The 113th General Assembly Convenes

On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, the Tennessee State Legislature convened for the first session of the 113th General Assembly. This legislature welcomed a total of 22 new legislators to the Capitol for the upcoming legislative session. The State Senate welcomed three new members: Sen. Adam Lowe (R-Dist. 1), Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Dist. 19), and Sen. Brent Taylor (R-Dist. 31). Senate partisan construction remains 27 Republicans and 6 Democrats.

The State House of Representatives welcomed 19 new members: Rep. Robert Stevens (R-Dist. 13), Rep. Elaine Davis (R-Dist. 18), Rep. Bryan Richey (R-Dist. 20), Rep. Kevin Raper (R-Dist. 24), Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Dist. 32), Rep. William Slater (R-Dist. 35), Rep. Michael Hale (R-Dist. 40), Rep. Ed Butler (R-Dist. 41), Rep. Justin Jones (D-Dist. 52), Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Dist. 59), Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Dist. 61), Rep. Jake McCalmon (R-Dist. 63), Rep. Ronnie Glynn (D-Dist. 67), Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dist. 69), Rep. Kip Capley (R-Dist. 71), Rep. Jeff Burkhart (R-Dist. 75), and Rep. Brock Martin (R-Dist. 79). The House partisan construction is 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats.

In its first week, the legislature elected House and Senate leadership. Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Dist. 25) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Dist. 5) remain the leaders of their respective chambers. The legislature also announced committee assignments and re-elected two of the State’s three Constitutional Officers: The Comptroller of the Treasury,

Jason Mumpower; and the State Treasurer, David Lillard. The Comptroller’s Office has many responsibilities including auditing state and local government entities, overseeing Tennessee’s 95 county assessors of property, managing the state’s debt, approving local government budgets, and participating in the general financial and administrative management of state government. The state Department of the Treasury manages or has oversight over more than $99.2 billion in assets for the state through various investment initiatives, while also offering informational programs about topics such as college savings, financial literacy, unclaimed property, criminal injuries compensation and risk management.

The General Assembly took a short recess before Gov. Lee’s Inaugural events. On Saturday, January 21, 2023, Gov. Bill Lee took his oath of office to begin his second term as the state’s 50th governor. This will be Gov. Lee’s last inauguration event, as state law prevents him from running for a third term. Gov. Lee ran unopposed in the Republican’s gubernatorial primary and defeated Democrat Dr. Jason Martin in the November general election, winning 65% of the vote.

The House bill filing deadline was set for January 31, while the Senate bill filing deadline was set for February 2. We anticipate approximately 1,500 bills to be filed ranging on a variety of topics that include data privacy legislation, infrastructure initiatives, workers compensation proposals, workforce policy and significant tax proposals. After the filing deadlines, the Tennessee Apartment Association Executive Committee and Board of Directors will review a comprehensive bill report to identify legislation of interest. Additional information will be distributed to the association’s membership once policy positions have been determined and advocacy efforts are underway.