Rumored GOP deal sends record $1.6B handout to corporations — with some public disclosure

• 8:30 a.m. CT Conference Committee — SB 2103: House and Senate Republicans are rumored to have struck a deal to bless Gov. Bill Lee’s $1.9 billion corporate giveaway and franchise tax break – the largest corporate handout in the history of the state.
• This agreement comes just days after the nonpartisan think tank THINK TENNESSEE released research showing that companies in Tennessee already pay one of the lowest effective business tax rates in the nation.
• Under the rumored deal, property-rich corporations will get $4 billion worth of franchise tax breaks over the next decade (about $400M annually) and become eligible for $1.6 billion worth of immediate cash payments from the government.
• The deal also supposedly includes a pared-back disclosure requirement for corporations that claim a taxpayer handout.
• After rejecting grocery tax cuts for working families, Gov.
  Lee has made this record corporate tax break the single, most expensive initiative of his entire administration. Just one year after he enacted a record corporate tax break. Priorities, right?  
• The Tennessean reported more than half of handout, 53%, would go to out-of-state corporations.
• Gov. Bill Lee – a wealthy business owner – refuses to say whether his company will benefit. 
• The governor says he included this massive corporate tax break in his budget to ward off potential legal challenges, but there is no lawsuit. Just a strongly worded letter – signed mostly by companies that would not even qualify for a handout under the bill.
• Independent tax experts say the law could have been fixed with a simple tax credit and the governor is conceding billions worth of revenue for no reason.
• The regressive tax structure left in place results in lower revenues and less funding for schools, healthcare, public safety, transportation, and other services that could cut costs and strengthen working families.

 

Will the Senate adopt House Speaker Sexton’s unconstitutional juvenile crime bill? 

• 11 a.m. Senate Message Calendar — SB 0624, by Sen. Brent Taylor, is a bill about blended sentencing and it passed the Senate with bipartisan support, but the House version is drastically different. 
• The House bill, backed by Speaker Cameron Sexton, would allow judges to stack up to five years in adult prison on top of a juvenile sentence for kids as young as 14 who have committed some crimes. Another provision would require juvenile court judges to automatically transfer 16- and 17-year-olds to adult court when the defendant is facing first, second or attempted murder.
• Juvenile advocates say the measure could subject youth to incarceration in an adult prison without a jury trial – a likely violation of their constitutional rights.

 

8:30 a.m. CT       Conference Committee: Gov. Lee’s corporate handout

 

1. SB 2103 *Johnson, Yager (HB  1893 by *Lamberth, Cochran)

Taxes, Franchise- As introduced, deletes the provision requiring that the measure of the franchise tax must not be less than the actual value of the real or tangible property owned or used by a taxpayer in this state; authorizes the commissioner of revenue to issue refunds under certain conditions to taxpayers who properly file a claim for refund for taxes paid under that provision.

 

Gov. Lee’s giant corporate tax handout.

 

10 a.m. CT          Senate Regular Calendar

 

1. SB  2911 *Bailey (HB  1600 by *Williams)

Firearms and Ammunition- As introduced, prohibits the purchase or possession of a firearm by a person under 25 years of age if the person was previously adjudicated delinquent for an act that, if committed by an adult, would have constituted one or more certain offenses; allows the Tennessee bureau of investigation access to juvenile court records for the limited purpose of performing a background check prior to the purchase or transfer of a firearm to determine whether a person has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental health institution at 16 years of age or older, as required by federal law, or is prohibited from purchasing a firearm because of an adjudication as delinquent. - Amends TCA Title 18; Title 37 and Title 39.

 

Senate Message Calendar

 

1. SB 0624 *Taylor, Rose, McNally, Johnson (HB  0430 by *White, Gillespie)

Juvenile Offenders- As introduced, allows a juvenile court to impose a blended sentence on a child 16 years of age or older for a juvenile offense that would be a Class A, B, or C felony if committed by an adult; defines blended sentencing as a combination of any disposition otherwise provided for juveniles and a period of adult probation to be served after the child turns 18 years of age and which ends on or before the child's twenty-fifth birthday.

 

House version is drastically different. This bill would allow judges to stack up to five years in adult prison on top of a juvenile sentence for kids as young as 14 who have committed some crimes.

 

Another provision would require juvenile court judges to automatically transfer 16- and 17-year-olds to adult court when the defendant is facing first, second or attempted murder.

 

Juvenile advocates say the measure could subject youth to incarceration in an adult prison without a jury trial – in violation of constitutional rights.

 

2. SB 0795 by Gardenhire. (HB1259 by Vital.)

Real Property - Amends TCA Title 29 and Title 66. As introduced, removes ambiguous language and clarifies that a transfer of a possibility of reverter or right of entry by a holder other than the original grantor is invalid unless the validity of the future interest was determined by a final judgment in a judicial proceeding, or by a settlement among interested persons, prior to July 1, 2015.

 

House version has been amended to be an aggressive and unnecessary anti-squatter law.

 

3. SB  1284 *Yarbro (HB  1061 by *Powers)

Commerce and Insurance, Dept. of- As amended by the House, creates the Tennessee-Ireland trade commission

 

4. SB 1844 *Briggs (HB  1937 by *Holsclaw)

Alcoholic Beverages- Omnibus liqueur by the drink bill

 

5. SB 2133 *Lowe (HB  2479 by *Cochran)

Business and Commerce- As introduced, declares that an intrastate commercial good that is produced in this state and that remains within the borders of this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation under the authority of congress to regulate interstate commerce. - Amends TCA Title 4.

 

6. SB  2559 *Taylor (HB  2206 by *Gillespie, Martin G, Moon, Vaughan, White, Doggett, Davis, Carr, Raper, Hale, Moody)

Law Enforcement- As introduced, authorizes the import and export of human remains by state, local, and municipal law enforcement agencies for the purpose of human remains detection training; requires the Tennessee bureau of investigation, in consultation with the department of health, to promulgate rules regarding the secure storage of human remains, the use of human remains as a training aid for human remains detection training, and proper disposal methods for human remains, after such remains can no longer be used as a training aid. - Amends TCA Title 11; Title 38 and Title 68.

 

7. SB 2566 *Taylor, Rose, Johnson, Yager (HB  1718 by *Gillespie, Vaughan, White, Moody, Gant)

Bail, Bail Bonds- As introduced, requires any conditions of release imposed on a defendant to include a requirement that the defendant submit to pretrial monitoring to ensure compliance with the conditions; requires the court to order bail to be forfeited and an arrest warrant issued if the defendant does not comply with conditions of release; limits, to criminal or circuit court judges, those who may release a defendant who has been arrested for failure to comply with the conditions of release. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

 

8. SB 2782 *Bowling (HB  2310 by *Richey, Grills, Fritts, Hulsey, Darby, Todd, Capley, Lamberth, Leatherwood, Barrett, Hill, Warner, McCalmon, Carringer, Moody, Moon, Davis, Hicks T, Littleton, Russell, Marsh, Lafferty, Reedy, Farmer, Lynn, Travis, Bulso, Butler, Sparks, Slater, Martin B, Burkhart, Eldridge, Keisling, Sherrell, Vital, Howell, Doggett, Ragan, Cepicky, Raper, Haston, Stevens, Alexander, Faison, Powers, Hurt, Vaughan)

Public Health- As introduced, creates a civil cause of action against any person who knowingly removes a minor from this state without the consent of a parent of the minor for the purpose of assisting the minor in obtaining a healthcare procedure that is for the purpose of enabling the minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor's sex or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor's sex and asserted identity.   - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 36; Title 37; Title 39 and Title 68.