Tag Archives: limit

Haynes Predicts School Board Term Limits Bill Won’t Pass

Leave a reply

State Rep. Ryan Haynes told the Knox County Commission that the possibility of a bill imposing term limits on school board members getting through the Legislature are poor, reports the News Sentinel.
Haynes, R-Knoxville, told the commission that a Tennessee law allowing term limits for school board members would be subject to general application across the state (not just limited to Knox County).
“And that, in my opinion, presents a challenge in getting a piece of legislation passed,” Haynes said during a commission work session. Commission uses work sessions to discuss future action items. The body’s next legislative meeting is June 24.
A 15-bill limit that caps what legislators can introduce is another block on term limits, he said.
“We want to use it on something that is productive,” he said.
Commission Vice Chairman R. Larry Smith was not pleased to hear Haynes’ message.
“Personally, I think those are lame excuses,” he said. “I think it can be done.”
Haynes replied he wasn’t offering his own opinion.
“This is what my lawyers drew up,” he said.

Judge Blocks Town Law Limiting Campaign Signs

Leave a reply

SPRING HILL, Tenn. (AP) — A Middle Tennessee court has temporarily barred Spring Hill from limiting residents to one political campaign yard sign per office.
According to The Daily Herald (http://bit.ly/YgGNpv ) in Columbia, the restraining order was obtained by George Jones, who is running for mayor of Spring Hill. He says a local ordinance limiting campaign signs to one per resident for each office is unconstitutional. Jones is a former mayor of the city of more than 23,000 residents.
Circuit Court Judge Robert L. Holloway issued the temporary order Wednesday, pending an April 5 hearing. The city election day is April 11.
Spring Hill City Administrator Victor Lay said the city will comply with the judge’s instructions, but he declined further comment.

House Bill Total with New Limit: 1,340

Leave a reply

A total of 1,340 bills were introduced in the state House for the 108th General Assembly, the lowest number in decades, following adoption of new rules that limit each state representative to a maximum of 15 bill introductions per year.
The figure is 37 percent lower than the 2,124 House bills introduced in the first year of 107th General Assembly, according to House Chief Clerk Joe McCord.
The limit was imposed at the urging of House Speaker Beth Harwell, who hopes the reduction in bills will improve efficiency and speed up the legislative process.
The Senate has no limit on the number of bills that can be filed. Senators introduced 1,394 bills before the deadline for general bill introductions, 54 more than in the House. A bill must have both a House and a Senate sponsor to become law, meaning at least 54 Senate bills are effectively dead.
Legislative rules allow for introductions after the deadline, but only if each proposal gets unanimous approval of a special “late bills committee” in both the House and Senate. Only rarely do the committees approve late introductions and then typically when some unforeseen problem comes up after the deadline.

On Limited Legislators and the Self-Restrained Governor

Leave a reply

Gov. Bill Haslam graciously consented to including a 75-bill limit on annual introductions of legislation by his administration last week and the restriction was thereupon approved as part of House rules — along with a 15-bill limit on legislators.
As a practical matter, of course, this is not a big restraint upon gubernatorial production of legislative ideas. Last year, Haslam’s administration proposed 55 bills. So, if he meets the new limit, the governor will have 20 more bills under the restriction this year than under last year’s unlimited filing.
In contrast, some individual legislators introduced more than 100 bills last session. The 15-bill limit will thus mean a big change in such folks’ standard operating procedure — perhaps for the better in many cases.
Still, the practical effect is a limitation on legislators; no limitation on the governor. A handful of representatives, both Republicans and Democrats, complained about this as a lessening of legislative powers versus gubernatorial powers.

Continue reading →

Harwell’s 10-Bill Limit Changed to 15-Bill Limit (with other tweaks)

Leave a reply

House Speaker Beth Harwell’s move to limit the amount of legislation that can be filed by state representatives was softened Wednesday in the face of criticism – some from fellow Republicans – while Gov. Bill Haslam agreed to limit administration bill filings as well.
Harwell originally proposed a general 10-bill limit for individual House members with some exceptions. The compromise on Tuesday calls for a 15-bill limit, with some more exceptions.
The proposal, which is an amendment to House rules, was also revised to put a 75-bill limit on legislation introduced at the governor’s behest.
Haslam, who proposed 55 administration bills last year, agreed to the limit. He began calling for a reduction in bill filings in 2011.
The bill limit plan will now go before the full House for approval, probably on Thursday. Democrats said they may seek further revisions on the floor, though they are virtually certain to rejected by the Republican majority.

Continue reading →

House Bill Limit Criticized by Some Republicans

Leave a reply

By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — House Speaker Beth Harwell’s attempt to reel in the number of bills introduced each legislative session was met with resistance among some of her Republican colleagues as the legislative session got under way on Tuesday.
Harwell has proposed a cap of 10 bills per lawmaker each year. There are no current limits on the number legislative proposals that can be introduced each year, and Harwell said the annual flood of legislative proposals is expensive and inefficient.
“This is not what Republicans stand for,” she told colleagues at a Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol. “We believe in less government.”
The proposal would limit House members to about 1,000 bills per session — about half the annual average filed in recent years. Harwell said most other state legislatures file far fewer bills and that several have bill limits in place.
“I’m not making up a problem, OK?” she said.
But several Republican members raised concerns about whether they would be able to adequately serve their constituents’ needs if they could only file 10 bills per year, and Rep. Vance Dennis of Savannah said he’s against the proposal in its entirety.

Continue reading →

News Notes on TN Legislative Ideas as the 2013 Session Gets Underway

Leave a reply

Local Option Gas Tax?
Tri-Cities officials are asking area state legislators to authorize a local option gas tax of up to five cents per gallon as a means to improve roads, reports the Bristol Herald Courier.
Friday’s annual wish list presentation from Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City leaders to representatives and senators headed to Nashville… includes a variety of policy objectives, but the gas tax was an eye-opener to one Bristol lawmaker.
“I just can’t see that working in today’s current economic environment,” said State Rep. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, one of the lawmakers at the meeting at the Millennium Centre.
“We are a pay as you go state when it comes to roads and bridges and so far, that has worked, so I can’t see a tax increase going anywhere fast.”
Kingsport Mayor Dennis Phillips handled the transportation segment of the presentations given to legislators and said the consensus of the three-city committee was to have a gas tax option ready to use for an ever-growing list of road construction needs.
“If we are not going to raise taxes or sell bonds somewhere down the road (to improve roads), we are going to have a big problem,” Phillips said. “I think this is really the year to look seriously at that local option so that we can get some help. I personally feel that if there was (no press coverage) and you raised taxes five cents on gasoline no one would know it. Three weeks ago, gas went up 13 cents in one day. The way prices are fluctuating, I think we are missing a prime opportunity not to address that option.”
Insurance Coverage for Oral Chemotherapy?
Tennessee’s cancer-fighting advocates want to hang onto funding for screening and smoking cessation, do a better job educating residents and – after a crushing defeat on this last year – force insurers to cover oral chemotherapy at the same rate as intravenous treatments, reports The Tennessean.
What’s not on their list is raising the cigarette tax, the nation’s sixth-lowest, an effort shown to discourage smoking, raise revenue and, ultimately, save on healthcare costs. That effort failed last year too, said Nancy Hauskins DuBois, an advocacy specialist for the American Cancer Society, so her group is putting it on snooze and waiting for a better time.
…Tennessee is making slight gains against the nation in its cancer fight, moving from fifth in the nation for deaths three years ago to sixth today, U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention statistics show.
At the same time, it moved from 22nd to 16th for diagnosed incidents of cancer, but that’s not a bad thing, said Dr. Ingrid M. Meszoely, a Vanderbilt University surgeon and co-chair of the Tennessee Cancer Coalition.
Elect Utility District Boards?
Most utility district boards in Tennessee are appointed by county mayors or other local officials, but a dispute over the DeKalb Utility District’s expansion plans has triggered a call for having the boards elected by ratepayers, reports The Tennessean.
But efforts allowing ratepayers to elect utility board members elsewhere in Tennessee have failed in the General Assembly, in part because of opposition from a powerful association representing rural utilities, the Tennessee Association of Utility Districts (TAUD).
Some lawmakers hope to try again this year.
“The customers of the utility districts have no say in who is on their board,” said state Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald. “The board controls the rates, controls a lot of issues.”
As a House member for the past decade, Hensley has sponsored legislation allowing direct elections of utility commissioners in Lawrence County. Those efforts have failed. But Hensley, elected to the Senate in November, said he’ll try again this year.
The issue of direct elections for Tennessee’s 180 utility districts, many in rural areas, would add accountability to the boards and better protect ratepayers, say advocates for the change.
Bill Limits Spur Knox Discussion
The Knox County legislative delegation is weighing the impact of state Speaker Beth Harwell’s move to impose limits on bill introductions, with one new House member reporting he’s already being contacted by lobbyists on the matter, reports Georgiana Vines.
Roger Kane, the Republican elected in November to the new 89th District in Northwest Knox County, said four lobbyists have contacted him about sponsoring legislation and one wants him to sponsor two bills.
If Harwell’s 10-bill limit proposal were to be adopted, “that would be half my slots,” he said. “In principle, it sounds good,” he said. “It has caused some things to change. Typically, freshmen were given some ramp-up time. (Now) the freshmen have become of a little more value.”
However, he said he doesn’t want constituencies to be without an opportunity to have bills introduced late in the session, so he hasn’t yet “developed an opinion” on Harwell’s proposal.
Rep. Bill Dunn, a Republican who represents the 16th District, said he has favored limiting bills for several years. He said he has discussed with Harwell having a limit of seven “active” bills at any one time, and if one passes or fails, then another could be introduced.
“What the speaker is doing is a step in the right direction,” he said.
State Rep. Harry Brooks, a Republican representing the 19th District, and Rep. Joe Armstrong, a Democrat representing the 15th District, said some legislators may already have commitments that end up surpassing 10 bills.
“Put the rule in, but make it effective for a second session and here on out,” Armstrong said.

Proposed House Bill Limit Has Lobbyists Scrambling

1 Reply

By Eric Schelzig, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lobbyists are scrambling to nail down sponsors for their clients’ key legislative initiatives following House Speaker Beth Harwell’s announcement that she wants to impose a cap on how many bills are filed each year.
Under the Nashville Republican’s proposal, each lawmaker would be limited to 10 bills each legislative session. That comes out to an average of about two bills each for the more than 500 lobbyists registered to ply their trade at the state Capitol.
“When we heard the news I called one of my colleagues and said, ‘The session just started,'” said Mark Greene, the lobbyist for the Tennessee Lobbyists Association who also specializes in the health field. “The experienced, smart lobbyists got engaged that first day or two and went to people and asked them to hold a spot.”
Greene said lawmakers with a reputation for successfully shepherding bills through the legislative process will be in high demand because of the limits.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get a popular sponsor,” he said. “If you wait until session, those guys are going to be filled up.”
Another effect could be that more junior lawmakers get more involved in prominent legislative initiatives than in the past, he said.

Continue reading →

House Bill Limit May Limit Legislative Powers

Leave a reply

Speaker Beth Harwell’s move to impose limits on bill introductions, if accepted by the full House, should indeed save money and speed things up in Legislatorland, just as she predicts. But it has other ramifications, possibly including a lessening of legislative power, that may stir some misgivings.
The 10-bills-per-year limit is part of a shake-up in House operations proposed by the speaker as she begins a second two-year term with a new Republican supermajority in place. The rest of the package is substantial and substantive, though perhaps less controversial.
Legislative leaders have talked for decades about limiting bill introductions, but nothing has been done until now. It’s worth noting that Gov. Bill Haslam made a point — after 2,200 bills were introduced in the 2011 session — of saying the number should be cut by about a third and that he’d work with legislative leaders on meeting that goal.
Said the governor at the time: “One of the points that we try to make is that every bill that’s proposed actually does cost money. We have commissioners who have to run down and say, ‘How does this impact? What’s it going to cost?’ And then we have to have a position on that.”
He’s right, of course. Every bill introduced costs staff time and taxpayer money. And many duplicate other bills, are frivolous or even downright goofy.
So the governor prodded the legislative leadership on the matter about 18 months ago. Harwell subsequently sounded out House members, and now we have action in response to gubernatorial guidance.

Continue reading →

On Harwell’s Overhaul of House Rules and Committees

Leave a reply

House Speaker Beth Harwell has proposed a major overhaul of House rules that includes a limit on the number of bills a lawmaker can file, a move to end “ghost voting” and a realignment of the committee system.
The rule revisions will require approval of the full House on a two-thirds vote after the 108th General Assembly convenes on Jan. 8. They will first be vetted in the House Rules Committee.
Harwell said in a statement that she believes the changes “reflect the will of the body” based on a survey of representatives in the last legislative session.
She said the changes also reflect citizen wishes that state government operate “efficiently and effectively while saving money.”
“While the Congress remains mired in partisan gridlock and continues to waste time, the state Legislture is working toward better government,” Harwell said.
Among the major changes:
–Each representative will be limited to filing 10 bills per year, though with some exceptions. That would be about half the average number of bills filed per representative in the last legislative session, which saw 3,887 House bills filed over the two-year life of the 107th General Assembly.
Not counted toward the 10-bill limit would be legislation filed on behalf of Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration, so-called “sunset” bills that extend the life of an existing government agency and bills that apply only to one city or county.

Continue reading →