In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tennessee General Assembly continued its push Wednesday to wrap-up bills deemed necessary and a bare-bones budget by the end of the week, and possibly as early as end of day Thursday.
In keeping with that, a total of 20 subcommittee and committee meetings were scheduled for Wednesday, 15 for the House and five for the Senate, in addition to a floor session for each chamber.
In addition to numerous extensions of sunset laws for various departments and agencies, as well as administrative appointments to commissions, the House and Senate often addressed the same pieces of legislation, at different steps in the process.
A number of the bills were addressed by the Tennessee General Assembly on Tuesday, which The Tennessee Star reported.
The rapid progression from one committee to another on the same day is reflective of the flow motion both chambers have adopted, suspending the normal requirements.
HB 2362 / SB 2297 Representative Mike Carter / Senator Todd Gardenhire – Makes various changes to election provisions, driven in large part because of the tornadoes on March 3. Heard in House Local Committee; Senate State and Local Government. Placed on the regular calendars of the House and Senate for March 19.
HB 2348 / SB 2453 Representative Mike Carter / Senator Kerry Roberts – Deals with real property assessments under appeal. The Bill passed out of Senator State and Local Government Committee Tuesday, with only Senator Brian Kelsey voting against it. Senator Roberts made a motion on the Senate floor to send it back to the Senate Calendar Committee, due to the amount of misinformation on the bill. The bill was also heard by House Local Committee.
HB 2472 / SB 1973 Representative Mark White / Senator Dolores Gresham – Allows Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation that provides financial aid to Tennessee high school seniors through Tennessee Promise to temporarily suspend the fixed deadlines for emergency situations. The bill was amended in Senate Education Committee to add reporting requirements to the speakers and chairs of the education committees. Heard in Senate Education Committee; House Higher Education Subcommittee; House Education Committee. Placed on the regular calendars of the House and Senate for March 19.
HB 2815 / SB 2897 House Speaker Cameron Sexton / Senator Paul Bailey – Carried by Representative Chris Todd, allows city and county governments to meet remotely like state agencies. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Deborah Fisher expressed concerns about this legislation, which Representative Rush Bricken brought up point-by-point in subcommittee. During the Senate Sate and Local Government Committee meeting, Senator Gardenhire expressed appreciation to Deborah Fisher for her work on the bill. The bill was heard in House Public Service and Employees Subcommittee; House State Committee; Senate State and Local Government Committee. Placed on the regular calendars of the House and Senate for March 19. Subsequent to the meetings, TCOG’s Deborah Fisher reported that the Senate version of the bill has more safeguards.
HB 1605 / SB 1591 Representative Dan Howell / Senator Becky Massey – Omnibus specialty license plate bill. Heard by House Safety & Funding Subcommittee; House Transportation Committee; House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee, House Finance, Ways and Means Committee; Senate Finance Ways and Means Committee. Placed on the regular calendar of the Senate for March 19.
HB 1583 / SB 1568 Representative Clay Doggett / Senator Joey Hensley – Modifies visitation with the children by convicted sex offenders, when their children were not the victims, by allowing the district attorney to petition the judge for such restrictions. Passed in the Senate February 24. Heard in House Judiciary Committee. Placed on the regular calendar of the House for March 19.
HB 2772 / SB 2630 Representative Debra Moody / Senator Dawn White – Amends current statute to add civil trial courts to those allowed to e-file. SB 2630 passed the senate on February 24. Heard in House Judiciary Committee. Placed on the consent calendar of the House for March 19.
HB 1699 / SB 1892 Representative Robin Smith / Senator Art Swann – Expands telemedicine. With a fiscal note that increases state expenditures in excess of $1 million, the bill goes behind the budget. Heard in Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee; House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Action deferred in House Calendar and Rules Committee until March 19, and placed on Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee Calendar for March 19.
HB 2832 / SB 2523 Representative Kent Calfee / Senator Richard Briggs – Continues current distribution of liquor-by-the-drink tax. Heard in House State Committee. Placed on House consent calendar for March 19.
HB 2505 / SB 2124 Representative David Hawk / Senator Shane Reeves – Creates Tennessee Rare Disease Advisory Council. Passed the Senate on March 12. Heard in House Public Health Subcommittee; House Health Committee; House Government Operations Committee. Placed on House regular calendar for March 19.
HB 2170 / SB 2022 Representative Patsy Hazlewood / Senator Ferrell Haile – Enacts the hospital annual coverage assessment for 2020 that qualifies the state for $1.7 billion in federal dollars. Heard by House Insurance Committee; House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee; Senate Floor Session. Passed the Senate. Placed on House regular calendar for March 19.
HB 2138 / SB2123 Representative Curtis Johnson / Senator Shane Reeves – As amended, renews annual nursing home assessment through June 30, 2021. Heard by House Insurance; House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Passed the Senate. Placed on regular calendar for March 19.
HB 2818 / SB 2672 House Majority Leader William Lamberth / Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson – Carried by Representative Mark White holds harmless schools, teachers and students by not requiring end of year assessments and alternatives, such as portfolio, for the current and next two school years and waives 180-day attendance requirement. Heard in House Curriculum, Testing and Innovation Subcommittee; House Education Committee; House Government Operations Committee; House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Placed on the regular calendars of the House and Senate for March 19.
HB 2363 / SB 2298 Representative Tim Rudd / Senator Ed Jackson – Removes all provisions related to voter registration drives passed last year, since enjoined by a federal court, and establishes new provisions, prohibitions and penalties. Passed by the House on March 9. Heard in Senate State and Local Government Committee. Placed on the regular calendar of the Senate for March 19.
HB 2255 / SB 2188 Representative Dan Howell / Senator Becky Massey – Addresses the unconstitutional portions of Tennessee’s Billboard Regulation and Control Act of 1972 with three revisions since passage out of the House Transportation Committee last week: increases the fine for non-conformance to $500 per day with a maximum of $10,000, uses the U.S. Department of Transportation definition of “visible,” and allows TDOT to promulgate emergency rules to bring the state billboard law into compliance with U.S. DOT. Heard in House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Placed on the regular calendar of the House for March 19.
HB 1175 / SB 1469 Representative Terri Lynn Weaver / Senator Ken Yager – Allow for TennCare to reimburse ambulance service providers. Heard in House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Action deferred in House Calendar and Rules Committee until March 19.
HB 2249 / SB 2182 House Majority Leader William Lamberth / Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson – A bill from the Department of Revenue that requires marketplace facilitators to collect sales tax based on the address when an item is shipped or a service is performed. Essentially a tax increase, raises revenues to the state and local governments by an estimated $151 million in a full fiscal year. Heard in House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Passed the Senate and is on the House regular calendar for March 19.
HB 1604 / SB 1590 Representative Dan Howell / Senator Becky Massey – Omnibus bill for highway and bridge naming. Passed the Senate on March 9. Heard in House Transportation Committee; House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee; House Finance, Ways and Means Committee. Action deferred in House Calendar and Rules Committee until March 19.
HB 1930 / SB 2492 Representative Bob Ramsey / Senator Steve Dickerson – Omnibus bill for premiere type tourist resorts. Passed the Senate. No action by the House.
SR 0141 by Senator Mike Bell ratifies and approves amendments and revisions to the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure as promulgated by the Supreme Court. Adopted by the Senate.
At the time of this writing, the only meetings scheduled for Thursday, March 19 are a 9 a.m. House floor session, a 9 a.m. Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee meeting and a 2 p.m. Senate floor session.
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Laura Baigert is a senior reporter at The Tennessee Star.
Photo “Tennessee General Assembly” by tn.gov.
