Bud Hulsey

Rep. Bud Hulsey: (R) Chair, Corrections Subcommittee, Member, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee, Criminal Justice Committee, and the State Government Committee. He officiates efficiently and courteously.

Chairman Hulsey is one of our champions, supporting twenty-five of the TLRC positions on chosen bills with only one dissent, earning him a 96% vote score.

He showed courage by sponsoring one and co-sponsoring six of our favored bills. Here are just some of the more controversial:

Sponsored

SB0187/HB0013 – Bowling/Hulsey – Prohibits forced vaccines within state and local government entities. It does not prohibit private business from requiring vaccines for employment (passed with weakening amendments).

Co-sponsored

SR0023 – Rudd – Resolution creating a bi-cameral panel to research the recall of Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle (failed in House Civil Justice subcommittee).

A media story on the subject

SB0228/HB0003 – Hensley/Cepicky – Protects female athletes by prohibiting biological males from participating in women’s sports (passed).

SB0623/HB0580 – Bell/Ragan – The teaching of Critical Race Theory is prohibited in TN public schools (passed).

Hulsey earned a commendable ten out of ten on constitutional fidelity. His only errant vote was supporting the following bill which TLRC opposed:

SB0736/HB0141 – Johnson/Lamberth (a Governor’s bill with which we take issue) – Special tax exemption for the film and video industry which was supported by a large majority of the General Assembly (passed). TLRC does not support special carve-outs for cherry-picked industries. The government should not be picking winners and losers.

We are extremely proud of him for not supporting this bill:

SB0783/HB1204 – Massey/Zachary – Authorizes a special sales and use tax allocation to finance Randy Boyd’s Baseball stadium in Knoxville at the expense of Tennessee taxpayers—Boyd is a mega-millionaire (passed).

Media stories on the subject:
Boyd Sports to Profit from Events Held at Taxpayer-Funded Stadium – Tennessee Star

Member of Senate Committee Considering Legislation for Randy Boyd’s Taxpayer-Funded Baseball Stadium is Employee of Law Firm That Could Benefit From Bill’s Passage – Tennessee Star

Five Sponsors of Bill Enabling Randy Boyd’s Taxpayer-Funded Baseball Stadium Received More Than $90,000 in Campaign Funds from Individuals with Ties to the Project – Tennessee Star

Chairman Hulsey sponsored fourteen bills, five of which passed into law:

HB0013 establishes certain restrictions on requiring persons to be vaccinated for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

HB0107 converts special purpose boat dealer plates to boat transport plates; authorizes persons or businesses that transport boats for hire to be issued special purpose boat transport plates in addition to manufacturers and dealers of boats.

HB0109 requires the board to consider granting parole to a prisoner who reaches the release eligibility date for the prisoner’s combined sentences and has an active detainer to serve a term of imprisonment in another jurisdiction, if certain conditions are met.

HB0353 requires the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations (TACIR) to study the feasibility of creating a state gold depository and to report its findings to the speakers of the senate and house of representatives no later than January 1, 2022.

HB0191 revises provisions governing certain excise tax credits.

HB1371 permits notaries public to solemnize marriages.

We do not need more laws; we need better laws, and enforcement of the better laws already on the books. The grassroots are looking for courage in our legislators: courage to stand up for constitutional principles over pressure from leadership and paid lobbyists. We see that in spades in Bud Hulsey! We are at a crisis point and now is the time to stand for the people instead of special interests, the wealthy, and well-connected, and against those who assume power through corruption and coercion. If we do not, we could very well lose our republic and our liberties.