State lawmakers convened this week at the Capitol, where bills on transportation funding, medical care and unlawful photography made their way through committees. Other legislation on the hill this week involved the intent to cut ties with the World Health Organization, regulations to THC and honoring the late owner of an East Nashville gay bar.
Transportation Funding
In the House Transportation Committee this week, Rep. David Hawk (R-Greeneville) presented HB 969 prior to discussion with the Department of Transportation about its budget requests this year. Hawk explained that the sales tax generated by the sale of motor vehicles and tires goes into the general fund right now. Gov. Bill Lee’s budget puts a one-time designation of $1 billion of that sales tax toward road funding. HB 969 would make that funding recurring.
There is more than $38 billion in outstanding needs for roads and transportation in the state, Hawk told the committee.
Department of Transportation Commissioner Butch Eley noted that in past decades the gas tax rate had grown in a way that allowed the department to not only keep up but also increase its capacity for infrastructure building. However, that revenue stream from the gas tax is now flat, Eley said.
Indexing the gas tax, or allowing it to adjust based on inflation, is something the state has not adopted. Joe Galbato, deputy commissioner and department CFO, said it would be a powerful tool moving forward. He added that in 2017 the department studied the possibility of indexing. If the state had done so then, it would have brought the tax up 18 cents.
TDOT is making $775 million in nonrecurring requests that would allow the department to expedite and add to its projects in the 10-year plan. The department is scheduled to update that 10-year plan in April and will release the augmented plan by June so that it can be up to date on how the funds will be spent.
Legislators asked about how funding for local projects could be improved with the state’s help considering the difficulties that municipalities face in keeping up with costs.
“We’re struggling to meet our state obligations — our counties and locals are struggling to meet their obligations as well,” Eley said. “Everything about this presentation today talks about the need ... for us to be able to invest in being able to move forward. ... We all need to be thinking in that same process about the importance of infrastructure and how we invest in that future both at a local, county and state level.”
Republicans Continue to Target WHO
TSU updates State Building Commission on finances; protesters gather on Presidents Day against DOGE
A bill that looks to cut out the World Health Organization from the process of responding to a pandemic passed the Senate this week. As noted last week in our On the Hill column, under current law, the Tennessee governor can declare a statewide emergency in response to a pandemic only after the WHO makes an official declaration. The bill brought by Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) and Rep. Justin Lafferty (R-Knoxville) would move that responsibility over to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
THC Regulations
Republican lawmakers are determined to re-restrict high-potency THC, while farmers and Democrats consider the path to legalization
This week several bills were heard related to restricting high-potency THC as well as efforts to make a path to legalization. Read more from our media partner Nashville Banner.
Mental Health and Medical Ethics
A bill (HB 1375) by Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) and Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville), the "Tennessee Mental Health Volunteer Alliance Act," was taken off notice in the House this week. The act would have required the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to create and manage a statewide volunteer database of qualified mental health professionals to provide counseling immediately after an act of gun violence or another disaster. A related bill that requires local education agencies to allow students of a public or charter school where an act of mass violence occurred to voluntarily participate either in remote instruction or a virtual education program also failed in the House.
The Medical Ethics Defense Act, written by Alliance Defending Freedom — a national group opposed to abortion and LGBTQ rights — would establish legal protections for health care providers who refuse care to individuals when it violates their “conscience.” It passed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee this week, but awaits action in the House.
Unlawful Photography
HB 602, also known as the "Voyeurism Victims Act," would expand legal protections for victims of unlawful photography. The bill brought by Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) unanimously passed the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Wednesday.
The bill would change some language in the legal statute and change the statute of limitations from 12 months after an incident occurred to 12 months after the criminal activity was discovered, and would allow a victim to pursue an order of protection. The bill was spurred by action from a group of at least 12 Nashville women who were secretly recorded engaging in sexual acts by a man they each dated.
The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Yarbro and also unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday.
(Disclosure: Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, which publishes the Nashville Scene, the Nashville Post, the Williamson Scene and Nfocus.)
Resolution to Honor Late Bar Owner Fails
Monday's House Naming and Designating Committee meeting ended with a walkout from Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), whose resolution to honor the life of Darek Tanner, the late owner of East Nashville gay bar Canvas Lounge, was voted down.
Tanner, who opened the bar in 2010, died suddenly in January. Behn’s resolution calls Tanner a “beloved member of the Nashville LGBTQ+ community” who made “extraordinary contributions to creating a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for all.”
Founder Darek Tanner remembered as pillar of local LGBTQ community
“A simple resolution, one meant to honor the life and legacy of a beloved community member of my district and my community, has been derailed and delayed not because of procedural necessity, but because of legal complexity and because of petty partisanship and the unchecked discretion of this Republican supermajority,” Behn said.
“Let me be clear,” she continued. “The consent calendar exists for precisely these kinds of resolutions — bipartisan, non-controversial and the collective acknowledgement of the people of our districts to make Tennessee better. Yet somehow, this resolution was pulled from the consent calendar and sent to this committee, not for cause, not for correction, but for control.”
Monday's vote means that the resolution has received a negative recommendation to the State and Local Government Committee.
Behn was joined by fellow Democratic Reps. Vincent Dixie and Justin Jones of Nashville in voting aye, while Republican Reps. Rush Bricken, Vice-Chair Monty Fritts, Tom Leatherwood, Pat Marsh, Todd Warner and Chair Gino Bulso all voted nay. Republican Jody Barrett voted present.
