Finance, Ways and Means subcommittee advances dozens of bills to full finance, places many measures behind the budget

Nashville — The Tennessee House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee convened April 2 and considered a 60-item calendar, referring multiple bills to full finance and placing numerous proposals behind the budget for later consideration.

The meeting opened with roll call and proceeded through a long agenda of bills covering education, transportation, public safety, health care reimbursements and local government matters. Speaker Pro Tem Marsh described House Bill 759 as a change in how merit pay could be used: "This bill allows any future state funding to be used in a merit pay structure at the discretion of the local school board. It removes the parameters that currently exist around that. This bill simply moves those parameters to the discretion of the school board at large rather than a parameter set by the state." HB 759 passed the subcommittee and was referred to full finance, 8-0.

Why it matters: The subcommittee’s actions advance several bills that will be considered in more detail by full finance or on other calendars while deferring many measures that carry fiscal costs until budget negotiations. Measures that move forward now will still face additional committee consideration and floor votes before becoming law.

Most consequential procedural outcomes

- Several bills were referred to full finance after voice or recorded votes, including HB 759 (Marsh), HB 810 (Grills), HB 133 (Hale), HB 212 and HB 213 (Howe), HB 335 (Halsey), HB 1250 (Mayberry), HB 45 (McCalmon), HB 171 (Reed), HB 496 (Reedy), HB 1321 (Stinnett), HB 1250 (Mayberry), HB 35 (Hicks), HB 728 (Hicks), HB 829 (Hicks), HB 13-23 (Hicks) and HB 1306 (Williams). Several of those votes were unanimous or near-unanimous on the subcommittee (vote counts are listed in the Votes at a glance below).

- Many bills with identified fiscal impacts were "placed behind the budget," meaning the subcommittee will consider funding during the budget process rather than advancing them immediately. Examples include bills to expand certain scholarship or grant programs (HB 1324, HB 148, HB 504, HB 148 continuation), reimbursement increases for ambulance services (HB 195, HB 201), and other programs with identified costs.

- Several items were referred to other calendars: House Joint Resolution 2 to the constitutional calendar; a set of bills were sent "to the hill" (full House consideration) or to specialty calendars (for example, driver's license calendar or task/study (TASER) calendars) where applicable.

Votes at a glance (committee action and outcome)

Note: "Moved to full finance" indicates the subcommittee referred the bill to the full House Finance Committee. "Placed behind the budget" indicates the subcommittee acknowledged a fiscal impact and deferred consideration of funding to the budget process. Tallies shown where recorded in the subcommittee.

- Item 1 — House Bill 759 (Speaker Pro Tem Marsh): referred to full finance; tally: 8 ayes, 0 no. - Item 2 — House Bill 69 (Leader Lambert): rolled one week (postponed). - Item 3 — House Bill 1324 (Leader Lambert): placed behind the budget (fiscal note ~ $12,000,000 noted in committee discussion). - Item 4 — House Bill 1134 (Chairman Boyd): rolled to health (postponed). - Item 5 — House Bill 1144 (Chairman Boyd): amendment adopted for placement on bill; placed behind the budget. - Item 6 — House Bill 52 (Chairman Bolesow): placed behind the budget (increase in disabled veterans property exemption from $175,000 to $250,000 discussed). - Item 7 — House Joint Resolution 2 (Chairman Darby): sent to constitutional calendar. - Item 8 — House Bill 573 (Chairman Doggett): sent to the full House ("to the hill"). - Item 9 — House Bill 578 (Chairman Doggett): sent to the hill. - Item 10 — House Bill 577 (Chairman Doggett): sent to the hill. - Item 11 — House Bill 802 (Chairman Grills): placed behind the budget. - Item 12 — House Bill 810 (Chairman Grills): referred to full finance; tally: 8 ayes, 0…