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Committee adopts amendment rewriting wetlands bill; fiscal note removed after TDOT input
Summary
The committee adopted a finance amendment that rewrote Senate Bill 670 (a wetlands bill), incorporated three governor's-office-requested changes and corrected a drafting error. Committee members were told TDOT information eliminated the fiscal note; the bill was recommended for passage.
Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee members on April 9 approved a finance amendment that substantially rewrote Senate Bill 670, described in committee as a wetlands-related measure, and recommended the bill for passage to the calendar.
Sponsor Senator London Taylor said the amendment (drafting code 6502) "actually rewrites the bill" and incorporates four changes — three requested by the governor's office and a fourth that corrects a drafting error said to have arisen during negotiations in the agriculture committee. He told members the amendment also removed the bill's fiscal note after the Tennessee Department of Transportation provided information indicating the bill's effects on permitting fees and TDOT savings offset each other.
The committee adopted Finance Amendment 1 and then voted to recommend the bill for passage. Senator Taylor asked members for a favorable vote after explaining the changes and the fiscal-note elimination.
There was no extended debate recorded in the transcript excerpt about policy details of the wetlands provisions. Members voted in favor after the sponsor's explanation and adoption of the amendment.
