Finance, Ways and Means committee advances 16 bills to calendar and rules, postpones six

The Tennessee House Finance, Ways and Means Committee voted on a slate of bills during its April 2025 meeting, advancing 16 measures to the calendar and rules committee and postponing or rolling six other items, Chairman Crawford said.

The package included policy and administrative bills across education, transportation, public safety and health finance. Key items advanced included a bill to permit local school boards discretion to use future state funding for merit pay; removal of a $350 bond for civil asset forfeiture recovery; changes to the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act; several annual health- and facility-assessment bills; and transportation omnibus bills to name license plates and roads or bridges.

Speaker Pro Tem Marsh described House Bill 759 as a change to the state'board of education strategic compensation policy that "allows any future state funding to be used in a merit pay structure at the discretion of the local school board," removing current state-set parameters and leaving those details to local boards. The committee approved HB 759 by voice and recorded vote; the clerk reported 27 ayes and 0 nos.

Chairman Howe described the transportation omnibus bills (including House Bills 212 and 213) as the annual packages that include naming of specialty license plates and naming roads and bridges. HB 212 passed on a recorded vote of 26 ayes, 0 nos after an amendment was adopted; HB 213 passed 28-0 after an amendment correcting a honoree's name (Leader Camper said the amendment "correct[ed] the name of Maurice Selmon junior to Maurice Ira Selmon junior").

Representative Lafferty's House Bill 1229 would remove a required $350 bond for people seeking return of items seized under civil asset forfeiture; the committee approved the bill 28-0. Other public-safety and criminal-law items advanced included House Bill 45, which raises the penalty for certain child abuse-causing injury for ages 9 to 17 from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony; that measure passed 28-0.

Administrative and finance items moved on the calendar and rules with recorded votes: HB 171 (extension of the ground ambulance service annual assessment to June 30, 2026) passed 28-0; HB 496 (changes to the ABLE Act brought by the state treasurer) passed 28-0; HB 1321 (renaming and recodifying a tourism division to a marketing division and formalizing TDOT funding transfers for welcome centers) passed 28-0; and HB 1314 (related tourism/transportation agreements and maintenance assistance) passed 28-0.

Representative Grills's House Bill 810, which clarifies how UTVs are allowed to operate on state roads and consolidates definitions for off-highway vehicles, passed 28-0 after the committee and Department of Safety worked on the amendment for about 18 months, lawmakers said. The local-utility item HB 335 (increase of Blountville utility district board member pay from $300 to $500 per month) passed 26-0.

House Bill 1306, described by Chairman Williams as an administration bill to add eligible affordable and workforce-development housing projects to local government tools and expand brownfield incentives, passed 28-0; Williams clarified the bill "authorizes" local governments to use the tools but does not mandate them. Several health-finance assessment bills were also advanced: HB 35 (nondeloma districts increase) passed 25-0; HB 728 (annual nursing home assessment) passed 25-0; and HB 829 (annual hospital assessment) passed 24-0.

Several items were postponed or rolled: item 2 was rolled one week; HB 1199 and HB 1200 were rolled one week; item 8 was taken off notice; HB 547 was rolled one week; and item 16 was rolled to the heel after an untimely-filed substantive amendment was noted. When items were rolled the committee recorded "without objection" or a motion and second to postpone.

Votes at a glance (bill ' outcome ' committee tally): - HB 759 (Speaker Pro Tem Marsh) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 27 ayes, 0 nos. - Item 2 ' rolled one week ' vote: without objection (no recorded tally given) - HB 212 (Chairman Howe) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 26 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 213 (Chairman Howe) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 1199 ' rolled one week ' without objection - HB 1200 ' rolled one week ' without objection - HB 1229 (Chairman Lafferty) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - Item 8 ' taken off notice ' no action recorded - HB 45 (Rep. McCallman) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 171 (Rep. Reed) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 496 (Rep. Reedy / state treasurer sponsor) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 1321 (Rep. Stannett) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 1314 (Leader Cochran) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 547 ' rolled one week ' without objection - HB 810 (Chairman Grills) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - Item 16 ' rolled to the heel (untimely-filed amendment) ' motion seconded (no recorded tally given) - HB 1323 (Rep. Hicks) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 335 (Chairman Hulsey) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 26 ayes, 0 nos. (raises board pay from $300 to $500/month) - HB 1306 (Chairman Williams) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 28 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 35 (Rep. Hicks) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 25 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 728 (Rep. Hicks) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 25 ayes, 0 nos. - HB 829 (Rep. Hicks) ' moved to calendar and rules ' 24 ayes, 0 nos.

Chairman Crawford closed the meeting after a brief district flooding note from Representative Grills; Speaker Zachary moved to adjourn and members agreed. Members were told items not taken up will be considered at the next meeting.