Stevens-sponsored legislation improving schools goes into effect July 1

Tennessee Senator John Stevens

As Tennessee moves into the new fiscal year on July 1, many Tennessee laws passed by the General Assembly will go into effect. State Senator John Stevens (R-Huntington) sponsored several pieces of legislation to improve schools and safeguard Tennesseans against digital currency threats. 

"As we embark on this new fiscal year, Tennessee stands poised to excel, with stronger schools and enhanced protections against digital threats,” said Stevens. “Together, we've laid the groundwork for a safer, more prosperous future for all Tennesseans.”

On July 1, the laws that will go into effect sponsored and co-sponsored by Stevens include:

• The Second Amendment Financial Privacy Actprotects financial transaction data associated with firearm and ammunition purchases from being used to conduct mass surveillance of law-abiding Tennesseans. It prohibits financial institutions from requiring the use of a specific merchant category code (MCC) to identify transactions that occur at firearms retailers in the state.
• The Family Rights and Responsibilities Actwhichexplicitly outlines the twelve fundamental rights of parents. These rights include the responsibility to make education, healthcare, moral and religious decisions for their child. The law protects children from being indoctrinated by ideologies contrary to the values taught by their parents. 
• Jillian's Lawthat requires criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial to be committed to an appropriate treatment facility. The law also requires individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial to be entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System which serves as a database of people prohibited from buying or owning firearms.
• Protecting citizens from debanking for political and religious reasonsby prohibiting financial institutions and insurers from denying or canceling services to individuals due to political opinions, religious beliefs, social credit scores and other factors. No individual should face the loss of banking services or access to their accounts due to their values or beliefs. 
• Improving access to charter school facilitiesby ensuring public charter school students have access to the same quality facilities as other public school students.  The new law requires school districts to regularly provide a list of vacant and underutilized properties and make them available to public charter schools at a fair market value. The change will provide charter schools with improved access to underutilized and vacant buildings that school districts are not using. 
• Giving law enforcement another tool to stop students from threatening violenceon school property by adding that students are held criminally liable for threats of violence communicated to another student. The offense would result in a Class B Misdemeanor. Previous law only covered threats made by students to teachers or other faculty. 
• Safeguarding Tennessee against digital currencyby preventing a centralized digital bank from incorporating a deposit account andexcluding the term “money” from the definition of “central bank digital currency.”