The Tennessee state legislature’s 2025 session is complete, and this year saw significant progress in the areas of security, public safety, and support for Israel. As in previous years, the success was the result of a joint effort by the four Jewish Federations representing Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga and the relationships the groups fostered with the state’s legislators. Deborah Oleshansky, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, says, “Once again it is thanks to the combined efforts of all the Jewish Federations in the state that we have continued to see greater awareness about the challenges facing the Jewish community,”
This past year saw continued antisemitic activities by several Nazi and Christian nationalist groups in the Nashville area. These actions included demonstrations in front of West End Synagogue, and disruptions to a Metro Council meeting. To help synagogues with the rising costs of security personnel, the legislature approved $1.25 million to be added to the state budget for security expenses for houses of worship. Larry Hyatt, chair of the security committee for the Jewish Federation Greater Nashville, says, “We are pleased to see continuing support from the state and appreciate the legislature’s commitment to keeping the Jewish community safe.”
To help provide police with stronger enforcement tools, the legislature joined with Metro Council members, Jewish community leaders, and the District Attorney to draft a bill with stronger language. Senator Mark Pody (TN-17) was co-sponsor of SB30, otherwise known as the PEACE act. He says the goal was to ensure arrests and prosecutions so that people in the Jewish community feel safe, “We collaboratively wrote several bills, including the PEACE act, to look at what you could arrest on. If you don’t think you have strength to arrest somebody right now what could you arrest somebody on. Then we went to the DA and said, ‘Now if the police made an arrest and this is the language, would you be comfortable prosecuting?’”
Highlights of the PEACE act include creating misdemeanor designations for things like littering or trespassing with the intent to intimidate, providing false name to law enforcement, creating a 25-foot buffer zone around police officers, and attaching unauthorized signs or banners to overpasses bridges. The bill also allows police to use things like video recordings to arrest someone.
Pody says the bill does not infringe on free speech rights, but rather holds everyone responsible when they overstep. “We didn’t want to step on the first amendment. There’s a lot of things where we had to walk a line between our rights to protest, but we don’t have the right to intimidate somebody.” He adds the overall goal of this bill is to send a strong message. “We tried to make sure that we’re watching and being very prudent in taking the steps to say, ‘We’re not going to allow this in Tennessee.’”
The state’s relationship with Israel was also front and center this legislative session. Representative Scott Cepicky (TN-District 64) spearheaded the creation of a bipartisan Tennessee/Israel caucus. The goal is to strengthen the relationship between the two, and to educate about Israel. To date, 60 out of 99 members of the legislature have joined. “In speaking with the Consul General, we have the largest caucus in the Southeast United States.” Cepicky says he is continuing to work toward 100 percent participation.
Cepicky believes the caucus will be an effective means for stamping out misinformation about Israel and the Jewish people. “We are very resolute as a caucus in supporting Israel, not only in policy, but also to start to work with Israel, their companies, their government, their hospitals, their educational system, to start to destroy ignorance in Tennessee.”
Specifically, Cepicky suggests creating opportunities for cross-pollination in higher education, like medical residency exchange programs. “Let our residents go over there and learn the state-of-the-art techniques that help save lives in a way that Israel deals with trying to save lives for battlefield injuries.” Cepicky adds he is working with local farming industry companies to both build relationships and to share best practices in agriculture technology.
And in the education sector, Cepicky envisions using Zoom technology in middle and high school classrooms so students can build relationships and deepen their knowledge of each country. “These kids are starting to think and reason about what they believe.”
Cepicky partnered with Representative Torrey Harris (TN-District 90). He says the work of the caucus is not merely a symbolic gesture but has long-lasting benefits. “We have an obligation to build this relationship because financially for the state of Tennessee it will be a good thing. Economically, agriculturally, industry, bringing that technology here, it will employ more people, it will make Tennessee more attractive and then educationally, we will tear down ignorance.”
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