by Matt Kroplin, House Democratic Press Secretary
posted April 1, 2004
With the legislative session now in full-swing, state legislators are putting the final touches on their legislative packages for 2004.
Governor Bredesen has submitted his annual budget, and the House Finance Committee has recently completed their yearly Budget Hearings. The House Democratic Caucus remains committed to working with the governor to pass a fiscally sound budget that includes no new taxes.
The bulk of this session's legislation has been moving through House committees and subcommittees this week. To date, more than 3,500 bills have been filed with the House Clerk’s Office. This number includes legislation filed last year and this. This week, we considered almost 500 pieces of legislation in the committee process alone.
Each of these pieces of legislation needs to be reviewed carefully. From identity theft and consumer protection to indigent mental health issues, all of these proposals will most likely affect our district in some way. The House has already considered the Charitable Gaming Act and will soon take up each dimension of the yearly Budget for consideration. The House Democratic Caucus welcomes the input of members of Tennessee's communities. It is always important to know where the citizens of this great state stand on the issues.
The House Democratic Caucus encourages all Tennesseans to actively participate as we conduct
the business of the state. All floor sessions, committee and subcommittee meetings and budget hearings are open to anyone. In addition, if you cannot make it up to Nashville, the House has created a streaming video feed from all of our floor meetings and some of our committee meetings as well. From our web site, you can view these meetings live or locate the archive and see what happened earlier in the week.
From the onset of the 2004 Legislative Session, the House has set as its goal to again join together with Governor Bredesen to balance the budget with no new taxes, do our business in an orderly fashion and go home. It is, as expected, a tight year fiscally as there is no excess revenue. We remain committed, however, to protecting our investment in Tennessee's children by fully funding the BEP and our investment in teachers and their salary equity, to supporting Governor Bredesen and his work on TennCare and to looking at Workers issues.
As we review each item set to come before the House, the House Democratic Caucus hopes that you will contact your legislator to let him or her know how you feel about the issues facing your community. You can reach your legislator's office at 1-800-449-8366 or locate their email addresses at www.legislature.state.tn.us. ▪
tnhousedems.com
Moving through committee…
HB 2870 by Rep. Shepard expands the entities covered by the pharmacy access statute. Presently,
issuers of health insurance and managed health insurance are prohibited from denying the right of any licensed pharmacy or pharmacist to participate in plans under the same terms and conditions as other pharmacy providers. The legislation will next be heard in the Commerce Committee.
HB 3505 by Rep. Vaughn is an administration bill that requires private investigators seeking biennial renewal of their licenses to complete 12 hours of continuing professional education as a prerequisite for renewal. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 3495 by Rep. McDonald allows the commissioner of TDEC to purchase services for state park operations without the approval of any other state agency. The amended bill also clarifies that the new law shall not be construed to allow the department to contract for services previously accomplished for the parks by state employees. This legislation was referred to the committee on Finance, Ways & Means.
HB 3415 by Rep. Curtiss requires any nursing home without a sprinkler system to provide a smoke alarm in each patient's room within 90 days. The smoke alarm may be a single station alarm or a series of smoke detectors connected together at a central alarm panel. The same nursing homes must submit a plan to install such a system to the Department of Health. This bill provides that facilities with more than one floor must submit plans within six months, and ground floor-only-facilities must submit plans no later than 11 months from the effective date of the legislation. Facilities may choose to completely replace the existing facility with a new structure and must submit a letter of intent to replace the facility along with estimates of the completion date. Failure to comply with these requirements would be grounds for discipline or licensure action. The bill will take effect upon becoming law. Funding for this bill will be reflected in the Administration’s Appropriation Amendment, as referenced in the March 19 memorandum from F&A Commissioner Goetz. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 2343 by Rep. Ferguson establishes the "Elder Protection Act of 2004," which will provide standards for detaining individuals who are charged with elder abuse. Issues related to financial institutions that act as trustees are also addressed within the bill as amended, and doctor offices, health care facilities, senior centers, community centers, and pharmacies are required to post contact information for reporting elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 3500 by Speaker Pro Tem DeBerry creates the Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health, specifies its responsibilities, and authorizes an advisory council. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 3481 by Deputy Speaker Turner authorizes the Department of Commerce and Insurance to query the TBI's criminal history records system in order to obtain criminal history information relative to issuing licenses, permits, and registrations. Also, this information would be used for the investigation of consumer complaints. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 2311 by Rep. Langster amends the law relating to witnesses who testify during OSHA investigations. This bill adds that a witness's name, job title, and other identifying information would be confidential. Also, this bill provides a 30-day period for an agency or department to contest a written notification from the commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development indicating noncompliance with state law. Under present law, an agency or department is given 20 days to contest the written notification. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 2517 by Rep. M. Turner expands the statutory exemption for telephone solicitations conducted by non-profit organizations to include telemarketers calling on behalf of non-profit organizations. However, the bill clarifies that telephone solicitation does not include voice communications to any residential subscriber if the communication is made by a bona fide member, volunteer, employee, or authorized representative of a not-for-profit organization exempt from paying taxes under the Internal Revenue Code 50 (c), provided that such authorized representative complies with the registration requirements of TCA 65-4-405(d)(1), DO NOT CALL program. This bill conforms the Tennessee DO NOT CALL exemption to FTC telemarketing sales rule made by non-profit organizations. This legislation was referred to the committee on Calendar & Rules.
HB 2831 by Rep. Hood authorizes the payment of $25,000 to the estate of a firefighter that was killed in the line of duty. This legislation was referred to the committee on Finance, Ways & Means.
HB 2753 by Rep. Vaughn, as amended, creates the "Robert 'Robbie' Nottingham Campus Crime Scene Investigation Act of 2004." This bill requires local law enforcement and campus security to jointly investigate alleged rapes or deaths that occur on a college campus. In the case of a medically unattended, death, the local law enforcement agency would lead the investigation. In the case of an alleged rape, the college's law enforcement agency would lead the investigation. The House passed the legislation by a vote of 99-0 on Wednesday.
HB 3467 by Rep. McMillan creates the "Tennessee Sexual Offender and Violent Sexual Offender Registration, Verification, and Tracking Act of 2004." This bill is a comprehensive revision of the law relating to sexual offenders. Specifically, this bill establishes registration procedures for sexual offenders who decide to reside in Tennessee or another state. This bill shall take effect August 1, 2004. The provisions of this bill that apply to the TBI, including designing, printing, and distributing the registration and other forms and promulgating rules, shall take effect upon becoming law. This legislation was referred to the committee on Finance, Ways & Means.
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