With the bill-filing deadline behind us, committee calendars are filling up quickly and the most-intensive part of our legislative work is beginning.
Now that we've finally had a chance to finish digging through all of the legislation that was filed in both chambers, we'll reiterate some of the observations that we shared last Friday.
Between legislation left over from last year and anything new that was submitted before the deadline, nearly 3,000 total bills have been filed in each chamber. That's one of the highest numbers that we've seen in quite some time.
One of the most noteworthy aspects about this year's newly-filed legislation is the amount of caption bills that lawmakers have submitted. We've discussed what these are before but as a reminder, caption bills are pieces of legislation that say one thing and end up doing another.
While we still haven't seen anything too alarming (although there are several concerning pieces of legislation we'll be watching closely), that's subject to change at any time.
As we do every year, we're keeping an eye on bills that not only affect Tennessee's working families but also ones that deal with election laws, government organization, and much more.
In addition to the legislation that's leftover from last year, we're tracking about 250 new bills.
We'll try our best to keep these weekly updates as short and informative as possible so that you're able to share them with your members, especially if calls to action are needed over the next several months.
Here's a quick glance at some of the many new bills that we're watching this session. As a reminder, this is far from a complete list.Rather, these are simply a few important bills (whether good or bad) that affect working families.
Remember, because this is the second half of the 113th Tennessee General Assembly, anything that was taken off notice, etc. can come back at any time.
-While we're unaware of a specific bill number just yet, Governor Bill Lee's push to expand Tennessee's school voucher scheme statewide will likely command most of the attention this year. Stay tuned for ways that you can get involved to help push back and support public education!
-HB 2031/SB 2570: Potentially having major implications for strikes or rallies, this piece of legislation would increase the penalty for blocking a highway, street, etc. from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
-HB 2556/SB 1817: This bill requires the Bureau of Workers' Compensation to publicly share its annual report on the impact of the Workers' Compensation Reform Act of 2013.
-HB 2043/SB 1934: Among other things, this good piece of legislation would eliminate the sales tax on groceries.
-HB 2084/SB 1982: This bill would create the offense of "wage theft."
-HB 2033/SB 1888: This piece of legislation seeks to add party affiliation to voter registration forms in Tennessee.
-HB 2110/SB 2027: A suspicious bill that we'll be watching closely, this seeks to define the term "work" as having the same meaning as interpreted by the Supreme Court for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
-HB 1889/SB 2102: A bill with powerful sponsors (House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson), this would enact the "State of Tennessee Real Estate Asset Management (STREAM) Act" and would consolidate power under the commissioner of General Services for decision-making related to all executive branch leases. You can read more about this seemingly innocent (but potentially dangerous) administration bill here.
-HB 1892/SB 2100: Featuring the same two sponsors, this piece of legislation authorizes the use of third-party examiners or inspectors instead of local ones for certain processes.
-HB 1869/SB 1926: This piece of legislation would create a taskforce to study and develop reparation proposals for African Americans.
-HB 2396/SB 2409: This bill seeks to increase the minimum wage for food delivery workers.
-HB 2892/SB 2799: A good example of a caption bill, this supposedly deals with the refusal to grant an exemption to the Child Labor Act of 1976. Given the sponsors, however, we are skeptical that this does anything positive.
A Brief Look at Some of the Additional Legislation That We're Watching Next Week
NOTE: Several of these were already listed in the roundup of some of the bills that we're monitoring this session.
-HB 2031/SB 2570: Potentially having major implications for strikes or rallies, this piece of legislation would increase the penalty for blocking a highway, street, etc. from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
-HB 2110/SB 2027: This suspicious bill seeks to define the term "work" as having the same meaning as interpreted by the Supreme Court for the purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
-HB 1892/SB 2100: This piece of legislation authorizes the use of third-party examiners or inspectors instead of local ones for certain processes
-HB 1502/SB 1028: A good bill, this would enact the "Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership Act."
-HB 1616/SB 2631: Similar to a bad piece of legislation from last year, this would outline the process of declaring a statewide political party affiliation before voting in a primary election.
-HB 741/SB 1024: Filed last year (but proving that some bills are never truly gone), this seeks to repeal the Tennessee Education Savings Account Pilot Program (aka school vouchers).
-HB 2716/SB 2634: A result of last year's expulsion hearings, this would block a local legislative body (for example, Nashville's Metro Council) from sending someone who was expelled from the General Assembly for disorderly behavior to fill the opening that was created from their expulsion.
-HB 1886/SB 2078: Showing the supermajority's continued disdain for working families, this bill would authorize penalties for specific violations for those who participate in the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program and food stamp program.
Search