As introduced, enacts the "Equal Access to Intrastate Commerce Act," - amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 21, Part 1; Title 5; Title 6 and Title 7.

This innocuously named bill still seems innocuous after reading it, but it's not until you piece together the different parts of the puzzle and read between the lines that you figure out what it's really about.

According to the Tennessee Equality Project, the bill would "give contractors special rights to discriminate against their workers" by prohibiting local governments "from enacting non-discrimination provisions for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of government contractors." It would also ban a proposed Nashville ordinance protecting LGBT workers against discrimination.

Further, the bill "will also prohibit local governments from enacting fair wage laws and other workplace benefits for employees of government contractors."

This is mean, hateful, and a bad deal all around. It interferes with local governments trying to negotiate contracts that improve the standard of living in their community and protect against hiring and workplace discrimination.

UPDATE: Bill withdrawn, temporarily...