“He has not been proven to be a complaint-free, independent agency or appointee,” said Sen. Charlan Oliver, a Democrat from Nashville, who has introduced a bill that will hand over an investigation into discrimination complaints against Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skulmetti. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

The bill, which dissolved Tennessee’s independent civil rights watchdog and drew its powers to the state’s attorney general on Wednesday, suggested that the state’s top officers were too partisan for their work.

Nashville Sen. Charlen Oliver cited Attorney General Jonathan Skulmetti’s history of involvement in women, transgender individuals, and Republican-led agendas for legal protections against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Skrmetti led or participated in a lawsuit banning discrimination against women seeking abortion, banning lawsuits seeking to suspend minor transgender care, and sent letters to businesses, warning them against diversity, equity and comprehensive initiatives, among other actions.

“Pregnant women will defend their right to fair employment given that they have previously taken steps to limit their ability to seek relief from how they can trust the Attorney General’s office,” Oliver said at a meeting of the Senate Government Operations Committee.

A bill to repeal the Tennessee Human Rights Commission’s advance

“He has not been proven to be an impartial independent body or appointee,” she said. “We see it clearly. This is a massive increase in the Attorney General’s liability.”

Congress co-host, Republican Sen. John Stevens, of Huntingdon, noted that various departments of the Attorney General’s Office operate independently of each other.

Stevens Proposed law (SB861/HB910) will dissolve the Tennessee Human Rights Commission by July 1st, transferring its responsibility and 30 employees to the newly created civil rights enforcement department within the Attorney General’s Office. Rep. Johnny Garrett, a Goodlettsville Republican, is a community of the law.

The 60-year-old committee is a nonpartisan, independent agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws in employment, housing and public facilities, and is a discrimination claim against the state of Tennessee.

If the bill becomes law, about 1,000 discrimination complaints would be dismissed before the committee was rejected, forcing the individuals who brought them along, and employers and agencies who spent the time and money defending themselves, said Muriel Malone Noren, the committee’s current executive director.

The bill also includes proposed changes to the Tennessee Anti-Discrimination Act in relation to schools, creating routes for those who are denied entry or participation in campus activities based on “racial, color or country of origin” and roads for filing civil rights complaints with the Attorney General.

Tennessee Legislature to abolish discrimination Watchdog Agency’s advance

The committee has built on legislative scrutiny over internal turmoil in recent years.

Last year, the vice-chairman resigned after being accused of lightly parraging remarks about LGBTQ individuals and ethnic communities.

In 2022, toxic and abusive workplace allegations led to Beverly Watts, then executive director of the Human Rights Commission, to step down. Watts denied the allegation.

The nine-member Human Rights Commission has been run by only five members in recent years. This is because Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who is in charge of the appointment of the three members, was unable to add new members.