I can’t help but think the story is misreported.
Std = 8 eastern, 7 central
Dst = 9 eastern, 8 central.
Right now, East TN is on eastern time, and then central and west TN is on central time. I can see East TN being on EST in the winter and then CDT in the summer (thus they would not change their clocks)....but would Memphis really want to be on EST in the winter?
The legislation as I’ve heard it described is to permanently remain on DST. Not for the entire state to be on one time. Lots of people would prefer the state be on Eastern time, but I work with people in NY, Texas and LA via conference calls. I don’t want to move to Eastern and be 3 hours different than LA. I like splitting the difference. I think a better idea is for the US to split into two timezones.