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Votes at a glance: Commerce Committee advances multiple bills including trust law cleanup, HELOC change, tattoo training and more
Summary
The committee approved a range of bills on a packed calendar, many by unanimous or near-unanimous margins; this summary lists each measure, the committee tally and brief description of the action.
The Tennessee House Commerce Committee handled a packed calendar and advanced numerous bills to calendar and rules. The measures below reflect the committee’s recorded motions and votes from the transcript. Vote tallies are the committee clerk’s counts recorded on the floor.
Votes at a glance
- House Joint Resolution: Reappointment of David Jones to the Public Utility Commission — Passed in committee, recorded as 19 ayes (clerk report during roll call).
- HB 817 (trust law updates, sponsor: Representative Garrett) — Committee attached an amendment that rewrote the bill (coding ending 3684); passed 21-0 and was sent to calendar and rules. Sponsor described the bill as clarifications to trust definitions, successor trustees, electronic notice, reimbursement of trustee costs and who may serve in nonfiduciary advisory roles.
- HB 908 (subordinate / home equity loans beyond 15 years, sponsor: Representative Gere) — The bill changes the benchmark used for long-term subordinate loans (HELOANs) to a market-based rate used for currently available loans; sponsor and members clarified that existing consumer-protection laws still apply. Passed 22-0 and advanced to calendar and rules.
- HB 182 ("Ink of Hope" tattoo-operator training tied to human-trafficking recognition, sponsor: Chair Lee Littleton) — The bill would require prospective tattoo operators to complete up to one hour of free training, provided by a nonprofit approved by the Tennessee Human Trafficking Advisory Council, on recognizing and reporting signs of human trafficking. Passed 22-0 and referred to calendar and rules.
- HB 343 (lighter safety standards, sponsor: Representative Kaplan) — The bill would prohibit sale of lighters that do not comply with standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM); committee discussion noted exemptions for transportation and distribution. Passed 23-0 and advanced to calendar and rules.
- HB 499 (registered-agent resignation notice cleanup, sponsor: Representative Jones) — The bill clarifies statutory language so a registered agent need only provide the business written notice of resignation by certified mail rather than duplicate secretary-of-state form copies. Passed 22-0 and advanced to calendar and rules.
- HB 100 (Cleveland Utility Authority technical correction, sponsor: Chairman Howell) — The bill corrects an omitted section so the board may be compensated following a utility conversion; passed 23-0 and advanced to calendar and rules.
- HB 683 — Rolled one week; no vote recorded.
- HB 459 — Rolled for two weeks at sponsor request; no vote recorded.
- HB 1136 (broadband/TPOC jurisdiction clarification, sponsor: Chairman Boyd) — Bill clarifies state-level treatment of broadband regulatory responsibility and removes a long-standing reporting mandate; passed 22-0.
- Blasting pre-survey fee clarification (sponsor: Chairman Boyd) — The bill clarifies that the pre-blasting survey provided following blasting work shall be supplied to a homeowner at no cost; passed 22-0.
- HB 128 (Workers' Compensation omnibus changes, sponsor: Chairman Boyd) — The bill extends the Next Step scholarship program for injured workers, extends a sunset for attorneys’ fees, raises eligibility criteria for workers’ compensation judges and allows an additional term for judges; passed but with dissent, committee clerk reported 18 ayes and 4 nos and the bill moves to calendar and rules.
- HB 1096 (community benefit agreements ban, presented by Chairman Kevin Vaughn for Speaker Sexton) — See separate article for full coverage; committee passed the measure as amended 17-5.
What the clerks recorded
All vote tallies in this summary reflect the committee clerk’s roll call reported during the meeting; several measures were advanced unanimously or nearly unanimously. Items that were rolled were explicitly placed off the calendar by sponsor request.
Ending: Bills approved by the committee will be placed on calendar and rules as recorded; sponsors and members noted the importance of follow-up work on implementation details for items such as the effective date for the community benefit agreements bill and details on worker-comp changes.
