HB 1856 Back on Notice, Ask Lawmakers to Vote "NO"

After being rolled three weeks ago due to multiple issues with the legislation, House Bill 1856/Senate Bill 1796 is scheduled to be heard in the House Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee on Wednesday, February 23rd at 9:00 a.m. CT.

As written, this bill would tie the hands of private 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.

While we are still expecting an amendment to be filed, this likely will not happen until the bill is heard in committee.

Regardless, the bottom line is this: discussions about worker representation should be left up to employers and employees without outside influence from politicians.

This is yet another attempt by anti-worker lawmakers who couldn't resist taking a shot at the longstanding, productive relationship between the UAW and Ford during the October special session to insert themselves into matters that should be left up to businesses and workers. Many of these same politicians who love to throw around words like "corruption" and "coercion" would be wise to reflect on their own actions.

Click here and ask your state representative to vote "NO" on HB 1856!

We should be focused on working together to create safe, good-paying jobs (just like the ones that are coming to the Memphis Regional Meagasite) instead of the government trying to manage the private sector.

Tell your legislator: stop trying to manage private businesses and employees!

If your state representative is on this subcommittee, we ask that you please take an extra step and call them at the numbers we've provided by clicking on either of the buttons above.

We thank you in advance for taking action to keep politicians out of discussions that should be left up to businesses and workers!

A Brief Look at Some of the Additional Legislation That We're Watching Next Week

-HB 1929/SB 1762: This bill would allow local governments to set the standards on paid leave for government contractors or businesses in their community.

-HB 2029/SB 1971: This is a good piece of legislation 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.

-HB 1636/SB 2297: According to this bill, private employers, governmental entities, public contractors, and public subcontractors with at least six employees must use E-Verify when hiring. This is one of two pieces of legislation dealing with E-Verify that are moving through the House.

-HB 2733/SB 2879: This piece of legislation requires employers to give their employees who are veterans an unpaid holiday on Veterans Day.

-HB 2396/SB 2657: This legislation increases the penalties for violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

-HB 2829/SB 2766: The complete opposite of what will be heard on the House floor on Thursday, this bill creates a program that incentivizes first responders to live within the boundaries of a local government.

-HB 1869/SB 2499: This piece of legislation requires that public institutions of higher education with more than 20,000 enrolled students be designated as polling places during early voting.

-HB 2734/SB 2674: According to this bill, employees who are local elected officials must be allowed to leave work to perform their duties without the loss of pay, vacation time, etc.

-HB 2339/SB 2345: This is a good piece of legislation that raises the wages of preferred service employees in the Department of Correction by 15%.

-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 and will be heard on the House floor on Thursday.