The week in politics: Why Nashville's tourism agency is pushing for action on guns

Leaders of Nashville’s prolific tourism bureau are calling for legislative action in response to the attack at The Covenant School in March that left six dead, including three 9-year-old children.

Gov. Bill Lee has pledged to call the legislature back to Nashville in August for a special legislative session to address issues of public safety, while maintaining residents' Second Amendment rights.

The governor has said he plans to push forward with a proposal he unveiled days before the legislature adjourned to allow judges to order individuals' guns to be confiscated if they are found to be a risk to themselves or others — sometimes called "red flag" laws in other states, although Lee insists his proposal is different. Many members of the legislative Republican supermajority have said the governor's proposal will not pass — and some have even asked the governor to call off the special session entirely.

In a statement released Thursday, members of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp's board of directors said they support Lee’s effort to call the legislature back for a special session focused on public safety in August.

“The tragic school shooting that occurred on March 27, 2023, demonstrated that our great state is not immune to the rise in violence being experienced in other communities throughout our country,” they said.

The group offered to assist state leaders as they consider policy solutions.

“As leaders of the hospitality industry, one of the largest business segments in Tennessee, we feel it is vital to the overall welfare of our communities that state leaders convene and seek solutions that promote public safety,” they said. “We submit this statement knowing that our voice joins many Tennesseans in support of such a call to action to our state leadership.”

Kelsey seeks sentencing delay...again

Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, has asked a federal judge to delay his July 27 sentencing date for 30 days, the latest legal twist in a case Kelsey has dragged out after his original sentencing date in March.

Kelsey has replaced his legal team with Alex Little and Zachary Lawson from Burr & Forman, with Little filing a motion on Wednesday asking the judge for a delay to allow the new lawyers to get up to speed.

Notably, the motion also states new counsel was necessary because of "the deterioration of the attorney-client relationship and the potential of future litigation involving prior counsel."

That prior counsel included two former U.S. attorneys, Jerry Martin and David Rivera, and Paul Bruno, who represented Kelsey when he pleaded guilty to two federal corruption charges last fall.

Days before his March sentencing, Kelsey said he wanted to reverse his plea, arguing he wasn't of sound mind and didn't fully understand the implications of pleading guilty to felony charges.

His effort to claw back his guilty plea failed after a federal judge said he was unconvinced Kelsey, a Georgetown-trained lawyer who spent years crafting legal policy for the state, was unable to grasp the implications of pleading guilty.

House Democrats call for immediate action on Tennessee passenger rail

House Democrats have called on the Lee administration to take immediate action in the wake of a commission urging Tennessee to tap into some federal programs that could aid the state in creating a passenger rail network.

Echoing the recommendations from the commission report, a statement from House Democrats called for the administration to establish a dedicated office for rail and public transportation within the state and submit required data to the Federal Railroad Administration in support of applications previously submitted by local governments in Nashville, Memphis and Chattanooga.

Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, sponsored the original legislation that commissioned the TACIR study. “Tennesseans want to get on board with a robust passenger rail network in our state," he said.

"When you look at the existing Amtrak routes across the United States, there is a gaping void across Tennessee. The TACIR study is clear that the first and most logical step for expanding passenger rail is an Amtrak line from Nashville to Atlanta through Chattanooga. The U.S. infrastructure bill provides a unique opportunity for Tennessee to tap into the $66 billion federal investment in passenger rail.”

Lee names nuclear advisory council appointees

Lee announced appointees to a new 15-member state advisory council on nuclear affairs aimed at positioning Tennessee as a national leader for nuclear energy innovation and advancement.

Lee created the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council by executive order in May to make policy and budget recommendations, identify funding opportunities and advise on actions that the state can pursue with federal agencies. Lawmakers approved $50 million in the state budget this year for a new Nuclear Fund.

“Tennessee can lead America’s energy independence and deliver continued economic growth with safe, reliable and clean nuclear energy for the future,” Lee said in a statement. “I am confident that these appointees will use their unique industry expertise to ensure that Tennessee is the top state for nuclear energy companies to invest and succeed, creating quality jobs and greater opportunity for Tennesseans.”

Lee appointed his former chief of staff Blake Harris, and former chief counsel Lang Wiseman, alongside representatives from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, University of Tennessee, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, Department of Economic and Community Development, and Department of Environment and Conservation.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, appointed Rep. Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon. Lt. Gov. McNally, R-Oak Ridge, appointed Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, in whose district the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is located.

Blackburn, Hagerty call for investigation of Chinese surveillance

U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty are calling for the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations that the Chinese Communist Party is operating “service centers” in seven cities in the U.S. from which to spy on Chinese American dissidents.

In a letter to Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen and FBI Director Christopher Wray sent Monday, Blackburn and Hagerty along with six other Republican senators, requested an investigation by both agencies.

According to the letter, the CCP has established “Overseas Chinese Service Centers” housed within nonprofit organizations to coordinate with China’s police and intelligence agencies. Such “service centers” have been located in San Francisco, Houston, and Charlotte.

“The CCP’s intent is clear with its operation of these OCSCs: to intimidate and surveil Chinese Americans with dissenting opinions,” the senators wrote.

Senators also cite the Chinese spy balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force after traveling across the country in February, and two New York City residents charged in April with operating an unauthorized Chinese police outpost in the city.

“Taken together, these troubling events demonstrate the need to take serious the real and ongoing threats that China poses to our national security,” they wrote.

State officials condemn KKK fliers left at Columbia churches

Several state officials are speaking out after after recruitment flyers for the Old Glory Knights chapter of the Ku Klux Klan were left at three Black churches in Columbia.

Flyers were posted at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Bethel Chapel AME Church, and Faith United Missionary Baptist Church with a warning to “race traitors, mixed breeds, communists, homosexuals, and all other walks of Godless degeneracy.”

House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, denounced the group as “pure evil.”

“The KKK is a morally wrong and vile collection of deranged monsters,” Faison wrote in a tweet. “There is no place in Tennessee for them.”

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and "Tennessee Attorney General’s Office condemn this un-American intimidation campaign and support our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners in protecting the civil rights of all Tennesseans,” Skrmetti’s office wrote in a tweet.

Catch up on the week

• Department of Children's Services to house assessment center at Clover Bottom campus

• Tennessee's transgender health care law: What to know about latest legal wrangling

• New rail study: Why Tennessee should prioritize Nashville-Atlanta route, establish bus lines

• Can Nashville's next mayor mend relations with the state? How candidates would squash feud

Got a question for us?

Got a question about state politics you would like us to tackle? Let us know. Email us at mabrown@tennessean.com, vjones@tennessean.com or statehouse@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: After Nashville school shooting, tourism agency wants action on guns