March 24, 2005

TBA domestic relations bill passes Senate
TBA-backed domestic relations legislation this week passed the Senate on a 33-0 vote and won approval from a House subcommittee, moving it two big steps closer to becoming law.

The bill, which would divorce the statutory provisions of child support from those of spousal support (SB2091/HB2244), will now go before the full Children and Family Affairs Committee in the House on Wednesday. Sponsors of the bill are Rep. Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, and Sen. Doug Henry, D-Nashville.

Probate bill may face full House vote this week
The House Judiciary Committee passed a second TBA-backed bill this week, sending to the Calendar and Rules Committee the probate reform bill (HB1001/SB1162) that was developed by the Tennessee Probate Study Group. If the committee deals with the bill on Tuesday, it could go before the full House on Thursday. In the Senate, the bill has been placed on the Judiciary Committee’s calendar for hearing on Tuesday.

LLC reform bill on committee calendars for next week
The TBA-backed bill to reform the Limited Liability Company Act (SB421/HB1121) won support from the House Civil Practice and Procedure Subcommittee this week and has been slated for hearing by the House’s full Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. In the Senate, the bill is also scheduled for a Tuesday hearing before the Commerce, Labor and Agriculture Committee.

The bill was prepared by the LLC Committee of the TBA’s Business Law Section, and members of the section have been working to help committee members understand the changes proposed in the somewhat complicated bill. One member, Mike Yopp, an attorney with Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis in Nashville, appeared before the committee this week to answer questions. Richard Spore, who heads the section’s LLC Committee and is an attorney with Bass Berry & Sims in Memphis, provided a detailed summary of the proposed legislation that has been distributed to senate committee members. Sen. Joe Haynes, D-Nashville, and Rep. Kim McMillan, D-Clarksville, are the bill’s sponsors.

Meth-Free Tennessee Act of 2005
The TBA’s concerns with the governor’s legislation for combating the methamphetamine problem in Tennessee (HB2334/SB2318) are being dealt in related legislation (SB2064/HB2086) sponsored by Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, and Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland. Their bill would require local law enforcement officers to file a notice with the office of the register of deeds whenever they quarantine a property that had been contaminated by methamphetamine production. Once the property is certified to be clean again, record of that could also be filed with the register of deeds by the landowner or other interested parties.

The TBA and others had been concerned that without the filing of these notices with the register of deeds office in the county where the quarantined property is located, attorneys and others would not be able to be sure of a property’s status.

Domestic relations
A bill (SB1948/HB0780) that would have reinstated a number of abolished torts and permitted divorcing spouses to seek tort remedies, including pain and suffering for marital misconduct, was deferred for a second time in the House Children and Family Affairs Committee pending comments from the Judicial Council. The TBA opposes the bill because it makes an already difficult situation even more painful, particularly for children. It is also inconsistent with legislative efforts in recent years to require parenting plans and mediation to reduce the damage caused by this sort of litigation.

Class action settlement bill
Legislation that would have required 80 percent of a settlement awarded in a class action suit, before costs, be given to the class, has been taken off notice in the Senate Judiciary Committee. While well intentioned, the bill (SB0209/HB0337) neglects the economic realities of major litigation, and the TBA believes it would be harmful. We appreciate the willingness of the bill’s sponsors — Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, and Sen. Jeff Miller, R-Cleveland — to defer the measure indefinitely.

Tennessee Plan
No action took place this week on the various bills that call for the popular and partisan election of judges to the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals. The TBA opposes this legislation and is hopeful that sponsors will defer the measures.

Keep up-to-date on legislation of interest
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 Watch List Monitor close to 300 bills and resolutions of interest to the Tennessee legal community.

TBA Action 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 scobb@tnbar.org or TBA Executive Director Allan F. Ramsaur at aramsaur@tnbar.org