On January 1, 16 new laws take effect in Tennessee.
Here are some that might most affect you.
1No Cell Phone Calls in School Zone
The law, which takes effect on January 1st, makes it a Class C misdemeanor punishable only by up to a $50 fine if a driver knowingly drives in an active school zone while on a handheld phone call.
It is already illegal to text and drive.
2Bus Driver Bill
As enacted, HB 0322 establishes a school
transportation supervisor program for the monitoring and oversight of transportation services for local education authorities and charter schools; requires new school bus drivers to complete a training program prior to transporting students. It requires a driver to be at least 25 years of age to receive an initial school bus driver license endorsement.
3Campus Free Speech Act
This new law has several provisions which will ensure that free speech thrives on public campuses throughout Tennessee. The law will:
- Require institutions to adopt policies consistent with the University of Chicago’s Free Speech Policy Statement;
- Prohibit the use of misleadingly labeled “free speech zones”;
- Define student-on-student harassment in a way that is consistent with the definition provided by the Supreme Court of the United States in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education;
- Bar institutions from rescinding invitations to speakers invited by students or faculty;
- Prohibit viewpoint discrimination in the allocation of student fees to student organizations; and
- Protect faculty from being punished for speech in the classroom, unless the speech is both “not reasonably germane to the subject matter of the class as broadly construed, and comprises a substantial portion of classroom instruction.”
4Headlights
SB 1291 is a narrow bill, but could affect a lot of people. Specifically, it make it illegal for anyone to have lights on their car any color other than white or amber. Read the link above for more information.
5Less Policing of Pot
HB 1291 is very short, especially for legislation. That is because it is very simple: It simple deletes from the Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 57-1-208. In effect, it means that the Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which regulates the serving of alcohol in restaurants in the state, will no longer have any ability to monitor or regulate marijuana. Section 57-208 empowered TABC agents the same power to police marijuana as officers of the law. Now they no longer can do that.
