The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned the 2024 legislative session sine die on April 25, 2024. Highlights of the session include:
- Passage of a $52.8 billion dollar budget that adds to public school funding, rainy-day savings fund, and rural health initiatives.
- Revision of Tennessee’s 90-year-old franchise tax laws and enacting a refund for taxes paid by qualifying businesses. This was adopted with a 3 1/2 year look-back on a refund and disclosures of companies receiving a refund to be made public for 30 days between May 31 and June 30, 2025. That list will break the companies down into four different categories: companies receiving refunds from $0-$750, companies receiving refunds from $750-$10,000, companies receiving greater than $10,000, and companies whose applications are pending. Companies must also agree to waive all further claims with the state. Any company not applying for a refund that elects to sue the state instead will not be entitled to attorney’s fees.
- Lee Administration’s statewide Education Scholarship Plan is dead for the year. After much debate for the entire session, the Administration’s plans to establish 20,000 government-funded educational scholarships across the state, giving parents the opportunity to move children from public schools to private schools, failed to gain enough support for legislative passage and was tabled for future consideration.
On behalf of TTA we tracked more than 3,000 bills and more than 100 bills for active participation on behalf of the industry. One bill of particular interest was an effort to require that all trucks weighing 16,000 lbs. or more have license plates on the front and back. This legislation failed to move out of committee.
A major piece of legislation that was a priority for TTA this year was the passage of legislation to address predatory booting and to modernize the existing towing statutes. The Tennessee legislature passed a major overhaul of towing and booting laws, SB1692/HB1731, which was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and Representative Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin) that generally prohibits booting or the use of immobilization devices on vehicles in Tennessee, absent a few exceptions for individuals licensed through a local government. The bill also proposes new regulations for towing and parking to further protect drivers and vehicle owners.
The bill prohibits unlicensed individuals from booting vehicles in Tennessee and limits booting to commercial lots only. Further, in order to boot a vehicle in a commercial parking lot, a licensed parking attendant must be present, easily identifiable as an employee of the commercial lot, and available to remove the boot within 45 minutes from point of contact. The bill caps the fee to remove a boot at $75. Notice provisions have also been added to ensure drivers are aware that parking in a lot without pay could result in the vehicle being booted or towed.
Most noteworthy for the trucking and transportation industry, this legislation makes it illegal to boot or use any device to immobilize trucks and trailers anywhere in Tennessee.
The legislation also ensures that vehicle owners are properly notified if their vehicle is towed, sold or demolished by a towing company and directs the Department of Revenue to create a motor vehicle portal. The portal may be accessible by law enforcement, towing companies, vehicle owners, and lien holders. The portal will be used for all public notifications of the sale of unclaimed vehicles.
Additionally, the bill provides that if the towing process has begun, but the vehicle has not yet left the parking area, the towing company is required to release the vehicle to the owner for a fee of no more than $100. Lastly, towing and storage fees will be tied to the local Highway Patrol schedule in each specific district, in an effort to combat unnecessary and excessive fees.
The legislature made a one-time $300,000 appropriation to fund the creation of the motor vehicle portal. The law will go into effect July 1, 2024, except for the implementation of the vehicle portal which will go into effect July 1, 2025, at the request of the Dept. of Revenue.
Finally, the conclusion of this two-year term of the General Assembly also means the departure of several long-time influential incumbents that have always been supportive of the industry. Those retiring from the legislature include Senator Art Swann (R-Maryville), Deputy House Speaker Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville), Committee Chairman Dale Carr (R‑Sevierville), Representative John Holsclaw (R-Elizabethton), House Committee Chairman Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), and Representative Darren Jernigan (D-Nashville).
Legislative fundraising will begin soon and it will be a very busy summer. We will update you on general and primary elections and any major breaking news updates that warrant reporting. TruckPAC will be very active this summer and fall and your support of TruckPAC is greatly appreciated.
Please contact us if you have any questions.