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Senate blocks effort to allow Sunday liquor sales Members of the Senate State and Local Government Committee declined take up two measures sponsored by Sen. Shea Flinn, D-Memphis. One measure sought to allow the sale of wine at grocery stores. The other would have allowed retailers to sell liquor and wine on Sundays and on Labor Day, the Fourth of July and New Year's Day. "Why are you prohibited from buying a bottle of wine on Sunday?" Flinn asked reporters outside the committee meeting. "Why are you not allowed to purchase wine in a grocery story? You can purchase beer there. There's just no rational basis for these protectionist laws." Flinn, who was named interim senator late last year, has been representing the District 30 seat vacated by Democrat Steve Cohen after he was elected to Congress in November. Flinn will be replaced by Democratic Rep. Beverly Marrero, who defeated attorney Larry Parrish, a Republican, in Tuesday's special election. --- The bills are SB0634 and SB2072. --- PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY A proposal to move Tennessee's presidential primary up a week was advanced Tuesday to a full floor vote in the House. The measure sponsored by House Majority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville, passed unanimously - and without debate - by the House State and Local Government Committee. The bill would move the presidential primary up a week from Feb. 12 to Feb. 5. About 485,850 people voted in Tennessee's last presidential primary in 2004, while about 2.5 million voted in the general election that year. Presidential primaries around the country have gradually been pushed earlier over the past two decades. In 1980, only one state held a primary or caucus by the end of February. That number could balloon to more than 30 states by next year. The companion bill has yet to be considered in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. --- The bill is HB2211. --- LOBBYING LAWS Lobbyist registrations with the Tennessee Ethics Commission would be based on the calendar year instead of the current rules that are based on a filing year beginning on Oct. 1, under a bill advanced by the House State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. The new filing deadlines would apply beginning in January 2008. The measure sponsored by House Majority Leader Gary Odom, D-Nashville, would also eliminate a requirement that lobbyists personally deliver a hard copy of the ethics manual to their employer. The proposal would allow employers of lobbyists to download the manual from the Ethics Commission's Web site. Odom said the commission has no objection to the proposed changes, which will next be considered by the House Finance Committee. The companion bill is awaiting a Senate floor vote. --- The bill is HB1606. --- MEDICAL MALPRACTICE One of the sponsors of legislation aimed at medical malpractice reform says progress is being made on an amendment that would penalize lawyers who bring frivolous lawsuits. Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, and House Judiciary Chairman Rob Briley, D-Nashville, have been working with lawyers and health care providers on a compromise. The two lawmakers have agreed not to place a cap on damages. Insurers and doctors have been lobbying lawmakers for several years to enact damage caps while lawyers have fiercely fought them. But Norris and Briley, both attorneys, believe the compromise may finally resolve the conflict. "We have been engaged in lengthy sessions, and we are continuing to make progress on the amendment," Norris told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday before requesting that his legislation be deferred a week. The language of the proposed agreement has not yet been filed or made public. But Briley has said lawyers suing doctors in medical malpractice cases would have to certify that experts agree with the legitimacy of their claims. They would be subject to penalties if they were later found to have filed frivolous lawsuits without legitimate vetting. Attorneys found in violation could be forced to pay the court costs for defense lawyers and could be hit with other penalties. They could also have their names reported to the Board of Professional Responsibility, Briley said. The House version of the proposal has been assigned to the Civil Practice and Procedure Subcommittee. --- The bill is SB2001. --- LIMITING LOCALS Officials could hold only a single local elected office under a measure advanced Tuesday to a full House floor vote. The House State and Local Government Committee advanced the measure sponsored by Rep. Eddie Neal on a voice vote. "The purpose of the bill is to restore confidence in the electoral process," said Neal, D-Memphis. Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, was the only committee member to vote against the measure. "When we limit people from holding public office, we are doing a disservice," Hensley said. Hensley said that in rural areas there is often a limited pool of residents who want to hold elected office. Rep. John Litz, D-Morristown, said the measure is particularly important for more rural areas. "You end up in these smaller counties where you have people elected to too many positions," Litz said. Rep. Ulysses Jones Jr., D-Memphis and the committee's chairman, challenged Hensley on whether he would want the same official serving on both the county commission and the city council. "If you can do it, more power to you," Hensley responded. Consideration of the companion bill has yet to be scheduled in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. --- The bill is HB0082. --- SMOKING BAN The sponsor of legislation that would ban workplace smoking in Tennessee says he wants to set aside a time for his bill to be discussed with similar legislation. House Agriculture Chairman Stratton Bone asked the traditionally tobacco-friendly committee on Tuesday to defer his bill for three weeks to allow it to be discussed with about 10 other anti-smoking bills. The legislation sponsored by Bone, D-Lebanon, includes exemptions for private residences, hotel and motel rooms that are designated as smoking, retail tobacco stores, cigar bars and private clubs. Violators would be fined under the bill. The companion version of Bone's legislation has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. --- The bill is HB1851. --- PROPERTY TAXES Elderly low-income homeowners would get a property tax break under a bill moving through the Legislature. In last year's general election, an overwhelming majority of Tennessee voters approved a constitutional amendment that would allow local governments to exempt homeowners 65 years old or older from year-to-year increases in property taxes. But it's up to the General Assembly to set the limit. The measure sponsored by Sen. Lowe Finney, D-Jackson, unanimously passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. The House version of the bill has been referred to a government subcommittee. The bill would increase the elderly income level on which tax relief can be sought from $20,000 in 2006 to $22,500 in 2008. It also increases the value of the residence on which tax relief is available from $25,000 to $30,000. --- The bill is SB1050. --- MILITARY LEAVE Tennessee employees serving in the military would get five extra days of paid military leave time under a bill that advanced unanimously out of the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. The legislation sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, would increase the time from 15 to 20 working days in a year. The House version of the bill has been assigned to a government subcommittee. --- The bill is SB2187. --- RETAIL BANKS A measure that would ban retailers from operating their own banking branches in their stores is on its way for a House vote. The Senate has already passed the measure championed by the Tennessee Bankers' Association. The Bankers' association has pitched the proposal as a way to preemptively stop retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and The Home Depot Inc. from moving into consumer banking in the future. Wal-Mart spokesman Dennis Alpert has said the measure seeks to "to prevent us from doing something we have no interest in doing." The measure sponsored by House Commerce Chairman Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, was advanced to a floor vote by the Commerce Committee on Tuesday. Wal-Mart is seeking federal approval to create an industrial loan corporation that can issue credit cards, take deposits and make loans - but cannot offer standard checking accounts if its assets exceed $100 million. --- The bill is HB1573. --- The full text of all bills can be read on the General Assembly's Web site at http://legislature.state.tn.us |
