Tennessee Senate Republicans passed a bill Monday that could block transgender people from changing their listed sex on government-issued documents including driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
The proposed legislation, known as House Bill 239 – Senate Bill 1440, defines the term "sex" for use in the Tennessee Code as a "person's immutable biological sex as determined by anatomy and genetics existing at the time of birth and evidence of a person's biological sex." It also clarifies that "evidence of a person's biological sex" includes, but is not limited to, "a government-issued identification document that accurately reflects a person's sex listed on the person's original birth certificate."
While it cleared the state Senate, the bill stalled in the state House due to potential budgetary impacts. In a floor speech Monday, its sponsor, Republican state Sen. Kerry Roberts, argued the legislation promotes "consistency" in the state code, rejecting concerns brought in a fiscal note, Axios reported.
Krista Lee Carsner, executive director of the Tennessee General Assembly’s fiscal review committee, noted the proposed language "may result in increases to state and local expenditures associated with compliance measures, potential civil litigation and could jeopardize federal funding; however, due to multiple unknown factors, a precise fiscal impact cannot be determined."
