Layman's Terms
Advocacy Update: 111th General Assembly Adjourns with a Wild Finish Insurors Director of Government Relations, Jim Layman, J.D., breaks down the legal and legislative issues facing our industry. At about 3:00 am on Friday, June 19, 2020, the Tennessee General Assembly concluded their two-year session sine die which means, barring any specially called sessions, the legislature should not return until January 12, 2021. It was a dramatic and tense end to session, and disagreements flared between the House and the Senate up until the very end. Following disagreements on how to address a significant state revenue shortfall in the State’s budget, the two chambers also quarreled over a proposal to provide liability protection to businesses from frivolous lawsuits related to COVID, as well as a proposal to expand reimbursement requirements for telemedicine. Ultimately, the Chambers came to an agreement on the budget fueled in part by the Senate’s willingness to consider an extensive abortion restrictions proposal. The chambers passed the budget and the new abortion restrictions, but failed to come to an agreement on telemedicine and liability protections. This was truly a unique year for the Tennessee General Assembly. On March 16, as the virus spread and session was entering its final 4-6 weeks of the year, the Legislature decided to bar the public from legislative offices. On March 19, the Legislature passed the budget and recessed until June 1st. When the Legislature resumed in early June, leadership from the House and the Senate disagreed strongly on what the scope of its work should be during the midst of this health crisis. The Chambers never resolved their disagreement on the scope, and several pieces of legislation were passed in the House and not taken up in the Senate.
The Tennessee Insuror
Virtual Legislative Town Hall Set for August 11 Due to the timing of legislative session and ongoing COVIDrelated restrictions, we have moved our Legislative Town Hall event to a virtual program that will be held on Tuesday, August 11 at 10 am CT. The program, provided free to members by our partners at Arlington/Roe, will include a legislative update on important pieces of legislation from last year, a political update and news on the elections this Fall, and addresses from legislators and other government officials. You can check out insurors.org for more details and registration information for this event. Prospect of Special Session on COVID Liability Looms The day after session ended, Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) took to social media to chastise House members for failing to pass the liability protection measure and supporting a call for a special session to reconsider this issue. Much of the criticism came from the fact that the two chambers could not agree on whether it should be retroactive. A conference committee produced a report that left the retroactivity piece in. The bill then passed again in the Senate, but failed in the House by 4 votes when the bill’s sponsor and several members of House leadership came out against the inclusion of retroactivity. Insurors joined the TN Chamber of Commerce, NFIB, and a coalition of over 30 associations and stakeholders in support of the measure to provide protection to businesses, nonprofits, schools, and other entities from frivolous lawsuits related to COVID exposure. On July 1, 2020, Governor Bill Lee issued Executive Order 53 which provided limited liability protection to healthcare providers, but not to businesses, schools, churches, and the other entities the liability bill originally addressed. Right now, it appears likely
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