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Tennessee committee OKs bill letting labor commissioner waive unemployment rules during declared disasters
Summary
The Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 28 approved House Bill 6,002, a proposal to let the Labor and Workforce Development commissioner waive certain unemployment requirements and to allow TEMA and other state emergency agencies to expedite assistance in declared disaster areas.
The Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 28 approved House Bill 6,002, a proposal to give state officials more flexibility to speed relief after declared disasters by allowing the Labor and Workforce Development commissioner to waive certain unemployment requirements and by permitting Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) and other state emergency agencies to bypass some administrative steps when assisting local governments.
Representative Robert Cochran, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the measure is “really just cutting some bureaucratic red tape” so TEMA and other agencies can “more rapidly respond” in areas declared disaster zones. He said the change would put into statute what has previously been accomplished by executive order.
Why it matters: supporters said the measure creates a statutory vehicle so a future waiver would not depend on a separate executive order. That was raised during questioning by Representative Jeremy Clements, who asked whether the state already had the authority to make such waivers after the September flooding in Northeast Tennessee. Cochran responded that an executive order had been used previously and the bill would instead vest that discretion in law so the executive order would not be necessary for future events.
Committee discussion focused on timing and scope. Clements and others pressed whether an unavoidable delay in a governor’s disaster declaration would block relief; Cochran and other committee members clarified that the bill applies only to areas that have been declared disaster areas but would not require a separate executive order to trigger the unemployment waivers.
The committee took a roll-call vote after discussion. The clerk recorded 26 ayes, 0 nos, and the measure was reported favorably to Calendar and Rules.
Next steps: House Bill 6,002 will be scheduled by the Rules committee for floor consideration. The transcript shows TEMA and administration witnesses were available if the committee sought technical detail; no administration witness testimony was required during the committee’s consideration.
