Tennessee House kills bill that would have banned local officials from studying, funding reparations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee’s Republican-dominant House connected Wednesday spiked authorities that would person banned section governments from paying to either survey oregon dispense wealth for reparations for slavery.

The determination marked a uncommon decision connected a GOP-backed connection initially introduced astir 1 twelvemonth ago. It easy cleared the Republican-controlled Senate past April, but lawmakers yet deed intermission arsenic the House became consumed with contention implicit expelling 2 Black Democratic lawmakers for their participating successful a pro-gun power protestation from the House floor. That protestation followed a deadly simple schoolhouse shooting successful Nashville.

Interest successful the reparations measure emerged again this year, conscionable arsenic lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee were successful the process of finalizing the removal and replacement of each committee subordinate of the state's lone publicly-funded historically Black nationalist university, Tennessee State University. That sparked much outrage among critics who contend that Tennessee’s achromatic GOP authorities leaders person agelong refused to spot Black section leaders.

As the TSU fallout increased, House members appeared hesitant to clasp a perchance explosive statement implicit reparations. The measure was concisely debated connected the House level past week but enactment remained unclear.

“The thought of studying reparations doesn’t instrumentality thing from you,” Democratic Rep. Larry Miller, who is Black and from Memphis, said during the abbreviated House debate. “What’s wrong of you to say, ‘Look, we can’t survey our history. We can’t adjacent speech astir our history, you can’t adjacent usage your section taxation dollars to survey it.’ That is truthful antiquated.”

Ultimately, House leaders waited until the last week of league to instrumentality to the measure. But arsenic Republican Rep. John Ragan, the bill's sponsor, approached the beforehand of the House to statesman his opening remarks, different Republican requested that the assemblage “table” his connection — a determination that would efficaciously termination it for the year.

Nearly 30 Republicans joined House Democrats successful tabling the bill, including Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

Ahead of the vote, Ragan maintained his measure was needed, arguing that reparations advocates privation to “take wealth from our grandchildren's pockets arsenic a judgement for idiosyncratic else's great-great-grandfather's actions."

“Is it close to accidental that the faults of a tiny percent of long-past generations indispensable beryllium borne by each of today’s Americans? No. It’s ne'er close to punish an guiltless idiosyncratic for an enactment committed by another,” Ragan said Wednesday.

Under House rules, nary different lawmakers were allowed to talk during the vote.

“We decided determination on, spell execute immoderate different stuff,” Sexton aboriginal told reporters. “You tin ever travel back.”

Tennessee lawmakers began earnestly considering banning the information of reparations lone aft the state’s astir populated county, which encompasses Memphis, announced it would walk $5 cardinal to survey the feasibility of reparations for the descendants of slaves and find “actionable items.”

The determination by Shelby County leaders was prompted by the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by officers successful January 2023.

Yet the thought to prohibition reparations has been floated successful different states.

A Florida Republican lawmaker projected a law amendment this twelvemonth that would person banned authorities oregon section governments from paying reparations, but the measurement didn't pass. A Missouri Republican introduced a measure that would prohibition immoderate authorities oregon section authorities entity from spending connected reparations based connected race, religion, sex identity, intersexual predisposition oregon economical class. It hasn't precocious to date.

Meanwhile, different states person willingly moved to survey reparations, including California, New Jersey and Vermont.