TSEA Lobby Day disrupted by Nashville tornado
State employees in town for TSEA’s 2020 Lobby Day had their plans disrupted when a major tornado passed through downtown Nashville in the early hours of March 3. The tornado caused significant damage to many buildings in downtown, including the TSEA Office. It knocked out power to the Cordell Hull and Capitol buildings as well as most of the downtown area of the city. Fortunately, TSEA members in town for Lobby Day were staying in a hotel a few miles away from downtown and were not in the direct path of the destructive weather.
Once TSEA learned the legislative offices would be closed and our morning schedule would no longer be possible to keep, TSEA found an available banquet hall and made plans to shuttle Lobby Day attendees to the banquet hall for lunch. We then informed legislators of our plan changes and invited them to join us at the new location. Lunch was originally planned for the 8th floor of the Cordell Hull office building.
We are grateful to the legislators who were able to make it to our lunch: Sen Rusty Crowe, Sen. Ken Yager, and Rep. John B. Holsclaw. Thank you for being available to state employees on such a challenging day.
During lunch, we learned that the Cordell Offices would be reopened in the afternoon. We made plans to shuttle members to the legislative offices for visits with those legislators still in the building and provided our members with handouts to pass out about our legislative.
We are grateful to all those legislators who spent time visiting with state employees during the afternoon visits and we are grateful to our members who were patient and understanding during what TSEA Executive Director Randy Stamps referred to as “the most eventful Lobby Day in history.
Legislative Agenda Update:
The tornado in Downtown Nashville caused widespread power outages, including at Cordell Hull, where the legislature operates. The power outages resulted in the cancelation of some committee meetings. As a result, no TSEA legislative agenda bills were heard this week.
To view the full list of bills initiated and supported by TSEA, click here.
Bills scheduled next week:
Mon 3/9/20 4:30 p.m. – Senate Floor
SB1578 – Funeral expenses for correctional employees
Sponsors: Sen. Dickerson, Steven, Rep. Hulsey, Bud
Cosponsors: Sen. Crowe, Rusty; Rep. Griffey, Bruce; Rep. Hurt, Chris; Sen. Jackson, Ed; Sen. Massey, Becky; Sen. Robinson, Katrina; Sen. Rose, Paul; Sen. White, Dawn; Sen. Yager, Ken; Sen. Yarbro, Jeff;
House status HB1615: 03/04/20 – House Finance Subcommittee placed behind the budget.
Tue 3/10/20 9:30 a.m. – Senate State & Local Government Committee
SB741 – Provision of childcare for state employees
Sponsors: Sen. Kyle, Sara, Rep. Mitchell, Bo
Cosponsors: Rep. Clemmons, John
House Status HB1207: Set for House Public Service & Employee Subcommittee 03/11/20.
SB1773 – Increase in the 401(k) match
Sponsors: Sen. Briggs, Richard, Rep. Hicks, Gary
Cosponsors: Sen. Crowe, Rusty; Rep. Lamberth, William
House Status HB2045: Set for House State Committee 03/10/20.
Tue 3/10/20 10:30 a.m. – House State Committee
HB2045 – Increase in the 401(k) match
Sponsors: Sen. Briggs, Richard, Rep. Hicks, Gary
Cosponsors: Sen. Crowe, Rusty; Rep. Lamberth, William
Senate Status SB1773: Set for Senate State & Local Government Committee 03/10/20.
Wed 3/11/20 11:00 a.m. – House Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee
HB900 – Restores longevity pay for employees of the executive branch
Sponsors: Sen. Jackson, Ed, Rep. Sparks, Mike
Cosponsors: Sen. Bailey, Paul; Rep. Byrd, David; Rep. Calfee, Kent; Sen. Crowe, Rusty; Rep. Dixie, Vincent; Rep. Hawk, David; Sen. Hensley, Joey; Rep. Hill, Matthew; Rep. Hill, Timothy; Rep. Holt, Andy; Rep. Howell, Dan; Rep. Johnson, Gloria; Rep. Keisling, Kelly; Rep. Leatherwood, Tom; Sen. Massey, Becky; Rep. Moody, Debra; Rep. Moon, Jerome; Sen. Niceley, Frank; Rep. Russell, Lowell; Sen. Southerland, Steve; Rep. Staples, Rick; Sen. Swann, Art; Rep. Van Huss, James
Senate Status SB689: Senate State & Local Government Committee deferred to summer study (2019).
Wed 3/11/20 3:30 p.m. – House Public Service & Employee Subcommittee
HB1207 – Provision of childcare for state employees.
Sponsors: Sen. Kyle, Sara, Rep. Mitchell, Bo
Cosponsors: Rep. Clemmons, John
Senate Status SB741: Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/10/2020
TSEA Office condition
As we mentioned, the TSEA office was in the path of the March 3 early morning Tornado in Nashville, and due to damages, the physical location remains closed until further notice. The power and phone lines are down in the area, and, judging by the damage, will likely be out for some time. In the meantime, our staff will continue to work from alternate worksites and is available to you by email. To contact us, please email the appropriate staff member directly. You can view our staff directory on the member side of the website here: http://tseaonline.org/member-login/member-log-in/contact-us-2/ (if you do not have the member password, please email [email protected]).
NOTE: Staff has limited access to email while the power and phone lines are down in the area. You can also message us through our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/tseaonline
Thank you for your patience while we work through this situation, and thank you for being a member of TSEA.
