Legislative Update: 1000 bills in Committee Next Week + Action Alert

It has been another busy week at the General Assembly. The Committee calendars have been packed – and so have the committee rooms. Citizen advocates attending meetings are experiencing new barriers to having their voices heard. Committee chairs are reluctant to allow speakers to testify on bills, and access to some legislators is tougher for members of the public. The race to the end of the 114th General Assembly is on.

Many committees and sub committees are publishing their final calendars for the session. 772 bills are slated to be heard in the House subcommittees and full committees and 398 scheduled in the Senate next week, making it over 1,000 bills to be heard in only four days.

At least two Senate committees that hear policy issues that the disability community cares about have designated final meetings on their published schedules:

• Senate Health & Welfare Committee: Held its final meeting on Wednesday, March 18
• Senate Education Committee: Held its final meeting on Wednesday, March 18

Any bills of those subject matter that had to be heard by those committees and have not yet been acted on by them are effectively “dead” for this year.

If you follow the TDC bill tracker, you will see that bills that have not been placed on a committee calendar yet, and several of those that passed early in the session have been removed. We hope this helps make your review a little easier and quicker.

TDC March 19 Disability Bill Tracking

Disability Bill Calendar Week of March 23

Action Alert:
Representative David Hawk has submitted House Appropriations Amendment 224 to invest in parent training and information center, TNSTEP, a TN Disability Coalition member organization. With more than 195,000 families accessing early childhood and special education services across the state, the need for TNSTEP’s support continues to grow. This investment would allow TNSTEP to reach more families, with an increased focus on serving rural communities, supporting foster families, and strengthening collaboration with schools, state agencies, and referring organizations.

Reach out to your house representative to ask for their support. More information about the request, sample language, and legislator contact information is available at: https://form.jotform.com/260634857349064