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Workers' advocates urge preserving 'step 3' appeals as committee considers Team Act overhaul
Summary
Witnesses told the committee that removing the external 'step 3' appeal would concentrate power in agencies and weaken fairness; sponsor said the bill aims to streamline hiring and disciplinary processes. Committee advanced the bill to full committee with conditions for further negotiation.
Representative McCalmon presented House Bill 25 40, described as a broad "Team Act 2.0" cleanup of the 2012 law governing state employment. Sponsor said the bill updates hiring and discipline procedures to improve efficiency and align statutes with current executive-branch compensation processes.
Jessica Scott, staff attorney for the Tennessee State Employees Association, said the bill is a "sweeping overhaul" and warned that eliminating the external "step 3" appeals process would remove the only external neutral review and could weaken public trust. "This is not a targeted update. It's a full restructuring," she said, urging preservation of independent review.
Dr. Richard Hadden recounted his experience as a long-term state pharmacist investigator who had his termination overturned at step 3. He said the external review "did exactly what it was designed to do" by restoring his employment and awarding back pay. Attorney Sam HelmBrecht described his case experience and estimated a 64 percent reinstatement rate in his sample of step-3 hearings, and explained procedural difficulties in court review without a recorded step-3 hearing.
Agency representative Eric Mayo said the administration is exploring efficiency gains and noted agencies bear significant time and cost burdens for step 3. He said discussions with the association are ongoing and that protecting some employee representation and access to information is a negotiation point. The committee voted to advance the bill to full committee with recorded votes and indicated additional amendments and negotiation were likely.
