Legislative Update – Week Ending 2-15-19

TSEA February 15, 2019 Comments Off on Legislative Update – Week Ending 2-15-19
Legislative Update – Week Ending 2-15-19

TSEA representatives met with key House and Senate Chairmen and sponsors of our bills to begin moving our Legislative Agenda through the committee process.

Below is a list of bill numbers and sponsors in both the House and Senate.

(*indicates legislation also applies to Higher Education employees)


Longevity for All

SB0689 Sen. Jackson
HB0900 Rep. Sparks
TSEA believes employees should not be divided into two classifications for pay and benefits. The first step in correcting this is to bring back longevity for all state employees.

NOTE: In 2015 when the Haslam administration proposed eliminating Longevity for all state employees, TSEA worked with members of the Legislature and was able to save Longevity for those who already received the benefit. This year we want to restore that benefit to all state employees.

We are interested in gathering stories of how longevity pay benefits state employees so we can share these stories with legislators at the appropriate time. If you still receive the longevity benefit, and are willing to share your story of how much you depend on your longevity check, we hope you will take a few minutes to tell us your story.

Click Here to tell us what longevity means to you.

Burden of Proof

SB0621 Sen. Hensley
HB0644 Rep. T. Hill
TSEA believes the State of Tennessee bears the burden of proof when they take disciplinary action against an employee that is appealable. This bill would clarify the relevant language in state statute.

DCS Caseloads

SB0616 Sen. Hensley
HB0921 Rep. Cepicky
This bill requires the maximum caseload in some cases to be 20 instead of the average of 20, and 10 cases for foster care workers.

TEAM Act improvements

SB1269 Sen. Pody
HB0778 Rep. Ramsey
Will seek to correct deficiencies found in the application of the TEAM Act bill regarding several different areas of the preferred service section for employees.

*TCRS Oversight by Treasurer

SB1182 Sen. Bowling      
HB1304 Rep. Baum
This bill enables the Treasurer of the State of Tennessee to have input regarding the impact on TCRS from outsourcing state jobs.

Across the Board Raises

SB0622 Sen. Hensley
HB1251 Rep. Byrd
This bill addresses across-the-board pay raises.

NOTE for Higher Education Employees:

TSEA is planning to meet with each state institution about making subsequent probation the law state-wide for all of higher education. We hope to meet with leadership of the University of Memphis later this month.

TSEA has also begun and will continue talks with legislative leaders regarding funding for Higher Education pay adjustments to be included in the budget. At this time it is too early to know what will be included in Governor Lee’s initial budget proposal, due out in March, but we are working with legislators to secure these funds. 


Other Bills we support:

*Daycare for employees

SB0741 Sen. Kyle
HB 1207 Rep. Mitchell

Daycare for state employees administered through their departments or institution. Higher Education employees intended to be included.


Reminder, the House Higher Education subcommittee meets Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. and is live-streamed from the legislature’s website.

The Full House State Committee and Senate State and Local Committee meet Tuesday’s at 10:30 a.m. and can also be live streamed from the legislative website.

For live-streaming committee hearings, calendars, and other legislative information, visit the Legislature’s website here:

http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/


TEAM PAC Day On The Hill

Earlier in the week, TEAM PAC members visited with legislators, discussing issues and concerns, and letting everyone know the value of our great State Employees.

We’d like to thank Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada, Senate Caucus Chairman Ken Yager, House State Committee Chairman Kelly Keisling, Senate State & Local Government Committee Chairman Steven Dickerson, and all of the other legislators we met with this week for making time to meet with State Employees.