House Government Operations Committee advances towing, privacy and caregiver bills; Tennessee Tech discusses nuclear program

The House Government Operations Committee advanced six bills during its March meeting, most notably approving House Bill 972, which clarifies towing and signage rules for vehicles on private property, and advancing measures to allow family caregivers to be paid through TennCare and to protect certain local employees’ residential addresses.

House Bill 972, sponsored by Representative McCallum, passed on a recorded voice vote after debate and a failed amendment. “If you have a car that's illegally parked in private property, the language specifies that you could have that vehicle towed immediately at the owner's expense,” McCallum said while explaining the bill’s cleanup changes from last year’s Motion Act. An amendment (No. 006105) from Chairman Clemens that would have exempted private residential owners and multiunit residential property owners from a prohibition on booting was offered and discussed but failed on a committee voice vote; the main bill then passed 9–4 and will move to Finance, Ways and Means.

Committee members debated several practical details of HB 972. The bill shortens one towing window on private property from 48 hours to 12 hours but specifies that the 12‑hour waiting period is not required if a vehicle “creates a hazard, blocks access to public or private property, or is parked illegally,” McCallum said. Representative McKenzie expressed concern that a 12‑hour window could be short for motorists who run out of gas or who arrive late at night and whose notices might not be seen until the next morning. The bill also clarifies that certain notices may be sent via the U.S. Postal Service and reiterated that existing municipal options for booting remain governed by local ordinances if adopted.

Votes at a glance: House Bill 972 — Clarifies towing, signage and notices on private property; amendment 006105 (exempt residential owners from non‑booting prohibition) failed by voice vote; main motion passed 9–4; advances to Finance, Ways and Means.

Other bills advanced with little extended debate: House Bill 66, a measure to keep residential street addresses for county, municipal and other public employees private (similar to protections state employees already receive), passed 14–0 and will proceed to the next committee. Representative Sparks introduced that bill, saying it responded to a mayor and city administrator request to protect local employees’ privacy.

House Bill 712, carried by Representative Hale and brought to the committee by the Tennessee Disability Coalition, passed 14–0. The bill directs TennCare and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to develop guidelines allowing qualified family caregivers to be hired and paid by home‑ and community‑based services, standardizing access and preventing automatic disqualification based on relationship, residency or program enrollment. ‘‘This is just saying that they're able to hire family members, which many of them are having to quit jobs to be able to do that,’’ Hale said.

House Bill 717, a fund creation called the Caring for Caregivers Act to provide assistance to family caregivers for people with Alzheimer’s disease, was advanced to Finance, Ways and Means (14–0). Committee members noted the bill will be amended in the next committee and that the commissioner will promulgate rules under the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act.

House Bill 279, which extends the Tennessee Tech University board of trustees to 2030, passed 12–0. During the discussion the committee heard from Tennessee Tech President Phil Oldham and Board Chair Trudy Harper, who described the university’s recently relaunched nuclear engineering program. ‘‘We were approved to start that program this last fall, and we, successfully launched the program. Actually, relaunched it… and so, actually exceeded our enrollment goals for the first year,’’ Oldham said. Harper added that the program aims to place graduates in a growing mix of traditional and private industry positions related to power and generation.

House Bill 288, a cleanup and sunset scheduling bill that adds the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact and the Tennessee Child Fatality Prevention Team to the 2026 sunset cycle and removes outdated agency references, was amended on the floor and advanced 12–0.

The committee chair closed the meeting by reminding members of its monthly rule review scheduled for Monday, March 31 at 9 a.m. in House Hearing Room 1.

Quotes used in this article were taken verbatim from the committee transcript and are attributed to the speakers who made them in committee.