Cities & Counties Subcommittee advances multiple municipal and housing bills; votes at a glance

The Cities & Counties Subcommittee heard and acted on a batch of bills on Feb. 12. Several measures passed and will move to the next available calendar; one notable bill (House Bill 293) failed after substantive debate (covered in a separate article).

Votes at a glance (committee action recorded Feb. 12):

- House Bill 297 (Leader Lambert): Passed 7-0. The bill prevents automatic removal from green‑belt designation when property ownership transfers because of death or divorce; it would require a purposeful step to remove property from green‑belt status. Motion and vote recorded; amendment 2,893 (clerical) was adopted before the final vote.

- House Bill 35 (Chairman Hicks): Passed 7-0. The bill increases funding for the state's nine development districts, sets the annual allocation to $0.50 per capita based on the latest census, collapses the first three appropriation tiers, updates a name reference (Memphis Area Association of Governments → Mid South Development District) and adds a distribution formula considering local contributions, population, county count and cost of living.

- House Bill 331 (Chairman Bond): Passed 7-0. Raises the maximum aggregate principal amount of outstanding THDA (Tennessee Housing Development Authority) bonds from $4 billion to $6 billion; sponsor noted THDA bonds are self‑sustaining and not a moral obligation of the state.

- House Bill 65 (Chairman Bolso): Passed as amended, 5-2. Amendment (Barcode 3498) narrowed the bill to city manager/city commission forms of government with a BBB bond rating at the time of contract; as amended, the bill allows such cities to enter public‑private contracts for athletic facilities and share revenues with private entities.

- House Bill 306, 307, 308: Sponsors requested these bills be taken off notice (off notice by unanimous consent); no committee votes recorded.

- House Bill 92: Taken off notice by request.

- House Joint Resolution 35 (Representative Ashley): Passed 7-0. A resolution recognizing emergency telecommunicators and dispatchers as first responders.

- House Bill 185 (Representative Jones): Passed 7-0. Bill from the Comptroller’s Office allowing 14 specified small municipalities to waive the contracted Certified Municipal Finance Officer (CMFO) requirement of 16 hours per month upon comptroller approval; the transcript listed the 14 municipalities by name.

- House Bill 618 (Vice Chairman Wright): Passed 7-0. Prohibits an individual holding an elected local office from holding another elected office in the state simultaneously, with grandfathering for existing dual‑officeholders and exceptions for political‑party committee positions.

- House Bill 57 (Chairman Moon): Passed 7-0. Authorizes the Comptroller, in consultation with the Commissioner of Revenue, to withhold 0–15% of state shared sales tax revenue to municipalities with two or more outstanding audits, holding withheld funds in escrow until audits are filed and approved; sponsor said intent is to prompt compliance without bankrupting municipalities.

- House Bill 136 (Representative Atchley): The committee initially rolled the bill to the Hill by motion earlier in the hearing, and later recorded a vote sending House Bill 136 to the Committee on State and Local Government (aye 7, no 0) on the day’s calendar.

Committee clerks recorded the tallies listed above during the Feb. 12 meeting. For bills that carried amendments or were taken off notice, the committee transcript shows those procedural steps (amendment numbers and off‑notice notations). Sponsors and committee leaders provided short explanations on each item before the recorded votes.

Items not advanced or taken off notice at the request of sponsors will not appear on the next calendar unless resubmitted by the sponsor or reintroduced according to committee rules.