Judiciary committee advances preemption bill, kratom resolution and child-welfare measures; holds extended hearing on pesticide liability

The House Judiciary Full Committee on Friday advanced a suite of bills and resolutions across criminal justice, child welfare and public-health topics while pausing a major pesticide-liability proposal for further hearings next week.

Speaker Zachary, the bill sponsor, described House Bill 10 97 as a state preemption measure aimed at uniformity: “what this bill does is it prevents local governments from enacting policies that conflict with Tennessee state law and our state constitution, ensuring consistency and the legal integrity across our state,” he told the committee before members voted to send the bill to the State and Local Committee. The bill passed the committee by recorded tally: 15 ayes, 4 noes.

Why it matters: The committee also advanced measures on juvenile transport contracts, victims’ evidence collection, and a resolution urging state action on kratom after family members and providers described deaths and hospital cases linked to the herbal supplement. At the same time lawmakers opened a long hearing on House Bill 8 09 — a proposed shield for pesticide manufacturers tied to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency labeling and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The committee heard roughly three dozen witnesses on the pesticide bill before pausing to continue public testimony at a special session next week.

The committee took several votes across the agenda. Among them, the panel approved House Joint Resolution 147 on kratom regulation and moved a variety of child-welfare and criminal-justice bills onward to the calendar or to finance committees. Representative Freeman, sponsor of a bill amending post-conviction procedure, said the change “provides a mechanism to get these cases back in to court, while assuring these petitions are only heard in the very rare situation of actual innocence.” That measure passed the committee on a recorded vote of 11 ayes and 8 noes.

Public testimony and committee response: The committee heard moving testimony from Karen Davenport, who said her son died after a lethal interaction between prescription medication and kratom purchased at a convenience store. “Kratom ... binds to the opioid receptors and it remains unregulated, readily available in gas stations,” Davenport said, asking members to support heavy regulation or a ban. The committee agreed to send the kratom resolution to the calendar and rules committee, 19-0.

Foster care advocates also testified. Ella Brennan, 19, who said she aged out of foster care last year and helped draft the bill now before the committee, appealed directly to lawmakers: “When I entered foster care, I became a ward of the state. Tennessee became my legal guardian,” Brennan said. The committee moved the foster-child bill of rights (House Bill 13 59 as amended) to Government Operations by recorded vote, 18-0.

Pesticide-liability hearing paused after wide testimony: House Bill 8 09, which would limit some state-level civil claims tied to federally registered pesticide labels, drew the most public attention. Agricultural groups, farmers and pesticide-industry counsel urged protections for manufacturers who comply with EPA registration requirements and warned that lawsuits over labels would chill innovation. Andrew Tharp, who represented farm interests, summarized product-liability law for members and noted: “This bill will only impact failure to warn.” Opponents including toxicologists, beekeepers and family members of people with cancers argued the bill would bar important civil remedies; a molecular toxicologist warned that certain herbicide formulations can produce cellular damage linked to cancer, and a beekeeper testified that recent, large losses of honeybee colonies are being investigated for links to neonicotinoid and other pesticides.

Committee plan: After more than three hours of testimony, the committee paused the pesticide bill and voted to continue public hearings in a special setting next week so the remaining 14 people who signed up can testify. Chairman Farmer said the committee will reconvene to allow all who registered to speak and to give members time to review the record.

Votes at a glance (committee outcomes) - House Bill 10 97 (state preemption of local policies): Sent to State & Local as amended; tally 15 ayes, 4 noes; outcome: approved by committee for referral. - House Bill 8 26 (clarifications to Family Rights and Responsibilities Act): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 19 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 7 97 (juvenile transport/local funding compromise): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 16 ayes, 0 noes, 1 present not voting; outcome: approved. - House Bill 190 (lower enhanced BAC threshold for aggravated vehicular assault/homicide from 0.20 to 0.15): Sent to Finance, Ways and Means; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 904 (ABC contested-case attorney-fee awards): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 696 (state SART coordinator): Sent to Finance, Ways and Means; tally 17 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Joint Resolution 147 (kratom regulation): Sent to calendar and rules; tally 19 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. Public testimony included Karen Davenport, mother of Matthew Davenport. - House Bill 347 (poverty-not-neglect statutory clarifications): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 20 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 995 (expanded limited-immunity for overdose calls to include alcohol-related incidents for minors): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 20 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 540 (add animal fighting to RICO): Sent to calendar and rules; tally 19 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 524 (veteran-treatment court transfer to contiguous county): Sent to Finance, Ways and Means; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 534 (school bus insurance language clean-up): Sent to calendar and rules; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 1359 (foster-child bill of rights): Sent to Government Operations as amended; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 601 (post-conviction / new-evidence reopening after guilty plea, amended with DA/innocence project compromise): Sent to calendar and rules; tally 11 ayes, 8 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 679 (minor consent for forensic rape kit collection clarified): Sent to calendar and rules as amended; tally 18 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 973 (extend civil and criminal statutes of limitations for certain sex crimes): Sent to calendar and rules; tally 19 ayes, 0 noes; outcome: approved. - House Bill 55 (extremism-related offenses update, littering/trespass language changes): Sent to Finance, Ways and Means as amended; tally 15 ayes, 4 noes; outcome: approved.

What’s next: The committee will reconvene for additional public testimony and consideration of House Bill 8 09 (pesticide liability) in a special setting next week. Other bills that were sent to calendar, rules, or finance committees will await scheduling in those committees or on the full House calendar.

Sources and quotes cited in this report come from committee testimony and proceedings recorded in the committee transcript and public testimony. Representative Freeman said of the post-conviction measure that the amendment “provides a mechanism to get these cases back in to court, while assuring these petitions are only heard in the very rare situation of actual innocence.” Speaker Zachary described the preemption bill as a uniformity measure: “prevents local governments from enacting policies that conflict with Tennessee state law and our state constitution, ensuring consistency and the legal integrity across our state.” Karen Davenport, who urged regulation of kratom after her son’s death, said: “Kratom ... binds to the opioid receptors and it remains unregulated, readily available in gas stations.” Ella Brennan, who testified on the foster-child bill of rights, told lawmakers: “When I entered foster care, I became a ward of the state. Tennessee became my legal guardian.” Andrew Tharp, testifying for farming interests, summarized product-liability law for members and said plainly: “This bill will only impact failure to warn.”

Ending note: Committee action advanced a mix of bipartisan, uncontroversial changes and more contested policy debates. Lawmakers sent a number of bills on to other committees with largely unanimous or lopsided support while deferring final work on the pesticide-liability proposal until additional public testimony can be heard next week.