Recapping the week at the Tennessee legislature

It was a busy week for the General Assembly, with Gov. Bill Lee unveiling his legislative priorities alongside a $55.6 billion budget and high-profile legislation zooming through committees.

🏳️‍🌈 Drag shows: The full Senate passed a bill designed to regulate where drag performances can take place.

• The House version of the bill is still advancing through committees.

🩺 Care for trans youth: Legislation to ban gender-affirming health care for minors cleared its last committee in the Senate. The treatments affected by the bill include hormones and puberty blockers, which are supported by major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

• The measure is advancing in House committees.
• Republicans are also seeking to use TennCare to push insurance companies not to cover gender transition treatments for people of all ages, per the Tennessean.

✂ Shrinking the council: The bill to cut the size of the 40-member Metro Council in half advanced through a House committee on Tuesday.

• State Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) told the Tennessee Lookout the measure violates the state constitution.

🎒 Voucher expansion: An effort to grow the state's education savings account program to include Hamilton County passed handily in the Senate Education Committee.