Latest news with #LondonLamar
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Under Tennessee bill, students would be taught marriage before kids one key to success
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's public schools could soon be required to teach that the keys to a successful life include following a proper sequence of events: high school, job or higher education, marriage and then children. It's a proposal advancing inside the state's Republican-dominant Legislature and similar to others moving in several states this year. In Tennessee, the Senate passed the legislation 25-5 on Thursday. It has several steps remaining in the House. 'Some children are not privileged to recognize that or live within that,' said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma. 'And so in these classes, these children will be given this key to success.' Republican proponents argued the so-called success sequence could help lift people out of poverty by delaying life events, such as getting married before having children. Democratic opponents raised concerns that the instruction could indoctrinate students about matters that should be personal choices while making students who have a single parent feel bad about themselves. Republicans have brought forward similar proposals in other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. In Utah, the governor has already signed a bill. Several advocacy groups are pushing for the policy change, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The Tennessee proposal would require that a family life curriculum in a public K-12 school include age-appropriate teaching about the "positive personal and societal outcomes" of the sequence. Under state law, parents can opt their children out of the family planning curriculum. Sen. London Lamar is a Memphis Democrat, a single 34-year-old mother and the daughter of a single mother. She said she knows a lot of people born into two-parent households whom she has far exceeded in life. 'I think this bill is misguided, it's very offensive, and I'm living proof that this bill has no merit,' Lamar said. Republican backers of the bill say the sequence is a goal supported by research, but it is not an absolute for everyone's life situation. Critics of the sequence have said it oversimplifies the various factors that keep people in poverty, relying on correlation without sufficient evidence of causation.
Associated Press
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Under Tennessee bill, students would be taught marriage before kids one key to success
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee's public schools could soon be required to teach that the keys to a successful life include following a proper sequence of events: high school, job or higher education, marriage and then children. It's a proposal advancing inside the state's Republican-dominant Legislature and similar to others moving in several states this year. In Tennessee, the Senate passed the legislation 25-5 on Thursday. It has several steps remaining in the House. 'Some children are not privileged to recognize that or live within that,' said the bill's sponsor, Republican Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma. 'And so in these classes, these children will be given this key to success.' Republican proponents argued the so-called success sequence could help lift people out of poverty by delaying life events, such as getting married before having children. Democratic opponents raised concerns that the instruction could indoctrinate students about matters that should be personal choices while making students who have a single parent feel bad about themselves. Republicans have brought forward similar proposals in other states, including Texas, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. In Utah, the governor has already signed a bill. Several advocacy groups are pushing for the policy change, including the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation. The Tennessee proposal would require that a family life curriculum in a public K-12 school include age-appropriate teaching about the 'positive personal and societal outcomes' of the sequence. Under state law, parents can opt their children out of the family planning curriculum. Sen. London Lamar is a Memphis Democrat, a single 34-year-old mother and the daughter of a single mother. She said she knows a lot of people born into two-parent households whom she has far exceeded in life. 'I think this bill is misguided, it's very offensive, and I'm living proof that this bill has no merit,' Lamar said. Republican backers of the bill say the sequence is a goal supported by research, but it is not an absolute for everyone's life situation. Critics of the sequence have said it oversimplifies the various factors that keep people in poverty, relying on correlation without sufficient evidence of causation.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lawmakers propose adding menstrual products as annual sales tax holiday items
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two Tennessee lawmakers would like to see new products added to the state's annual sales tax holiday. HB 813/SB 188 would add feminine hygiene products to the list of qualified products that have sales tax suspended during the state's annual sales tax holiday in the summertime. Currently the annual sales tax holiday only applies to school supplies, certain technological products like laptops or tablets, and clothes. The idea behind the sales tax holiday is to give Tennesseans the opportunity to purchase school-related items ahead of each school year. But the bills, brought by Memphis Sen. London Lamar and Rep. Larry Miller, would add menstrual products to the list of tax-free items. The bill includes tampons, pads, liners, menstrual cups and douches. Miller, who carries the bill in the House, said he was proud to carry the companion legislation for Sen. Lamar, as it was something he was interested in learning more about. 'The more I read, the more impressed I am with what we're trying to do here,' he told News 2. Specifically, Miller said a study revealed 44% of female students reported feeling 'stressed or embarrassed' because they could not afford menstrual products. 'If that's such an issue and this tax exemption could relieve some of that stress, I'm all for it,' he said. Suspension of federal grants affecting finances at TSU According to the fiscal note on the bill, the measure would result in a net loss of about $255,000 each year for the state, which Miller said was easily affordable for a government with a budget in excess of $50 billion. 'The state can afford that, and I think citizens of this state could support that as well,' Miller said. Further, when a significant portion of the female population view access to menstrual products as a 'critical issue,' lawmakers should take notice. 'When you have that many females saying that it is a critical issue to them, then we should listen. We should pay attention to them,' he told News 2. ⏩ Both Senate and House versions of the bills have been placed behind the budget, according to Miller, meaning no further discussion will take place until lawmakers hash out those details. Additionally, the Senate version of the bill received a negative recommendation from the Senate Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee. But Miller also said placing a bill behind the budget or having a negative recommendation does not mean it has no chance of passage. He told News 2 he has been able to get several bills that received negative recommendations through to passage throughout his time in the legislature. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill filed to protect health coverage for pregnant employees in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An effort is underway in the Tennessee Legislature to protect health coverage for the state's pregnant employees following their termination. Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) introduced Senate Bill 190, which would require an employer who fires a pregnant woman enrolled in the company's health benefit plan to continue providing coverage until her pregnancy ends. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → 'Especially in Tennessee, when we have no rights to abortion at all anymore, you're forced to have kids,' Lamar said. 'It should not mean you have to lose your job, but if you do, that puts you at risk of not being able to access the healthcare services that you need to have a healthy baby.' Within thirty days after the end of their pregnancy, the former hire must sign a written statement to their employer. If they fail to do so, the employer then has the right to seek recovery of costs incurred for maintaining the employee's health coverage. Bill to shift car, tire tax revenue to TDOT projects passes committee hurdle Lamar told News 2 that her goal is to ensure companies are not using pregnancy as an excuse to chip away at their payroll. 'The baby should not suffer because you don't want to continue to employ a person who's pregnant,' Lamar said. If passed, the bill would take effect on July 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
