killed by a shooter who fired 126 rounds from semiautomatic rifle and 26 rounds from a handgun in a matter of minutes inside the Green Hills school.

Legislators will return to the Capitol on Aug. 21 under a call from Lee to address mental health and some criminal justice issues. The governor's proclamation only mentions firearms briefly.

Lee will not push for an extreme risk order in his administrative bill package, despite his insistence over the summer that he would pursue the legislation. The session's parameters would allow a lawmaker to pitch a similar proposal, though it would face an uphill battle to passage.

The official proclamation sets the legal parameters for what lawmakers can consider in the session, which is expected to last around a week but could go longer.

Mental health major theme of Lee's legislative package

Lee pledged to specifically support mental health reforms, a mental health coverage waiver and promoting safe storage of firearms, though he is blocking any legislation that would implement penalties related to safe storage laws.

“As our nation faces evolving public safety threats, Tennessee remains vigilant and is taking continued action to protect communities while preserving the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” Lee said in a statement.

“In the months leading up to the public safety special session, we have listened to Tennesseans and worked with members of the General Assembly to identify thoughtful, practical measures to strengthen public safety across our state, including steps to support law enforcement, address mental health, prevent violent crime and stop human trafficking. I thank the General Assembly for its continued partnership and look forward to achieving meaningful results for Tennesseans.”

Lee's administrative package includes:

• Codifying his executive order dealing with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and background checks. The proposal requires reporting of accurate, complete and timely records from court clerks to the TBI within 72-hours and requires electronic submissions of dispositions and expungements to the TBI.

• A TennCare mental health coverage waiver to allow federal matching funds for Medicaid to cover mental health and substance abuse services;

• Budget initiatives prioritizing hiring and retaining mental health professionals in the state;

• Eliminating certain practice requirements for psychiatric nurse training to expand access to mental health treatment;

• Greenlighting DNA collection at the time of arrest for felony crimes;

• Directing TBI to report on the state of human trafficking in Tennessee;

• Eliminating taxes on firearm safes and other safe storage initiatives.

"The Governor has requested and informed the General Assembly of the call for special session on Aug. 21," House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said in a joint statement with House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, and House GOP Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby. "We look forward to the opportunity to strengthen public safety and mental health resources without infringing on the rights of law-abiding Tennesseans."

Democrats were quick to criticize the proposals and the topics included in the call for the special session.

House Minority Leader Karen Camper, D-Memphis, said she was disappointed with the exact scope of the special session. She said she was hoping for a "serious discussion about gun reform in Tennessee."

"The number of firearms in our state is staggering and has been since we passed the open carry and guns in trunks laws.  But simply focusing on safe storage alone does not truly solve the problems we face in this state and that our constituents were begging us to debate after the Covenant school shooting in Nashville and the Prive restaurant shooting in Memphis this past March," she said.

"The dangers that our families and schoolchildren face today frighten me, as they do most Tennesseans."

House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, said the governor "wilted in the face of the legislative supermajority."

"The winners here are special interests and extremist legislators holding our state hostage," he said in a statement. "The clear losers are Tennessee families and school children. The ire of Tennessee families who want and deserve substantive action and policies to better protect our children and neighborhoods from the looming threat of gun violence should be squarely aimed at the GOP supermajority and its leadership in both houses.  They have utterly failed our families. Our children deserve better."

Overall call broad, includes host of topics

The overall call for the special session includes only two items directly address firearms, with Lee specifically blocking any legislation that creates penalties for "failing to safely store firearms." Lawmakers can also consider temporary orders of protection, known as extreme risk proposals or red flag laws, a legal procedure to block dangerous persons from accessing firearms in emergency situations.

The 18 topics lawmakers can consider:

• Mental health resources, providers, commitments, or services;

• School safety plans or policies;

• Health care providers' duty to warn about potential violent offenses;

• Offenses of committing acts of mass violence or threatening to commit acts of mass violence;

• Reports from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation regarding human trafficking;

• Identification of individuals arrested for felonies;

• Law enforcement's access to criminal and juvenile records;

• Law enforcement's access to information about individuals who are subject to mental health commitment;

• Information about victims of violent offenses;

• Stalking offenses;

• Measures encouraging the safe storage of firearms, which do not include the creation of penalties for failing to to safely store firearms;

• Temporary mental health orders of protection, "which must be initiated by law enforcement," include a due process hearing and cannot permit ex parte orders, a proposal Lee previously pitched in April;

• Transfer of defendants 16 and older to courts with criminal jurisdiction;

• Limiting the circumstances in which juvenile records may be expunged;

• Blended sentencing juveniles;

• Offenses related to inducing or coercing a minor to commit an offense;

• The structure or operations of state or local courts;

• Appropriation authority to fund any special session legislation.

A group of lawmakers have met this summer behind closed doors to hash out potential legislation for the upcoming session and share feedback with Lee's leadership team, The Tennessean confirmed last month. Lee's office also solicited public feedback on gun reform and safety issues and has been meeting with lawmakers at the Executive Residence.

Among the thousands of submissions, the majority supported some form of additional gun safety legislation, mirroring polling trends that indicate bipartisan support for reforms.

Republican lawmakers have been vocally opposed to Lee's spring proposal for an extreme risk protection order. It's unclear if Lee will attempt to bring a similar proposal later this month amid continued pushback among his party and firearm-rights groups that encourage Lee to call off the special session altogether.

Lee first pitched his proposal in April, just a few weeks after the Covenant shooting as a direct response to the tragedy, saying "Tennesseans deserve a vote" on the policy, which would allow the courts to remove firearms from those considered a danger to themselves or others.

The governor committed repeatedly throughout the summer to push forward with the proposal, despite very little public support from members of his own party. Only seven lawmakers had publicly shared support for the bill. 

As recently as late July, Lee expressed hope that the bill would pass.

“You know, whenever you bring a piece of legislation, you certainly hope that it does,” Lee said. “But that’s up to the General Assembly.”

Republicans resistant to the measure say ERPOs, sometimes referred to as "red flag" laws, don't afford individuals due process, despite Lee's proposal outlining a full court hearing where an individual could get free legal representation.

Republicans have so far suggested proposals ranging from tax incentives for safe gun storage to the involuntary commitment of those facing mental health issues. Democrats, who will have no power under the GOP supermajority to pass contentious bills without bipartisan backing, have urged the governor to specifically focus the session on firearm issues.

Covenant families and connected advocates have also been lobbying lawmakers over the summer, with a number of grassroot community groups backing a combination of extreme risk, safe gun storage and additional background check laws.

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com and Vivian Jones at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gov. Bill Lee calls Tennessee special session for Aug. 21 after Covenant shooting