HB 1856 Rolled For Three Weeks, Bill-Filing Deadline Passes
Alyssa Hansen
Last week, we told you about House Bill 1856/Senate Bill 1796 which, as written, 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. 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.
While we knew that this legislation would likely be filed based on comments made during the special session, it has the potential jeopardize any future investments in Tennessee.
We should be focused on working together to create safe, good-paying jobs instead of the government trying to manage the private sector.
Due to multiple issues with and concerns from several groups (including us) about this legislation, HB 1856 will not be heard until Wednesday, February 23rd. We thank those of you who took time to call or e-mail your state representatives to express your opposition to the bill.
However, this does NOT mean that we are in the clear. At this point, we are expecting an amendment to be filed that could completely change the legislation.
Therefore, we will not be issuing a call to action (at least for this week) until we are able to see the amendment and the effect that it has on the current bill. 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 future legislative updates for developments.
Now, we are going to switch gears slightly and cover a few administrative notes. The bill-filing deadline has passed for both chambers, and nearly 1,600 new pieces of legislation have been filed in both the House and Senate. Between 2021 and 2022, there are close to 3,000 total bills for the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. Of course, some of these were voted down, taken off notice, etc., but that's still a very lengthy list.
Given that we are still going through the hundreds of new bills that have been filed, next week's update will focus on the overall picture of what we're seeing this year, good and bad pieces of legislation, and more information about three bills that we have proactively filed to go on the offensive and attempt to successfully maneuver these through the legislature. We look forward to sharing additional details about these and how all of you can help ensure that we can (hopefully) pass some good bills this year.
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.
-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 this week, the intent of the legislation is already a federal mandate.
-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 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 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.
While we knew that this legislation would likely be filed based on comments made during the special session, it has the potential jeopardize any future investments in Tennessee.
We should be focused on working together to create safe, good-paying jobs instead of the government trying to manage the private sector.
Due to multiple issues with and concerns from several groups (including us) about this legislation, HB 1856 will not be heard until Wednesday, February 23rd. We thank those of you who took time to call or e-mail your state representatives to express your opposition to the bill.
However, this does NOT mean that we are in the clear. At this point, we are expecting an amendment to be filed that could completely change the legislation.
Therefore, we will not be issuing a call to action (at least for this week) until we are able to see the amendment and the effect that it has on the current bill. 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 future legislative updates for developments.
Now, we are going to switch gears slightly and cover a few administrative notes. The bill-filing deadline has passed for both chambers, and nearly 1,600 new pieces of legislation have been filed in both the House and Senate. Between 2021 and 2022, there are close to 3,000 total bills for the 112th Tennessee General Assembly. Of course, some of these were voted down, taken off notice, etc., but that's still a very lengthy list.
Given that we are still going through the hundreds of new bills that have been filed, next week's update will focus on the overall picture of what we're seeing this year, good and bad pieces of legislation, and more information about three bills that we have proactively filed to go on the offensive and attempt to successfully maneuver these through the legislature. We look forward to sharing additional details about these and how all of you can help ensure that we can (hopefully) pass some good bills this year.
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.
-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 this week, the intent of the legislation is already a federal mandate.
-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 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.