What's Ahead for 2016?

  T he Tennessee General Assembly adjourned for the year in April, but we've been busy preparing for what will undoubtedly be another difficult legislative session. With Republican supermajorities in both the House and Senate, it's no secret that we're up against some pretty tough odds at the Capitol. However, our will to fight for working families is stronger than ever. We're committed to continuing to do our part to stop harmful legislation and ensure that all of our affiliates have a voice. As we move through session, please don't hesitate to contact us if you have questions about any pending legislation, or would like to join us at the Capitol on a particular day. 

  Our weekly legislative updates will most likely begin in late January or early February. The legislature will reconvene on Tuesday, January 12th. Until we start to get a good idea of what bills have been filed, we want to provide you with a brief "legislative recap" of where everything left off earlier this year. If you'd like to reference our complete list of the top "good" and "bad" bills, click here. Otherwise, here's the current status of the bills that were left in legislative limbo. To access more information about a particular piece of legislation, simply click on the red or blue text below. Because most of the bills on our "good" list were voted down or never saw the light of day, we felt it was necessary to review the most dangerous pieces of legislation so that we can all be ready to fight in January!  
Pending Legislation

HB 603 by Durham/SB 123 by Kelsey
: Deferred Until 2016/Sent to General Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee

This bill seeks to ban collective bargaining agreements between public employees and local governments, utility districts, and other entities.

HB 997 by Durham/ SB 721 by Green: Deferred Until 2016/Deferred Until 2016

This piece of legislation would enact the "Tennessee Employee Injury Benefit Alternative." In other words, this is the bill that would let employers create their own Workers' Compensation plan and be exempt from state coverage. 

As of right now, Senator Green plans to withdraw this bill and file a new one on the same subject. We will pass along details of the new legislation when we learn them. 

HB 1145 by Casada/ SB 890 by Kelsey: Taken Off Notice/Sent to General Subcommittee  

 

This bill deals with dues deductions to state employee organizations. It prohibits dues from being intermingled with PAC (political action committee) money.

 

Representative Casada faced a considerable amount of bipartisan opposition to this bill last year, so while we aren't expecting him to reintroduce it, we can't rule it out, either.  

HB 1286 by Durham/ SB 798 by Kelsey: Passed 74-20 in the House/Failed to Pass in the Senate (15-2-8); sent back to Calendar Committee

This bill deals with blocking highways and other passageways. It also adds "owner" to the list of people whose request to move must be obeyed (a couple of amendments to this bill have been filed, which waters it down quite a bit). 

Because this bill already passed in the House, we will likely see it come up for a vote in the Senate again very early in session. 

Contact:
Alyssa Hansen, Communications Director
1901 Lindell Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203  |  615.269.7111