Dear [title] [last name],

<p>Please, vote NO on HB158, HB239, and HB1269 during the April 21 House floor session.</p> <p>HB158 has a fiscal note of $94,300. We should not take tools away in educational settings that reduce discrimination and, therefore lawsuits. That is an important cost to consider. Tennessee should look for more ways to serve diverse student populations such as examining unconscious bias, as the private sector is doing.</p> <p>HB239 has a fiscal note on the original bill. There is also a fiscal note on the amendment adopted by the Senate. Both fiscal notes indicate compliance costs, civil litigation, and jeopary to federal funding. The anti-transgender discrimination that comes with the bill puts in question some of the almost $1.3 Billion in education funding and some of the $750,000,000 in health funding. There is no good case for the bill.</p> <p>HB1269 has a fiscal note  that indicates risk to some of the almost $1.3 Billion in education funding that Tennessee receives because the State and each school system must sign an agreement to comply with federal civil rights law. This bill creates a hostile environment for transgender and nonbinary students and would certainly be construed as discrimination. It is painful that a bill that allows adults to bully students about their identities is advancing in the Legislature.</p> <p>Thank you for considering my views.</p>