2020 Legislative Priorities - Feb 21 Update

Partner Organizations’ Legislative Priorities

Advocate Confidentiality - led by AWAKE

HB2171/SB2742 - Victim’s Rights: This bill prohibits an advocate from disclosing communications received from a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking in a judicial, legislative, or administrative proceeding unless the victim gives express written consent. (Aligns with Violence & Safety measures from 49 to One report and supports our victim advocate partners locally and statewide.)

Update: HB in Criminal Justice subcommittee on 2/25; SB in Senate Judiciary on 2/25

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act - led by A Better Balance

HB2708/SB2520 - Employees/Employers: This bill prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees with pregnancy-related conditions by not providing them with reasonable accommodations. (Aligns with Work & Family measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB in Employee Affairs subcommittee on 2/25; SB assigned to Commerce & Labor

Improving the Health Outcomes of Incarcerated Women and Their Pregnancies - led by Healthy & Free Tennessee

HB1651/SB1839 - Prisons and Reformatory Institutions: This bill requires a physician to provide prenatal and postpartum medical care to pregnant prisoners and detainees; requires correctional institutions to provide pregnant prisoners nutritionally appropriate meals and supplemental provisions. (Aligns with both Health & Wellness and Reproductive Rights measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB in Correction subcommittee on 2/26; SB assigned to Health & Welfare 

Voting Rights Restoration - led by Think Tennessee

HB547/SB589 - Criminal Procedure: This bill restores the voting rights of persons convicted of certain crimes upon receipt of a pardon or completion of any sentence of incarceration, parole, or probation. Among other things, it removes legal/financial obligations as a barrier to voting eligibility. (Aligns with Political Participation measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB assigned to Judiciary; SB assigned to Judiciary subcommittee

Maintaining Past Gains

Ending Child Marriage and Forced Marriage in Tennessee

OPPOSE: HB2310/SB2290: This bill deletes the statutes on marriage licensing and ceremonies, effectively rolling back the strides we made to end child marriage and to impose penalties for forced or coerced marriage. 

Update: HB assigned to Children & Families subcommittee; SB assigned to Judiciary

Combating Suicide in Tennessee

HB159/SB1465 - Health Care: This bill extends the Suicide Prevention Act of 2018 indefinitely and requires the department of health to compile data on the medications that were prescribed to those dying from suicide. It also includes reporting requirements. 

Update: HB assigned to Finance, Ways and Means subcommittee; SB assigned to Finance subcommittee

Supporting Victims of Human Trafficking

HB2093/SB2043 - Children’s Services, Department of: This bill requires the department to publish the guidelines for best practices in identifying and reporting signs of child abuse, child sexual abuse, and human trafficking in which the victim is a child on the department’s website. 

Update: HB assigned to Children & Families subcommittee; SB assigned to Judiciary

Streamlining the Rape Kit Process - Priority Bill of Coalition to End DV and SV

HB2191/SB2121 - Sexual Offenses: This bill revises and enacts various provisions regarding the rights of victims of sexually oriented crimes, including decreasing the time period within which a law enforcement agency must submit a sexual assault evidence collection (SAEC) kit to the TBI, requiring the TBI to begin analyzing an SAEC kit within 30 days of receipt, requiring the TBI to create a tracking system for SAEC kits, and prohibiting the use of forensic evidence against the victim in certain circumstances.

Update: HB assigned to Criminal Justice subcommittee; SB assigned to Judiciary

Survivor Victim Relief 

FOLLOWING, NO POSITION YET: HB2530/SB2811 - Criminal Procedure: This bill specifies that a trafficking victim filing a petition for expunction must not have been convicted of any federal offenses or offenses in any other state. This was filed as a caption bill, and we are working hard to determine the intended direction of the bill.

Update: HB in Constitutional Protections subcommittee on 2/25; SB assigned to Judiciary

49 to One Strategic Priorities

Eliminating Barriers to Secondary Education

HB379/SB823 - Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation: This bill requires TSAC to promulgate rules designating pregnancy as an approved medical leave of absence for purposes of the Tennessee HOPE scholarship. (Aligns with Poverty and Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB in Government Operations on 2/24 (already passed Education); SB in Education on 2/26

Firearms Restrictions for Offenders

OPPOSE: HB1662/SB1999 - Firearms and Ammunition: This is a bill that we opposed and stopped (with partners across the state) last session, but it’s back. This bill replaces the firearms surrender affidavit completed by those convicted of domestic violence crimes and instead requires a defendant, prior to entering a guilty plea for a domestic violence offense, to sign a domestic violence offense firearm notification form stating the requirements of lawful dispossession.  (Aligns with Violence and Safety measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB assigned to Constitutional Protections subcommittee; SB assigned to Judiciary

Equal Pay for Tennessee Women

HB1588/SB1721 - Sex Discrimination: This bill enacts the “Tennessee Pay Equality Act.” 

Update: HB assigned to Employee Affairs subcommittee; SB assigned to Commerce & Labor 

HB2387/SB1853 - General Assembly, Directed Studies: This bill directs the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations to perform a study to determine what disparities persist between equal pay for equal work between men and women of the public sector in this state. (These bills align with both the Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB assigned to Employee Affairs subcommittee; SB assigned to Commerce & Labor

Family  Leave Legislation

HB2024/SB1786 - Public Employees :  This bill provides paid family and medical leave for state employees and teachers.  (Aligns with Work & Family measures from 49 to One report.)

Update: HB assigned to Public Service & Employees subcommittee; SB assigned to State & Local

Advancing Sex Education in Tennessee

HB2434/SB2583 - Education, Curriculum: This bill deletes the family life curriculum that only allows students to receive education on sexual risk avoidance through abstinence and requires each LEA and public charter school that serves any of the grades kindergarten through 12 to provide students with medically accurate, age-appropriate sex education that teaches students about abstinence, contraception, consent, and how to develop healthy relationships and communication skills. 

Update: HB assigned to Curriculum subcommittee; SB assigned to Education

HB2527/SB2411 - Education, Curriculum: This bill requires the state board of education to develop standards, and the department of education to develop an aligned curriculum, for instruction on healthy relationships in the lifetime wellness standards. 

Update: HB assigned to Curriculum subcommittee; SB assigned to Education

(These bills align with the Reproductive Rights measures from the 49 to One report.)

Additional Priority

HB2509/SB2797 - Public Funds and Financing : This bill adds requirements to the spending, dedicating, or reserve of certain funds from the temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program by the department of human services and the department of health.

Update: HB assigned to Public Health subcommittee; SB assigned to Health & Welfare

Thank you to everyone who made a phone call, sent a postcard, wrote a letter, visited a legislator, emailed a legislator or spread the word about the important issues that we prioritized this legislative session. This is the final week of the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, and as of this afternoon, all of our priority bills have completed their moves through the House and Senate. 

The Women's Fund had three significant wins this year, and we also have a number of bills that were not written into law, but that we anticipate returning to the General Assembly stronger and with greater public awareness next year. 

Below is the final update on our priority list organized by 49 to One areas. 

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

HB2372/SB1488 - Election Laws - This bill lengthens the voter registration period to 15 days before an election instead of 30 days before an election. Position: Support

Update: HB2372 was assigned to the Local Government subcommittee and SB1488 was assigned to the general subcommittee of State and Local Government. Neither bill saw movement after committee assignment.

VIOLENCE & SAFETY

HB1984/SB2130 - Sexual Harassment - This bill allows a contract employee to bring a sexual harassment action against the entity to which the person is under contract in certain situations. (Also aligns with the Employment and Earnings measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

Update: HB1984 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14 because it did not have the support to pass this year. We are hopeful it will be reintroduced next year.  

EMPLOYMENT & EARNINGS

HB1904/SB1863 - Tennessee Pay Equality Act - This bill forbids discrimination by an employer on the basis of sex by paying any employee a wage rate less than than that paid to any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work, performance, skill and responsibility in similar working conditions. (Also aligns with Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

Update: HB1904 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14; We do not anticipate any movement for the Tennessee Pay Equality Act this session. This bill likely will be introduced every year until it passes. 

HB 1861/SB1769 - Employment Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence - This bill establishes employment protections for people who are victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault to attend court, meet with law enforcement, attend counseling, or find new housing. Position: Support

Update: SB1769 failed in Judiciary Committee. 

WORK & FAMILY

HB1985/SB2092 - Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act - This bill prohibits public employers from discriminating against applicants and employees with pregnancy-related conditions by not providing them with reasonable accommodations. Position: Support

Update: HB1985 failed in State Government Committee. We anticipate that it will continue to be introduced each year until it passes.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

HB2164/SB1510 - Family Life Curriculum - This bill requires instruction on the detection, intervention, prevention, and treatment of child sexual abuse as part of a family life curriculum and extends immunity from a cause of action to instructors or organizations providing such instruction. Position: Support

Update: Passed!

HB1506/SB1491 - Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act - This bill enacts the "Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act," which creates a program for the distribution of baby boxes to parents at the birth of their child. Position: Support

Update: HB1506 was taken off notice in the Health subcommittee on March 7; We anticipate this bill being reintroduced next year with a decreased fiscal note and increased public awareness.  

HB 2627/SB2185 - Insurance Coverage/Access to contraception - This bill requires all health benefit plans to provide coverage for contraception and other women's preventive health services (Also aligns with Health & Well-Being measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

Update: HB2627 failed in the House Insurance and Banking subcommittee. 

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

HB1961/SB1949 - Suicide Mortality Review and Prevention Act - In accordance with the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as issued by the office of the U.S. Surgeon General, this bill forms and implements the recommended state-based suicide mortality reviews to institute the systemic changes needed to decrease suicide mortality. Position: Support

Update: Passed! 

ADDITIONAL PRIORITY

Marriage Age Amendment attached to HB2134/SB2268- This amendment restricts marriage to persons 17 years of age or older and restricts the age of the person marrying a 17 year-old to 21 or younger. This amendment also annuls forced or coerced marriages and implements a cause of action against those who forced or coerced a person into marriage. Position: Support

Update: Passed!

This TN Legislative Session is winding down quickly, but some bills of interest are still active in committees and moving toward the Floor for votes. The bills listed below are those that the Women’s Fund designated as legislative priorities for this session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Below each bill, we have updated the current progress of the bill in the Senate and House. If you are interested in finding the names and contact information of committee members for each bill, visit the Tennessee General Assembly site. 

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

HB2372/SB1488 - Election Laws - This bill lengthens the voter registration period to 15 days before an election instead of 30 days before an election. Position: Support

HB2372 has been assigned to the Local Government subcommittee; SB1488 has been assigned to the general subcommittee of State and Local Government. Neither bill has seen movement since being assigned to committee.

VIOLENCE & SAFETY

HB1984/SB2130 - Sexual Harassment - This bill allows a contract employee to bring a sexual harassment action against the entity to which the person is under contract in certain situations. (Also aligns with the Employment and Earnings measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB1984 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14 because it did not have the support to pass this year. We are hopeful it will be reintroduced next year.  

EMPLOYMENT & EARNINGS

HB1904/SB1863 - Tennessee Pay Equality Act - This bill forbids discrimination by an employer on the basis of sex by paying any employee a wage rate less than than that paid to any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work, performance, skill and responsibility in similar working conditions. (Also aligns with Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB1904 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14; We do not anticipate any movement for the Tennessee Pay Equality Act this session. 

HB 1861/SB1769 - Employment Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence - This bill establishes employment protections for people who are victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault to attend court, meet with law enforcement, attend counseling, or find new housing. Position: Support

SB1769 failed in Judiciary Committee. 

WORK & FAMILY

HB1985/SB2092 - Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act - This bill prohibits public employers from discriminating against applicants and employees with pregnancy-related conditions by not providing them with reasonable accommodations. Position: Support

HB1985 failed in State Government Committee.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

HB2164/SB1510 - Family Life Curriculum - This bill requires instruction on the detection, intervention, prevention, and treatment of child sexual abuse as part of a family life curriculum and extends immunity from a cause of action to instructors or organizations providing such instruction. Position: Support

Passed!

HB1506/SB1491 - Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act - This bill enacts the "Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act," which creates a program for the distribution of baby boxes to parents at the birth of their child. Position: Support

HB1506 was taken off notice in the Health subcommittee on March 7; We anticipate this bill being reintroduced next year with a decreased fiscal note and increased public awareness.  

HB 2627/SB2185 - Insurance Coverage/Access to contraception - This bill requires all health benefit plans to provide coverage for contraception and other women's preventive health services (Also aligns with Health & Well-Being measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB2627 failed in the House Insurance and Banking subcommittee. 

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

HB1961/SB1949 - Suicide Mortality Review and Prevention Act - In accordance with the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as issued by the office of the U.S. Surgeon General, this bill forms and implements the recommended state-based suicide mortality reviews to institute the systemic changes needed to decrease suicide mortality. Position: Support

HB1961 is on the calendar for Finance, Ways, and Means but is currently placed behind the budget; SB1949 was recommended for passage by committees and sent to the Calendar Committee on March 27. 

ADDITIONAL PRIORITY

HB2521/SB2548 - Marriage Age - This bill restricts marriage to persons 16 years of age or older by removing age waivers for marriage certificates. Position: Support

UPDATE: HB1785 (minimum marriage age of 18) was amended to include removing all waivers and loopholes that allow children under 18 to be married except in the case of emancipation or the removal of disability of age for 17 year-olds only. The same amendment was added to SB1790 which then failed in the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 27.

ADDITIONAL UPDATE: An amendment was added to SB2268 (a bill about adoption fee transparency) that sets a hard minimum marriage age at 16 and that limits marriages of 16 and 17 year olds to spouses not more than 4 years older. SB2268 passed the Judiciary Committee on March 28 and was sent to the Senate Calendar Committee. HB2134, the companion bill, is on the Civil Justice Committee calendar for April 3, where we anticipate the same amendment will be proposed to be added. 

HB2521 is on the Civil Justice subcommittee calendar for April 3; SB2548 was assigned to the Judiciary subcommittee on March 21. 

The bills listed below are those that the Women’s Fund has designated as legislative priorities for this session of the Tennessee General Assembly. We are very excited that we have at least one bill on this priority list that makes REAL progress in each of the 7 impact areas for 49 to One. Below each bill, we have updated the current progress of the bill in the Senate and House. If you are interested in finding the names and contact information of committee members for each bill, visit the Tennessee General Assembly site. 

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION

HB2372/SB1488 - Election Laws - This bill lengthens the voter registration period to 15 days before an election instead of 30 days before an election. Position: Support

HB2372 has been assigned to the Local Government subcommittee; SB1488 has been assigned to the general subcommittee of State and Local Government. Neither bill has seen movement since being assigned to committee.

VIOLENCE & SAFETY

HB1984/SB2130 - Sexual Harassment - This bill allows a contract employee to bring a sexual harassment action against the entity to which the person is under contract in certain situations. (Also aligns with the Employment and Earnings measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB1984 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14; SB2130 is on the calendar for the Judiciary Committee on March 20. 

EMPLOYMENT & EARNINGS

HB1904/SB1863 - Tennessee Pay Equality Act - This bill forbids discrimination by an employer on the basis of sex by paying any employee a wage rate less than than that paid to any employee of the opposite sex for comparable work, performance, skill and responsibility in similar working conditions. (Also aligns with Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB1904 was taken off notice in the Consumer and Human Resource subcommittee on March 14; SB1863 has been assigned to the Commerce and Labor committee but has seen no other movement.

HB 1861/SB1769 - Employment Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence - This bill establishes employment protections for people who are victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault to attend court, meet with law enforcement, attend counseling, or find new housing. Position: Support

SB1769 failed in Judiciary Committee. 

WORK & FAMILY

HB1985/SB2092 - Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act - This bill prohibits public employers from discriminating against applicants and employees with pregnancy-related conditions by not providing them with reasonable accommodations. Position: Support

HB1985 failed in State Government Committee.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

HB2164/SB1510 - Family Life Curriculum - This bill requires instruction on the detection, intervention, prevention, and treatment of child sexual abuse as part of a family life curriculum and extends immunity from a cause of action to instructors or organizations providing such instruction. Position: Support

HB2164 is scheduled for a floor vote on March 19; SB1510 passed today. 

HB1506/SB1491 - Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act - This bill enacts the "Infant Mortality Reduction Program Act," which creates a program for the distribution of baby boxes to parents at the birth of their child. Position: Support

HB1506 was taken off notice in the Health subcommittee on March 7; SB1491 was assigned to the Health and Welfare subcommittee earlier this month. 

HB 2627/SB2185 - Insurance Coverage/Access to contraception - This bill requires all health benefit plans to provide coverage for contraception and other women's preventive health services (Also aligns with Health & Well-Being measures from 49 to One report.) Position: Support

HB2627 failed in the House Insurance and Banking subcommittee. 

HEALTH & WELL-BEING

HB1961/SB1949 - Suicide Mortality Review and Prevention Act - In accordance with the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention as issued by the office of the U.S. Surgeon General, this bill forms and implements the recommended state-based suicide mortality reviews to institute the systemic changes needed to decrease suicide mortality. Position: Support

HB1961 is on the calendar for Finance, Ways, and Means on March 21; SB1949 has been referred to Finance, Ways, and Means committee but is not yet on the calendar. 

ADDITIONAL PRIORITY

HB2521/SB2548 - Marriage Age - This bill restricts marriage to persons 16 years of age or older by removing age waivers for marriage certificates. Position: Support

UPDATE: HB1785 (minimum marriage age of 18) has been amended to include removing all waivers and loopholes that allow children under 18 to be married except in the case of emancipation or the removal of disability of age for 17 year-olds only. This would be an IDEAL bill, but we are tracking to see if the same amendment gets added to SB1790 which is currently scheduled for a vote Monday, March 19. 

HB2521 has been moved to the final week of session depending on the progress/outcome of HB1785; SB2548 is on the Judiciary Committee calendar for March 20. 

The Women’s Fund released our 2018 Legislative Priorities list on February 12, but what happens now? 

If you are new to the idea of engaging with and about legislation at the state level, we hope to share the resources you need to better understand the Tennessee State Legislature and how to track bills and issues as they move through the legislature.   

More about the Tennessee State Legislature

We are currently in the 110th General Assembly. The 2017 session of the 110th General Assembly adjourned on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. The General Assembly reconvened at 12:00 noon (CST) on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. The deadline for introducing and filing bills was Thursday, February 1st. Now bills are making their way through committees before they can be voted on by the House and Senate. In fact, some measures have already made it to vote this session. (Action can’t wait!)

Who is your State Senator and Representative? 

You can find out here: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/fmlv3/districts.aspx

Remembering SchoolHouse Rock

If you were in grade school in the 80’s or early 90’s, you may remember the Schoolhouse Rock episode, “How a Bill becomes a Law.” While that video discusses the process at the Federal level, each state’s legislature works a bit differently. 

For a quick rundown on how a bill becomes a law in Tennessee you can click here: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/about/billtolaw.html

It’s not a fun as Schoolhouse Rock, but it does give you all the details. 

Tracking Bills and Following Issues

You can track bills of interest by going to: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/legislation/  All you have to do is enter the bill number that you want to follow. You can also search for keywords or bill sponsors.

You can even create your own account to easily track multiple bills each session: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/MyBills/Login.aspx

Here’s an easy tutorial of how to use the Tennessee Legislative website to track bills: 

Don’t want to track bills? No worries, the Women’s Fund has you covered. We’ll be tracking our priority bills and letting members of our Advocacy Action Network know when it’s time to take action by contacting their representatives about a bill moving through committee or going to vote in either the House or the Senate.

So you just can’t get enough of this? 

You can also watch videos of House and Senate Committee Meetings: http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/livevideo/

Want to learn more? 

Join us on February 22nd at 11:30 a.m. for our Advocacy Committee Meeting at Miller & Martin (832 Georgia Ave, Chattanooga, TN 37402) in the 12th Floor Conference Room. We will be discussing our 2017 Legislative Priority List in more detail and will be taking action advocating for bills that can and will have a real impact on the lives of women and girls in Tennessee. 

Don’t forget to sign up for our Advocacy Action Team to be among the first to know when important issues arise and  how to take action. 

Together we can and will move Tennessee from 49 to One! 

Katie McCallie, Programs and Operations Manager