Tennessee Government Relations Special Update – August 31, 2023

Tennessee Legislature Wraps Up Special Session: Friction Between House and Senate, Intense Floor Sessions, and Controversial House Rules

The Tennessee General Assembly concluded its special session on public safety this week, adjourning sine die eight days after the legislature first convened on Monday, August 21. The special session had been in the works since April, when the legislature opted to wrap up the 2023 regular session in an expedited fashion, declining to deliberate some of the safety measures that Governor Bill Lee was advocating in the wake of the tragic shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School in March. As was the case in April, large crowds of demonstrators filled the Capitol and legislative office building, calling for stronger gun laws and other public safety measures. And also like April, many of the ensuing headlines dealt more with ancillary issues than legislation – such as friction between House Democrats and House GOP leadership, and treatment of spectators and demonstrators in the House galleries and committee rooms – but this session was also marked by a very public disagreement between House and Senate leadership as to the number and scope of bills that the legislature should deliberate.  

Differing Approaches Between House and Senate Result in Friction Between Chambers

Most of the major headlines this week concerned the public friction between the House and Senate, with the two chambers having very different views on the amount of legislation that should be considered and passed during the special session. Despite having full legislative calendars, the Senate considered just a handful of bills, often adjourning committee hearings and floor sessions after just minutes. The House took a different approach, holding lengthy committee hearings and floor sessions where they deliberated dozens of bills on multiple topics. With such varying approaches, it became obvious last week that the two chambers were approaching an impasse and it was unclear whether a compromise was in the works. The standoff then came into full view last Thursday when, rather than coming to an agreement as to what additional bills would be considered and passed, the two legislative bodies dug in on their respective positions and adjourned for the weekend.  

Unfortunately, the time away from Nashville did little to thaw relations between the two chambers. Senate GOP leadership made it clear on Monday that they were not going to budge on their position that they had passed the key initiatives that were at the core of the special session, and that while several of the additional bills being pushed in the House had merit, a more deliberate process needed to be followed.  With rumors circulating that the stalemate could cause session to extend for several more weeks, the end came quickly as both chambers adjourned sine die around midday on Tuesday.  For the Senate’s part, Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) told Nashville’s WTVF-5, “our position is we’ve completed our business.  There are some other bills that have been filed, some of them very good pieces of legislation.  But we just don’t believe we’ve got the time in a truncated special session to give them thorough consideration.  So let’s wait until January and take those up.” 

The Senate approach drew the ire of many of those who converged on the Capitol advocating for stronger gun laws and public safety measures, many of whom made those views very clear from the gallery of the Senate chamber when the Senate adjourned this week.  The stalemate also left many House members questioning the actual impact of the special session.  House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said he was “very disappointed that we didn’t get more done in this special session. In the House, we had a lot of bills that got left on the table that I hope will still be taken back up in January to help families in Tennessee be safer.”

In response, Senate Republican leaders noted the importance of being deliberate with such important issues as well as following Governor Lee’s lead and sticking to the issues that were part of the Governor’s package of bills.  When asked in an interview with WTVF what he would tell the what he would tell the mothers of schoolchildren that filled the galleries and hallways the last two weeks, Leader Johnson said, “I say we hear you, we hear you. And as I said, there are some really good bills that are among those that have been filed in the House, but what I would say to those families is: we want to get it done right, not get it done fast.”

House Rules Draw Controversy, Litigation

Controversy in the House started right out of the gate, as lawmakers on the first day of the special session spent almost two hours in heated debate over new House rules adopted for the session. A rule to prevent members of the public from holding signs while in the House gallery and committee rooms garnered massive public attention, drawing strong criticism from House Democrats and media outlets as well as subsequently leading to a lawsuit by the ACLU of Tennessee. The ACLU brought its action on behalf of three attendees that were removed from a House committee room for holding up signs, arguing that the rule operated as a violation on the public’s First Amendment rights.  In response, Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin promptly issued a temporary restraining order blocking the House rule, thus allowing signs for the time being, and scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday where she heard competing arguments from the ACLU in opposition to the House rule and the Tennessee Attorney General’s office, which supported the measure. The ACLU argued that the rule operated as an unreasonable suppression of the public’s right of free speech, while also noting the dynamic that under the new rules, the public could bring a gun into a legislative hearing, but not a picture of a gun. The Attorney General argued that the Court had overstepped its authority in temporarily blocking the rule, noting that other states have similar rules barring signs in state capitol buildings, as does the U.S. Supreme Court, and that signs can be a disruption. After considering the arguments, Chancellor Martin ordered that the House rule was to remain blocked, expressing the opinion that the Plaintiffs had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that the rule violated the First Amendment. The temporary restraining order put in place blocking the rule was converted to a temporary injunction which will remain until further order of the Court.

Tensions Remain High In House Floor Sessions

The tensions between House members that were often witnessed during the 2023 regular session once again reappeared in the special session. Starting with the controversy over the rules, tempers ran high between members of the two parties, and floor sessions often contained heated debates and arguments, both over the bills as well as members’ conduct.  On Monday, Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) was twice ruled out of order by Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), leading to a 70-20 vote to silence Jones for the rest of the day under the new House rules. Democrats walked out of the chamber en masse as a result. Then on Tuesday there was a confrontation between Speaker Sexton and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) just moments after Sexton gaveled the session to a close. Pearson had attempted to confront Sexton near the dais with a handmade sign as Sexton tried to exit the chamber, and some jostling and shouting ensued between the two. Pearson was quoted as shouting, “we came here and did absolutely nothing to protect kids.”  Meanwhile, House Republican leadership criticized the Democratic caucus for the breaches in decorum. House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) characterized the events as “a couple of bad apples trying to spoil the bunch,” while Speaker Sexton said, “it’s unfortunate that it keeps getting there, but it is what it is. I mean, y’all can judge for yourself.”

Pearson and Jones drew national attention in April when the two were expelled from the House on a party line vote for a demonstration on the House floor, but both were quickly reinstated to their House seats by local governmental bodies.   

Lawmakers Pass Four Bills Aimed at Public Safety

The House and the Senate ultimately passed only four bills during the special session – three bills aimed at promoting public safety and one appropriations bill. HB7012/SB7085 authorizes the Department of Safety to provide free firearm locks to Tennessee residents upon request, and requires all state-approved handgun safety courses to contain instruction on safe storage of firearms. The bill also permanently exempts the sales and use taxes on firearm safes and firearm safety devices beginning November 1, 2023. HB7013/SB7086 requires court clerks to update records in the state’s background check database within 72 hours and requires case dispositions and expungements be reported to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) electronically. This bill codifies the Governor’s executive order made earlier this year that reduced the timeframe from 30 days to 72 hours. HB7041/SB7088 directs the TBI to submit an annual report on child and human trafficking crimes and trends in Tennessee. The TBI is currently required to track this data, but the new law requires the agency to assemble this information all in one place. The fourth and final bill, HB7070/SB7089, appropriates more than $110 million in public safety funding including $30 million in school safety grants to public and private higher education institutions, $10 million additional funding for school safety grants, $50 million to mental health agencies,  as well as $15.1 million for mental health professionals, the behavioral health scholarship program and mental health safety net.

Despite the small number of bills passed, Governor Bill Lee maintains that the special session was a success, stating, “Significant funding was focused on issues that matter to public safety. We improved the background check system, attacked human trafficking, made more access for safe storage [and] funded mental health resources across the state. We made progress.”

Looking Ahead

The second half of the 113th General Assembly will reconvene on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or if we can be helpful with anything during the off-season. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

The legislature is expected to return for a special session in Nashville on August 28, 2023 to address gun safety and security issues that arose out of the Covenant School shooting tragedy that occurred in March 2023. Governor Lee has been a proponent of enacting legislation that will address issues that are specifically related to how to limit individuals who are facing mental health issues from possessing certain firearms. Many members of the legislature, including those from rural areas, are taking a less active position on addressing gun-related issues. There have been many groups that have become very active, especially in Middle Tennessee, including parents of the Covenant School. These groups are advocating for the legislature to address issues regarding individuals with mental health issues possessing firearms, tightening up laws related to individuals who have been involved in domestic violence episodes from possessing firearms, as well as addressing the major issue related to individuals failing to keep their firearms properly secured when left in vehicles. The Nashville police department and other groups have estimated that over 70% of the violent crimes committed with guns in Nashville involve guns that have been stolen from vehicles. 

As a result of the upcoming special session, there has been very little fundraising activity this summer. TTA through its Truck PAC has been active in a few events and will continue to remain active throughout the year. The Tennessee Journal noted that TTA was active in assisting Senator Ferrell Haile recently, as well as Tim Hill, who is a former state Representative from East Tennessee. Tim Hill was reappointed to serve out the remaining term of Representative Scotty Campbell and recently won a special election. Tim was the former Chairman of the House Commerce Committee and decided not to run for re-election when he ran for Congress a few years ago. 

There is a recent article that was published and written by Adam Friedman for the Tennessee Lookout related to political spending in Tennessee since 2009. A link to the information is: https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/07/24/cash-for-clout-tennessees-million-dollar-club/. The information is related to different trade associations, firms, companies, etc., who have not only spent PAC contributions but also on employing lobbyists since 2009. For what it is worth, TTA comes in at No. 98 out of the top 100, which is about where I expected TTA to be. Please remember, over the past 6 or 7 years TTA has increased its Truck PAC fundraising and contributions significantly, so the above article is somewhat skewed in regards to TTA. Note that many of the other companies employ several lobbyists at times, where TTA over the past 30 plus years has employed one lobbyist. This information is interesting and I just wanted to provide this to you so you can see that it is a big business at the legislature when it comes to hiring lobbyists and making PAC contributions. Since TTA has spent an estimated $1.5 million since 2009, it is important more than ever to support TTA and its legislative activities, especially by contributing to Truck PAC.

I hope you have a wonderful summer and we look forward to seeing you at the convention in San Destin, Florida.  

Laws Taking Effect July 1, 2023

On July 1, a slate of new laws will go into effect in Tennessee. Legislation with specific importance to the industry include two bills highlighted below.

Public Chapter 39 (SB210/HB180). This legislation, sponsored by TTA, will add an additional 2,000 lb. variance on tractor trailers that are operated by electric motors and powered by electric batteries.  This is currently allowed on all federal highways but needs to be extended to state highways.  This is the exact variance currently allowed for tractor trailers that are operated by natural gas.

Public Chapter 229 (SB1337/HB87). This legislation was sponsored by TTA, working in conjunction with other groups, in an effort to tighten up additional notice provisions for the towing of vehicles on private property to line up with the requirements for public property tows. 

Revising the state towing statute is an ongoing process. The statutes are extremely antiquated and were first enacted as far back as 1938. In the near future, we suspect some type of overall modernization of these towing statutes will be seriously considered. Please note, one section of the legislation takes effect July 1, 2023. All other remaining sections went into effect upon becoming law, April 25, 2023.

On Friday, April 21, 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly adjourned its 2023 session, thus concluding one of the more tumultuous sessions in modern history. Legislative highlights included passage of a $3.3 billion infrastructure package that will include the addition of “choice lanes” on Tennessee interstates, and passage of a $56.2 billion budget that includes a three-month sales tax holiday for groceries, as well significant raises for teachers. History will remember the session as being marred by the tragic shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, resulting in the deaths of three school children and three adults. The tragedy has gripped Nashville ever since, with ripple effects that placed Tennessee at the front of national headlines and could impact Tennessee politics for years to come.

The session had been relatively workmanlike leading up into the March 27 shooting, as Governor Bill Lee was close to passing his infrastructure package, non-finance committees were winding down in advance of the administration’s budget amendment being released in early April, and leadership was targeting a May 1 adjournment. The Covenant tragedy immediately stoked calls for greater gun control with thousands of protesters descending upon the Capitol on March 30, calling for greater school safety and gun control measures. The Lee administration and legislative leadership immediately swung into action with an enhanced school safety bill, which passed both chambers overwhelmingly. However, for much of the remainder of session, the protestors packed the House galleries and Capitol common areas on a daily basis demanding that more action be taken to address gun violence.  

As emotions intensified, eventually Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) were initially stripped of their committee assignments and allegedly had their access to the legislative building and parking facility cut off over the weekend after March 30, 2023. On Monday, House Republicans filed articles of expulsion, seeking to remove the three from the General Assembly.

The House held expulsion hearings on Thursday, April 6.  At the conclusion of a House session that lasted roughly 3 hours, they eventually expelled Reps. Jones and Pearson but not Rep. Johnson.  Reps. Jones and Pearson were reinstated by their local government bodies to fill the remainder of their own terms and both will run in special elections in the near future, which they are expected to win handily.

During the last couple of days of the legislature, it was revealed by Channel 5 News that on March 30, 2023, Rep. Scotty Campbell (R-Mountain City) was found guilty by the House Workplace Discrimination and Harassment Subcommittee of violating the House’s workplace discrimination and harassment policy. According to the news reports, it was alleged that Campbell sexually harassed two college students that were serving as legislative interns. Rep.  Campbell initially denied the accounts; however, by the time the House returned for the afternoon floor session on the same day, a report was released on Rep. Campbell had resigned and his desk was cleaned out. Rep. Campbell had been serving as Vice Chair of the House Republican Caucus.

TTA had several significant pieces of legislation that was pursued this legislative session.  Fortunately, we began pushing our legislation very early in the session and did not get caught up in the activity of the last 30 days of the legislative session.  In addition to the Governor’s $3.3 billion infrastructure plan, TTA was also successful in the following:

1. EV Bill (SB210/HB180).  Passage of the EV Bill allows a 2,000 lb. variance for EV powered tractor-trailers.

2. Towing Revisions (SB1337/HB87).  This provided another revision of the towing statute which tightened up the notice and lien provisions in Tennessee.  A major part of the legislation was to amend the towing statutes to make sure that the notice provisions regarding the towing of vehicles, as well as the towing and selling of vehicles, are the same for private tows as public tows.  Also, other revisions were made to accommodate faster forms of notification.

3. HAZMAT-CDL (SB79/HB142).  This bill basically allows for a HAZMAT designation to be included on a CDL license. 

4. A successful TTA Day on the Hill and legislative reception on April 5, 2023 at the offices of Adams and Reese.

While 2023 is not an election year in Tennessee, the events that occurred the last few weeks could lead to a busy off season for the legislature.  The Governor announced two hours after the legislature adjourned that he will be calling the legislature back in a special session to address gun violence issues in Tennessee.  Of course, the official end of the season also signals a kick off of the legislative fund-raising season.  2023 is the first year of a two-year General Assembly and any bill that remains this year could technically remain for the 2024 legislative session.  Along those lines, you are encouraged to look at the final comprehensive bill tracking report for the year and note the current progress of bills of interest.

On behalf of the Tennessee Government Relations Team at Adams and Reese, it has been a privilege to represent you in Tennessee this legislative session.  We look forward to working with you in the off season to further advance your interests and prepare for the 2024 legislative session.

The Tennessee legislature is entering its final few days of this session and several major committees have either shut down or on their final calendars.  Over the past few days, the following actions have taken place:

1.       $3 Billion Infrastructure Plan. On March 30, 2023 the Senate and House passed the $3 Billion Infrastructure Plan.  Highlights of the plan include fees on electric vehicles to offset the foregone fuel tax revenue, as well as the establishment of public-private partnerships to construct “choice lanes.” Choice lanes allow drivers to proceed in certain lanes on the interstate for a fee, such as is commonly seen in states such as Georgia and Florida. While some critics call the lanes “toll roads,” which is something Tennessee has never pursued, proponents argue that it simply gives motorists a choice of traveling a less congested express lane for a fee, while the remaining lanes remain free as they always have.

2.       Three-Year License Plate.  The House passed HB675 with a unanimous floor vote.  This will allow rental car companies who currently have two-year license plates to obtain three-year license plates.  This has been done as a result of vehicles remaining in fleets for a longer period of time because of the pandemic and supply chain issues. 

3.       Towing Statutes.  On March 30, 2023 the House and Senate passed HB87/SB1337 which is this year’s revisions to the towing statutes in Tennessee.  The towing statutes in Tennessee are antiquated as they were first enacted in 1938.  This legislation was drafted with input from rental car companies, insurance companies and the Towing Association.  Among other things, this legislation will streamline notification by allowing towing companies to send notifications by overnight mail such as UPS and FedEx.  It clarifies that rental companies include motor vehicle rental companies and requires that notifications under public tows are applicable to private tows, which requires use of the TIES system to identify and notify owners of vehicles.  There are other changes that are enacted in an attempt to modernize the statute, as well.

Please remember the TTA Day on the Hill is April 5, 2023 and we hope to see you there.  Also, TTA will host its popular reception with bourbon and cigars at 4:30 pm that same day at Adams and Reese, 1600 West End Avenue, Suite 1400, Nashville Tennessee and we hope you will find time to attend that, as well.