Allan F. Ramsaur, TBA Executive Director
(800) 899-6993 or (615) 277-3200
aramsaur@tnbar.org
March 13, 2003
TBA-backed bills move ahead in busy sessions
With legislative activity now in full swing, TBA-backed legislation is moving briskly, with several bills earning committee backing this week and others winning passage from the full Senate or House. Here's a wrap up of action on those bills and other proposed legislation of interest to Tennessee attorneys.
• The UETA cleanup bill (SB0383, HB0575), sponsored by Sen. Roscoe Dixon, D-Memphis, and Rep. Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, won unanimous approval from the full Senate on Monday. In the House, the bill has been referred to the Commerce Utilities & Banking Subcommittee.
The bill cleans up portions of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) passed in 2001. During last session, a change was made in the legislation to exempt certain consumer transactions from the state law and leaving them under the provisions of the federal E-Sign Act. In the final codification of the bill, however, the amendment ended up in a footnote, instead of becoming a part of the statute. This legislation would make clear the scope of the state statute.
• The TRPC Cleanup bill (SB0735, HB0570), sponsored by Sen. Roy Herron, D-Dresden, and Rep. Joe Fowlkes, D-Cornersville, passed without a dissenting vote in the House Monday night and has been referred to the Judiciary Committee in the Senate. Following up on the adoption by the Tennessee Supreme Court of the new Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct (TRPC), this bill changes the references from the old Code of Professional Responsibility to the newly updated Rules. In addition, this bill deletes the current statutory provisions dealing with solicitation by lawyers. Those provisions have been held unconstitutional. The Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct do contain solicitation provisions that have withstood constitutional challenge.
• The "Real Group" insurance bill (HB0758, SB0411), sponsored by Sen. Jerry Cooper, D-Morrison, Rep. Jere Hargrove, D-Cookeville, won unanimous support from the House Commerce Committee's Industrial Impact Subcommittee on Tuesday. The Senate's Commerce, Labor & Agriculture Committee has deferred consideration of the bill to March 18.
This bill will lift the statutory ban on property and casualty carriers from offering discounts to members of professional associations. The TBA and several other professional associations have available plans that would offer, for example, a 15 percent discount for TBA members for automobile insurance when that statutory ban is lifted. Fewer than 10 other states currently have such a ban.
• Action on the service of process cleanup bill (SB0352, HB0751), sponsored by Sen. Joe Haynes, D-Nashville, and Rep. Frank Buck, D-Dowellton, was pushed back a week by the House Judiciary Committee because Rep. Buck was unable to attend the Wednesday session. The bill did pick up another sponsor this week, when Rep. Kent Coleman, D-Murfreesboro, added his name to the legislation.
o Amendments to Evidence Rules (HR0022) were approved without a dissenting vote Monday and were then signed by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh. A vote on the resolution, which was approved by the Senate last week (SR0010), had been delayed because of some concerns with aspects of the proposal that allow the use of a child's hearsay testimony in normal domestic matters, as is currently allowed in termination of parental rights' actions. Proponents countered that even without the change there are ways this testimony could be brought in, and the amendments passed.
Amendments to the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure (HR0019, HR0020, HR0021) won approval from the full House last week. All had also been earlier approved in the Senate (SR0007, SR0008, SR0009).
• The TBA continues to work with sponsors of several disclosure bills that would require financial and other reporting from some public officials who also provide consulting services. While the TBA is sympathetic to the intent of the bills — to stop officials from taking on contracts that might lead to improper influence in government — it remains concerned about a potential conflict between the requirements and a lawyer's duty of confidentiality to clients in legal matters that have nothing to do with influencing government actions. The TBA is working on possible amendments to the legislation that it hopes would the fix problem.
Great Big Shrimp a success
More than 200 lawmakers, bar leaders, legislative staffers and TBA members recently attended the TBA's annual Big Shrimp Reception at the Tennessee Bar Center. This annual reception honoring the General Assembly helps to cement close working relationships that the bar enjoys with the leadership of the legislature. Attendees also consumed more than 1,000 shrimp, pounds and pounds of onion souffle and smoked beef tenderloin. See photos from the event at http://www.tba.org/news/bigshrimp2003/index.html
TBA bill tracking service
The TBA bill tracking service lets you read abstracts of bills, check their status in both houses, find out who is sponsoring them and link to full versions of the legislation.
TBA Big List
Monitor close to 300 bills and resolutions of interest to the Tennessee legal community.
TBA Watch List
Monitor 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.
Questions, comments? Contact TBA Legislative Counsel Steve Cobb at SAC@wallerlaw.com or TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur at aramsaur@tnbar.org
