May 12, 2005

The end is near
The first session of the 104th General Assembly is near an end.

This week the House Judiciary Committee and all of its subcommittees shut down for the year, having completed all of the work assigned. Other committees are near that position. The House Children and Family Affairs Committee has one more meeting scheduled for next week — its subcommittees have all finished their work — and the Senate Judiciary should be able to finish dealing with the 22 remaining bills before it next week as well. The committee met in two separate sessions this week.

Other committees not directly related to the legal system have also been completing their work and shutting their doors. In addition, the Finance Ways and Means committees promise to deal with budget issues next week. If that action is successful — barring any last-minute changes because of Tenncare or other factors — adjournment could come sometime the following week.

TBA-backed bills advance
The bill divorcing the statutory provisions of child support from those of spousal support (SB2091/HB2244) passed the full House 94-0 on Wednesday. The legislation had earlier passed the full Senate, but because minor changes were made in the House before passage, it must go back to the Senate for concurrence. It has been placed on the Senate’s Message Calendar and likely will be taken up on Monday. If the Senate concurs with the changes, it will then go to the governor for his signature.

The TBA-backed bill reforming Tennessee’s Limited Liability Companies Act is on a similar track. That bill (SB421/HB1121) also passed the House on Wednesday, but it now includes an amendment added to take into account a change in state law passed earlier this session by the General Assembly. Passage of the LLC bill without the amendment would have inadvertently repealed the legislature’s earlier actions. If the Senate concurs with the new version of the bill, it will also go to the governor for his signature.

The other bill supported by the TBA this session has already been signed into law by Gov. Bredesen. The refinements to probate law have been assigned Public Chapter No. 99.

Other legislation of interest
Meth contamination bill: Legislation that addresses TBA concerns with methamphetamine legislation passed earlier this session won passage in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. The bill (SB2064/HB2086) also was voted out of the House Finance Ways and Means Committee’s Budget Subcommittee and is on the full committee’s calendar for next week. The bill provides a mechanism for recording notices of contamination and certifications of fitness in local registers offices.

Expert services for indigent defendants: The legislature has delayed until next year consideration of legislation (SB0203/HB0180) that called for a court to hold open hearings to determine if investigative or expert services were necessary for indigent defendants. The TBA has been concerned that the requirement for defense attorneys to publicly justify their requests for these services could force them to reveal strategy or other key information to the prosecution, with consequent danger to the defendant’s right to a fair trial. This matter was dealt with comprehensively in the Tennessee Supreme Court last year when it considered changes to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13.

Class action certification appeals: After significant amendment, legislation (HB2052/SB2151) that would have mandated interlocutory appeal as a right on class action certification issues passed the Senate this week and is on the House Calendar for Monday. As amended, the appeal would now be discretionary with the Court of Appeals and then would proceed under Rule 9 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. The TBA had expressed the view that this matter should be under the appellate rules.

Child support guidelines: The House Family Justice Subcommittee dealt with two bills this week related to the recently enacted child support guidelines. The committee deferred until next year a bill (HB0700/SB1694) that would have suspended the guidelines and reinstated prior guidelines. A second bill (HB0122/SB0707) passed out of the subcommittee and is on the Children and Family Affairs Committee’s calendar for next week. That measure would require a Department of Human Services advisory committee to report on how the guidelines are being implemented to legislative committees. Still to be decided is whether the advisory committee will issue minority opinion reports as well as majority opinion reports.

Actions against government: Legislation that would have altered current law to limit who has standing to sue for a declaratory judgment against any government official or governmental entity has been deferred to allow study this summer. The bill (SB2030/HB1736) would override case law that allows taxpayers to have standing simply because they are taxpayers. Under the proposed legislation, a person would not be considered aggrieved unless the person alleges or proves the official’s or entity’s actions harmed that person to a different or greater extent that other citizens or taxpayers in the same jurisdiction.

House Judiciary 'Summer Study' set
The House Judiciary Committee has set its first summer study session for June 16-17 in conjunction with the TBA Annual Meeting in Knoxville. Many of the bills reported in this and earlier editions of LegisFlash may be scheduled for extended discussion at the meeting.

Keep up-to-date on legislation of interest
The TBA bill tracking service lets you read abstracts of bills, check their status in both houses, find out who is sponsoring them and link to full versions of the legislation.

TBA Watch List Monitor close to 300 bills and resolutions of interest to the Tennessee legal community.

TBA Action List Monitor legislation in which the TBA has an interest of record — bills the TBA initiated, bills on which the TBA has taken a position or bills on which the TBA has policy.

Questions, comments? Contact TBA Legislative Counsel Steve Cobb at scobb@tnbar.org or TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur at aramsaur@tnbar.org