Updated at 3:15 p.m.
The state Senate approved legislation Monday afternoon targeting Vanderbilt’s all-comers policy on a 19-12 vote.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 3597, which originally barred only the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents systems from adopting all-comers, after it was expanded to include Vanderbilt. A similar effort is under way in the state House of Representatives, which could vote on the measure today.
The bill wouldn’t strip the school of any funding, but supporters suggested they might come back and do so next year unless the school abandons all-comers, which requires campus groups — including religious organizations — to adopt the university’s non-discrimination policies. Several religious organizations have protested that all-comers forces them to accept members and leaders who do not share their beliefs.
SB 3597 was brought to the floor of the Senate as a measure that would keep UT and Regents schools from taking on a similar policy. Leaders of both systems said they had no plans to do so.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, amended the ban on all-comers so that it applies to any private school that receives more than $24 million in state tax revenue. Only Vanderbilt takes in an amount that large — compensation for providing free medical care at Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Although the amendment uses state payments to define who it would apply to, the amendment does not call for stripping those payments.
Opponents have said the bill, which was filed in response to the ongoing dispute between Vanderbilt and religious student organizations, would jeopardize HOPE scholarships for its students. Supporters did not initially challenge that assertion, but as opposition has built, they have begun to point out that the measure does not actually call for withholding any funding.
The measure has a one-year sunset clause, meaning lawmakers would need to revisit the policy next year for it to remain law. Beavers said the sunset clause essentially gives Vanderbilt a year’s warning to work out the issue with campus groups or face more legislative action.
The bill still faces substantial pushback. The House sponsor has laid the bill on the clerk’s desk last week, which means it would take a two-thirds vote to bring it back up. But he said Friday he still plans to move the legislation — with or without the Vanderbilt amendment — before the session ends this week.
