By State Senator Ken Yager

NASHVILLE, TN (SPECIAL TO WLAF)- The pace has picked up in the Senate as we entered week seven of the legislative session. We’re officially over the hump and looking toward adjournment in mid-April. Most committees have now released their final calendars, and several are wrapping up their work as we move into the final stretch. I’m proud to be sponsoring several important bills that are making their way through the legislative process.


One of the most important bills I’m sponsoring this session is Senate Bill 741, which provides strong new protections for children against the abuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated child pornography. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) informed me that new technologies are now using AI to create highly realistic, pornographic images of children—often by pulling innocent images from public websites like Facebook and altering them to depict abusive content.

To combat this disturbing trend, my bill makes it a criminal offense to knowingly possess, distribute, or produce technology, software, or digital tools specifically designed to create child sexual abuse material. This bill does not affect legitimate tools like photoshop or other programs used for lawful purposes. It strictly targets technology that is intentionally created or used for the production of explicit content involving minors.

Our children are Tennessee’s greatest asset—the very future of our state. As long as I serve in the Senate, I will continue to fight for them every day, in every way.

Additionally, I presented and passed the Ground Transport Ambulance Assessment bill on the Senate floor, which is a bill that we pass every year to ensure local ambulance services can be reimbursed with federal funds. Last year, counties in my district received $900,000 in federal funding for emergency ambulance providers due to this legislation.

It is important to note that the legislation does not use any state tax dollars—instead, ground transport ambulance services pay a self-imposed assessment into a fund managed by TennCare. These funds are then leveraged to draw down over $20 million in federal funds, which are paid back to local ambulance services across Tennessee.

Only emergency transports are counted in this program, so we’re also working on a companion bill to increase TennCare reimbursement for non-emergency transports. Currently, local services only receive 67% of the Medicare rate—my bill would raise that reimbursement to 100%, providing fairer compensation for providers who serve our communities.

Protecting our children and supporting our communities is my top priority as your state senator.

It is a privilege to serve you in the Tennessee Senate. Feel free to reach out to my office at 615-741-1449 or sen.ken.yager@capitol.tn.gov.

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