February 20, 2003
Allan F. Ramsaur
TBA Executive Director
(800) 899-6993 or (615) 277-3200
aramsaur@tnbar.org
This week in LegisFlash
Bills continue to pour in; TBA offers help keeping track
The avalanche of new bills continued this week with the introduction of hundreds of new proposals. That kept most legislators and their staffs busy sorting through the measures now on the table, setting priorities and making plans.
The good news is that most bills have now been introduced, so legislative committees will soon be getting down to the serious business of analyzing them and moving them — or not moving them — through the legislative process.
To help you keep up with that process, the TBA is launching a bill tracking service that will be available to you on TBALink. Using the new service, you’ll be able to read abstracts of bills, check their status in both houses, find out who is sponsoring them and link to full versions of the legislation.
The tracking lists are generated from the Tennessee Legislative Service, which provides the classification and descriptions of legislation. They will be updated weekly.
The first list keeps track of legislation of interest to the Tennessee legal community. That list now monitors about 300 bills and resolutions and can be accessed at http://www.tba.org/legisflash/2003/tba_generallist.html. A second list is narrower and only follows legislation in which the TBA has an interest of record — bills the TBA initiated, bills on which the TBA has taken a position or bills on which the TBA has policy. You can access that list at http://www.tba.org/legisflash/2003/tba_watchlist.html.
Here are a few bills introduced this week that have drawn the attention of the TBA’s legislative staff:
Corporate representation in general sessions court
This bill would allow a corporation or association with 10 or fewer employees to be represented in general sessions court by an officer of the corporation or association, without an attorney. The bill (SB0992, HB1189) is sponsored by Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, and Rep. David Davis, R-Johnson City. The TBA opposes such efforts.
Meetings of judicial selection commission
This bill requires that all meetings of judicial selection commission be open to the public. This appears to include all interviews with judicial candidates. The bill (SB0845) is sponsored by Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain.
Reduced funding for the AOC and the attorney general
This bill would require the governor’s appropriations bill to propose reduced funding for the Administrative Office of Courts and the Attorney General’s office, if additional resources are required to defend the state in certain circumstances. The bill (SB0852) is sponsored by Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain.
Abolishes cost-of-living adjustments for court justices
This bill would abolish automatic cost-of-living adjustments to salaries of Supreme Court justices beginning with the September 2006 election. The bill (SB0853) is sponsored by Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain.
Limits on attorney’s fees in workers’ comp. cases
This bill provides that in addition to the current limitation on attorney’s fees paid in workers’ compensation cases, fees will be limited to no more than 20 percent of the difference between a good faith offer made and the final award. Such an offer must be certified as a good faith offer by a workers’ compensation specialist. The bill (SB0995, HB1299) is sponsored by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, and Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley. The TBA opposes caps on attorneys fees.
Juvenile appeals subject to rules of appellate procedure
This bill would place juvenile courts under the same rules of appeals as trial courts, so that appeals would go directly to the Court of Appeals instead of to a Circuit Court as is now the case. The bill (SB0400, HB1022) is sponsored by Sen. Jo Ann Graves, D-Gallatin, and Rep. Gene Davidson, D-Adams.
Questions, comments? Contact TBA Legislative Counsel Steve Cobb at SAC@wallerlaw.com or TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur at aramsaur@tnbar.org
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