A Brief Snapshot of What We're Watching This Session
Alyssa Hansen
While this past week's calendars included very little legislation that affects working families, we know that will change in the near future.
Now that the filing deadline has passed, we've finally had a chance to finish digging through all of the nearly 3,000 total bills that were filed in both 2021 and 2022. While some of these were voted down, taken off notice, etc., we still have a very lengthy list that includes over 200 new bills that we are tracking.
Listed below is a small snapshot of the new legislation that we're watching this year. As a reminder, this is far from a complete list. Rather, these are simply important bills (whether good or bad) that affect working families.
As a reminder, House Bill 1856/Senate Bill 1796 will not be heard until Wednesday, February 23rd due to multiple issues with and concerns from several groups (including us) about this legislation.
Because we are still waiting on a likely amendment to be filed, we will not be issuing a call to action this week until we know how the current bill will change. We want to ensure that all of you are equipped with the most up-to-date information when communicating with your legislators.
Please keep an eye on next week's legislative update for new details about HB 1856/SB 1796.
In addition to our three proactively-filed pieces of legislation, here's a quick glance at some of the many bills that we're watching this session...
-HB 1856/SB 1796: As written, this will tie the hands of businesses that may want to locate in Tennessee in the future by making them ineligible to receive state monies if they do not inform employees of their right to a secret ballot election, which is already state law. As we noted above, we are expecting an amendment to be filed that will likely change this bill quite a bit.
-HB 2339/SB 2345: This piece of legislation raises the wages of preferred service employees in the Department of Correction by 15%.
-HB 2598/SB 2538: This bill would require employees whose workplace is represented by a union to pay "fair share fees" if they choose not to belong. Employees, however, cannot be terminated for refusing to pay the fee.
-HB 2793/SB 2670: This legislation seeks to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over the course of several years.
-HB 2396/SB 2657: This legislation increases the penalties for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
-HB 2685/SB 2393: While seemingly innocent, this legislation deals with unemployment compensation. However, because it is a caption bill, we don't know exactly what it does just yet. Both sponsors, however, led the charge last year to cut the amount of time that Tennesseans can draw unemployment benefits.
-HB 2819/SB 2714: This bill requires the Tennessee Department of Labor to set a living wage that is in line with the cost of living in the state.
-HB 2489/SB 2064: According to this piece of legislation, high schools must inform seniors of their right to vote after turning 18 and provide them with information on how to register to vote.
-HB 2029/SB 1971: This is a good bill that says local governments can require private employers to pay employees an hourly wage that's higher than the minimum wage as a condition of conducting business.
A Brief Look at Some of the Additional Legislation That We're Watching Next Week
-HB 1868/SB 1820: This bill would prohibit instant runoff and ranked choice voting.Note: This bill will be heard on both the House and Senate floor next week.
-HB 105/SB 29: This legislation would prohibit local governments from having residency requirements for first responders.Note: This bill passed the Senate last year.
-HB 1867/SB 1823: This bill directs employers who have mandatory vaccination policies to allow exemptions for anyone who provides a religious or medical reason. As the Tennessee Lookout highlighted recently, the intent of the legislation is already a federal mandate.
-HB 2339/SB 2345: This piece of legislation raises the wages of preferred service employees in the Department of Correction by 15%.
-HB 1888/SB 1853: This is a good bill that requires county election commissions to electronically verify that people are no longer qualified to vote before purging them from the voter rolls.
-HB 1853/SB 1780: This is yet another E-Verify bill, although it's different from the one noted last week. It lowers the threshold for employers who use the program from 50 or more employees to 25 or more employees.
Now that the filing deadline has passed, we've finally had a chance to finish digging through all of the nearly 3,000 total bills that were filed in both 2021 and 2022. While some of these were voted down, taken off notice, etc., we still have a very lengthy list that includes over 200 new bills that we are tracking.
Listed below is a small snapshot of the new legislation that we're watching this year. As a reminder, this is far from a complete list. Rather, these are simply important bills (whether good or bad) that affect working families.
As a reminder, House Bill 1856/Senate Bill 1796 will not be heard until Wednesday, February 23rd due to multiple issues with and concerns from several groups (including us) about this legislation.
Because we are still waiting on a likely amendment to be filed, we will not be issuing a call to action this week until we know how the current bill will change. We want to ensure that all of you are equipped with the most up-to-date information when communicating with your legislators.
Please keep an eye on next week's legislative update for new details about HB 1856/SB 1796.
In addition to our three proactively-filed pieces of legislation, here's a quick glance at some of the many bills that we're watching this session...
-HB 1856/SB 1796: As written, this will tie the hands of businesses that may want to locate in Tennessee in the future by making them ineligible to receive state monies if they do not inform employees of their right to a secret ballot election, which is already state law. As we noted above, we are expecting an amendment to be filed that will likely change this bill quite a bit.
-HB 2339/SB 2345: This piece of legislation raises the wages of preferred service employees in the Department of Correction by 15%.
-HB 2598/SB 2538: This bill would require employees whose workplace is represented by a union to pay "fair share fees" if they choose not to belong. Employees, however, cannot be terminated for refusing to pay the fee.
-HB 2793/SB 2670: This legislation seeks to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over the course of several years.
-HB 2396/SB 2657: This legislation increases the penalties for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
-HB 2685/SB 2393: While seemingly innocent, this legislation deals with unemployment compensation. However, because it is a caption bill, we don't know exactly what it does just yet. Both sponsors, however, led the charge last year to cut the amount of time that Tennesseans can draw unemployment benefits.
-HB 2819/SB 2714: This bill requires the Tennessee Department of Labor to set a living wage that is in line with the cost of living in the state.
-HB 2489/SB 2064: According to this piece of legislation, high schools must inform seniors of their right to vote after turning 18 and provide them with information on how to register to vote.
-HB 2029/SB 1971: This is a good bill that says local governments can require private employers to pay employees an hourly wage that's higher than the minimum wage as a condition of conducting business.
A Brief Look at Some of the Additional Legislation That We're Watching Next Week
-HB 1868/SB 1820: This bill would prohibit instant runoff and ranked choice voting.Note: This bill will be heard on both the House and Senate floor next week.
-HB 105/SB 29: This legislation would prohibit local governments from having residency requirements for first responders.Note: This bill passed the Senate last year.
-HB 1867/SB 1823: This bill directs employers who have mandatory vaccination policies to allow exemptions for anyone who provides a religious or medical reason. As the Tennessee Lookout highlighted recently, the intent of the legislation is already a federal mandate.
-HB 2339/SB 2345: This piece of legislation raises the wages of preferred service employees in the Department of Correction by 15%.
-HB 1888/SB 1853: This is a good bill that requires county election commissions to electronically verify that people are no longer qualified to vote before purging them from the voter rolls.
-HB 1853/SB 1780: This is yet another E-Verify bill, although it's different from the one noted last week. It lowers the threshold for employers who use the program from 50 or more employees to 25 or more employees.