Metro Nashville is suing the Davidson County Election Commission over its decision last night to allow an anti-tax referendum to go before voters, the Tennessean reports. The commission voted 3-2 to place the measure on the ballot for a July 27 special election. The decision came after the commission received a legal opinion from its counsel and Vanderbilt University Professor Jim Blumstein saying it was the commission’s “duty” to get the measure on the ballot in 75 to 90 days. The petition aims to limit the city’s power over property tax rates, public property transfers, recall elections and more. It would roll back Davidson County’s property tax rate to the level it was before last year’s 34% increase. Metro’s lawsuit questions the validity of different versions of the circulated petition, which proposed different election dates. It also calls the petition language defective and argues it did not meet the threshold of required signatures to trigger a special election.

Five attorneys have applied to fill the 19th Judicial District Circuit Court vacancy that was created when Judge Jill Bartee Ayers was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Middle Section. Robert T. Bateman, Carl Daniel Brollier Jr., Max D. Fagan, Nathaniel Ray Flinchbaugh and Joseph P. Weyant will be considered for the position. The candidates will be interviewed by the Trial Court Vacancy Commission at a public hearing on June 16 at 9 a.m. CDT at the Montgomery County Historic Courthouse, One Millennium Plaza, Clarksville, TN 37040. Three candidates will be forwarded to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration. The Administrative Office of the Courts has more on each applicant.  

Gov. Bill Lee has opted Tennessee out of a federal $300 weekly unemployment supplement, following after several other Southern states that have refused the additional payments, the Tennessean reports. "We will no longer participate in federal pandemic unemployment programs because Tennesseans have access to more than 250,000 jobs in our state,” Lee said in a statement. The state’s unemployment benefits of $275 weekly are among the lowest in the country and significantly below the national average of $387. Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Montana have all recently opted out of the supplement. The federal assistance program in Tennessee will end on July 3.

Former Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Bob Martineau has joined communications firm Finn Partners, the Nashville Post reports. Martineau signed on as senior partner and will lead the firm’s environment, energy and sustainability practice in the Southeast. He previously led the environmental practice group at Waller and was an attorney at the federal Environmental Protection Agency before joining TDEC during former Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration. Martineau’s work at the Nashville office will include environmental protection, energy efficiency, regulatory compliance and innovation. 

Rep. David Byrd, R-Waynesboro, missed the entire 2021 legislative session due to complications from COVID-19, the Tennessean reports. Byrd was diagnosed with the virus in early December and spent more than a month in the intensive care unit and weeks on a ventilator. Since then, he has been back and forth between rehab centers and hospitals. Rep. Kent Calfee, R-Kingston, announced from the House floor on April 29 that Byrd had “been in Vanderbilt about 10 days.” His absence, though rarely discussed during session, was excused, a common occurrence for legislators out with illness. Byrd has faced calls for resignation since 2018 when he was accused of sexually assaulting three women when they were underage in the 1980s. He has never publicly denied the allegations.

The TBA’s Family Law Section will host an Alimony Bench Book Roundtable on May 17 from 11 a.m. until noon CDT. The event will cover all 2021 updates and changes to the 19th edition of the publication. Speakers will include the book’s authors: Judge Mary Wagner, Kurt Myers, Amy Amundsen and Siew-Ling Shea. The roundtable is free and available to all TBA members. You can purchase the bench book or access it for free as a Family Law Section member. 

The TBA Entertainment & Sports Law Section will host its annual CLE program on May 13 from 11 a.m. until 4:45 p.m. CDT. Presenters will provide up-to-date information and inside knowledge on some of the hottest topics in the entertainment and sports industries, including: catalog sales and the related financial and ethical components that come into play on both the buyer and seller sides; sports betting in Tennessee; the new age of artist development through TikTok; and the impact of cancel culture and morality clauses when it comes to holding artists accountable for their actions. The program is virtual and attendees will be able to ask questions through Zoom’s chat feature. Read more about the program and get registered.  

The Tennessee General Assembly last night adjourned for the year with a flurry of last-minute negotiations over proposed changes to the court system, the Tennessean reports. Lawmakers reached a compromise regarding HB1130/SB868, which sought to create a statewide chancery court. In the end, the conference committee crafted a measure that created a three-judge panel of trial court judges – two of whom are to be appointed by the Supreme Court and must hail from the other two grand divisions – to handle constitutional challenges and declaratory/injunctive claims against the state, a department/agency of the state, and/or one of its officers. The measure, which combined a number of elements of previously unsuccessful bills – including the venue for out-of-state plaintiffs to be held in Sumner County – passed the House 67-22-1 and the Senate 27-2 just minutes before adjournment. For more in depth information on this bill and several others, check out the latest episode of the TBA Legislative Update podcast. TBA Executive Director Joycelyn Stevenson hosts today's episode and interviews TBA Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs Berkley Schwarz and Adams and Reese attorney and TBA lobbyist Brad Lampley for a behind-the-scenes look at TBA’s lobbying efforts. Legislative Updates can be found on the TBA’s Facebook page, website and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh visited the Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center in Memphis’ Whitehaven neighborhood this morning, the Commercial Appeal reports. The stop is part of a tour to highlight benefits of the Biden-Harris administration’s American Jobs Plan. The $2.3 trillion plan is aimed at improving the nation's infrastructure and advancing the fight against climate change while creating jobs. U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-TN, and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland joined Emhoff and Walsh for a listening session between one of the participants of the Job Corps program and program leaders. The Jobs Corps program is a decades-old program housed within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Funeral services were held today for Memphis lawyer Arnold Edwin Perl who died Tuesday at 81. Perl earned his law degree from the University of Illinois. He worked at the Memphis law firm Glankler Brown, practicing in labor and management relations, and served as general counsel for the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce and Industry and as secretary and general counsel for the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. Perl played a pivotal role in the completion of what is now known as the FedEx Forum in Memphis, fulfilling his promise that the arena would be completed “on time and on budget.” In addition to serving on the New Memphis Arena Public Building Authority, Perl spent about 30 years as a member of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, including 16 years as chair. The family requests that memorials be made to Temple Israel, 1376 E Massey Rd., Memphis, TN 38120; Memphis Jewish Federation, 6560 Poplar Ave., Germantown, TN 38138; or MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Houston, TX 77030. The Daily Memphian has more on Perl’s career and civic work.