NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee lawmakers could adjourn their legislative session as early as next week, but doing so requires the House Finance Subcommittee to speed through its agendas.
Longtime members of the Capitol Hill Press Corps and other legislature denizens call this subcommittee the “Black Hole.” That is because any bill that has a financial obligation from the state has to go through this one subcommittee. Bills sent here are often never seen again.
“Would you like for it to go behind the budget?” said Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville) who serves as the chairman of the subcommittee.
Rep. Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon) responded, “No, mister chairman.”
Bills placed behind the budget mean they have a cost to implement the law that has to be included in the final budget passed by the legislature. They will stay stuck in the “Black Hole” until the budget debate is over. If that legislation is not included, it will automatically die for the session.
“Without objection, House Bill 2242 goes behind the budget,” Williams said during proceedings.
For the few bills that do emerge from the Black Hole, it happens quickly. The House Finance Subcommittee is currently scheduled to consider more than 240 bills. Lawmakers want to leave the Capitol by next week. This means complicated bills, like legislation that would allow surrounding areas to join the NES board of directors, move at the speed of light. Boyd’s measure would allow surrounding counties to nominate one board member to a utility board if their community represented at least 3,400 customers and up to 135,000 rate payers. If the community was larger than 135,000, that community would get two board members. “It would be appointed by the county mayor,” Boyd said.
Another example is House Bill 1710, which NewsChannel 5 highlighted on Monday. It is an immigration bill that tries to prevent undocumented immigrants from using public benefits. State Rep. Dennis Powers (R-Jacksboro) spoke about the legislation. “Currently, taxpayer funded benefits are not consistently limited to lawful residents,” Powers said.
Nonprofits like Neighborhood Health worry the bill will have a negative consequence for unhoused citizens. Brian Haile, CEO of Neighborhood Health, testified about his concerns. “They don’t walk around with birth certificates, they don’t have passports,” Haile said.
Ultimately, that bill was sent to the common destination alongside plenty of other ideas. “Without objection, House Bill 1710 goes behind the budget,” Williams said.
Lawmakers hoping to see their bill included in the final budget may find out as early as this week.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@newschannel5.com.
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