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Legislative Agenda & Advocacy

The Tennessee Chamber is the preeminent voice for business in the halls of our Capitol. Since 1912 the Tennessee Chamber has engaged business leaders across our state to impact public policy in the Tennessee General Assembly. There is no issue that we are not involved in, if it impacts business we engage to oppose, support or modify the proposal so it does not harm our members or Tennessee’s economic growth.

2023 Legislative Results & Outcomes

The adjournment of the 2023 legislative session marks the completion of the first session of the 113th General Assembly. In terms of leadership, not much changed in comparison to the 112th General Assembly as Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally and House Speaker Cameron Sexton still held the gavels. Overall, the business community saw a number of significant wins that will continue to ensure the success of industry in Tennessee.

The Results Report: 2023 Legislative Recap


Tennessee Chamber Legislative Policy Agenda

2022 Legislative Agenda

2022 House Redistricting Summary

The Results Report: 2022 Legislative Results & Outcomes

The 2021 Agenda: Legislative & Policy

2021-2022 Tennessee Budget Overview

 

TAX POLICY: 

Beginning in October of 2020, Public Chapter 646 requires marketplace facilitators to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of third party marketplace sellers. This will ensure that significant previously uncollected sales tax revenue will now be remitted to the state of Tennessee, leveling the playing field for businesses. It is likely already having a significant impact on voluntary compliance as sales and use collections in Tennessee in the catalogue and internet category show significant increase. Public Chapter 759 is the result of legislation from the June legislative session which lowers the tax collection threshold for marketplace facilitators on remote sellers from $500,000 to $100,000. Combined, all marketplace facilitator related legislation from all 2020 sessions is projected to produce nearly $200 million in new revenues. 

 

RIGHT TO WORK: 

A constitutional resolution (Senate Joint Resolution 648) to allow citizens to vote to embed the right-to-work into the state constitution was passed on June 17th and signed by both speakers. The 112th General Assembly will now be required to adopt an identical resolution before the constitutional initiative is placed on Tennessee ballots in 2022.

 

ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY: 

The Chamber shepherded the enactment of Public Chapter 712 which clarifies the regulatory status of soil, an issue that can have a significant impact on urban development. Because of the imminent creation of a regulatory scheme by the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Senate recognized the urgency of this issue and advanced the bill. 

The Chamber played a significant role in ensuring that an attempt to ban the use of single-use plastic and paper bags by retail, grocery, and food service establishments failed to become law. Instead, lawmakers voted to discuss the issue in more detail in the form of a summer study. At the time of this publication, no summer study has yet been scheduled.

Public Chapter 591, which ensures that local governments cannot prohibit the use of existing energy sources, be-came law and mitigates efforts in states like California where local governments have sought to ban the connection of natural gas.
 
 

ANTI-BUSINESS LEGISLATION: 

The Tennessee Chamber worked to either amend or defeat a number of other mandate bills that, if enacted, would have significantly impacted businesses in Tennessee. These bills include several employer mandates that would have increased cost and regulation in a number of areas. These bills along with several related to Human Resources, can be found at tnchamber.org. 


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