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State Senate - State of Tennessee
Legislative Press Release
Week of Feb. 25 Senate Issues in Brief
Online Driver Safety Class - The Senate and House have approved and sent to the governor legislation that would allow senior drivers in the state to take an online driving course in order to receive a discount on their automobile insurance premiums. The bill, Senate Bill 2570, would allow the discount to citizens over 55 years of age if they complete an online driver safety course approved by the State Department of Safety. Currently, only seniors who take courses in a classroom are eligible to receive the discounts.
Snow Days - School superintendents would have more flexibility in making up missed days due to snow or other weather-related problems under legislation that was approved by the full Senate this week. The bill, Senate Bill 3031, authorizes the Commissioner of Education to approve directly proportional variations from half-hour extension of the school days and the corresponding accumulation of 13 days of adjustments to the instructional time requirements. Currently, schools that exceed the mandatory six and one-half hours of daily instructional time by one-half hour daily are credited with additional instruction time, not to exceed 13 instructional days each year.Motorcycle Lemon Law - The Senate approved legislation, Senate Bill 2649, to add motorcycles to Tennessee's "lemon law" regarding warranty protections. The lemon law requires that motor vehicle manufacturers, or their authorized agent or dealers, must repair new vehicles that are under warranty and replace or accept the return of them if they cannot be repaired after a reasonable number of attempts.
Trust laws - The State Senate has approved legislation to update and improve Tennessee's trust laws to keep the state competitive as a prime location for investments. The bill, Senate Bill 3522, improves Tennessee's Uniform Principal and Income Act, the Uniform Trust Code, and the Investment Services Act by adding a number of statues to upgrade to improve the state's trust laws. It also creates a new type of trust in Tennessee called the unitrust. The legislation employs the top features of trust laws in other states and best practices in trust administration to put Tennessee ahead of other states in desirability for trust administration.
Troops / Voting - Legislation making it easier for troops who are deployed overseas to vote received final approval in the State Senate this week. The bill, Senate Bill 2681, authorizes a county Election Commission to e-mail a ballot to each member of the armed forces, as well as citizens temporarily outside the United States, who are entitled to vote and who have submitted a valid application for a ballot. The move would expedite the process so the voter would have more time to make a decision and return their ballot so they will be counted. According to the Pew Center on the States, about half of overseas voters fail to vote or to have their votes counted because of current voting rules.
Honoring fallen heroes - The State Senate took time this week to honor two fallen Tennessee heroes who lost their life this week in a helicopter accident in Iraq. The soldiers, Capt. Marcus Ray Alford of Knoxville and Chief Warrant Officer Billie Jean Grinder of Gallatin, were with Louisville's 1/230th Air Cavalry. Public Chapter 169 which was approved last year, requires that if members of the Tennessee National Guard die in the line of duty, the Governor shall proclaim a day or mourning in their honor and the names of the deceased members of the armed forces shall be recorded in the journal of the Senate and House of Representatives. The new law also requires that flags be flown at half-mast to honor these soldiers who make the ultimate sacrifice for their state and country.
Tennessee State Parks - Tennessee State Parks have a very significant impact on Tennessee's economy and create thousands of jobs in many rural areas of the state where jobs are needed most according to officials of the Department of Environment and Conservation. The officials, who testified before the Conservation and Environment Committee, do not anticipate the closing of any state parks this year despite budget cuts. In 2008-2009, an estimated 16.9 million people visited Tennessee State Parks, resulting in $725.2 million in direct expenditures by State Park visitors. For every dollar spent on trips to Tennessee State Parks, an additional $1.11 of economic activity is generated throughout the state for a total impact to the state's economy of $1.5 billion.
Theft of Information / BCBS - Legislators on the Senate State and Local Government Committee heard from Clay Phillips with Blue Cross - Blue Shield (BCBS) this week about the recent theft of information from that company's hard drives. BCBS is the insurance provider for many state and local government employees, as well as other Tennessee customers. Phillips assured lawmakers that they are doing everything they can to mitigate the theft of 52 hard drives from their Customer Call Center, some of which contained personal identifying information. BCBS is notifying those consumers affected with details of the hard drive theft and remediation services to mitigate the potential for misuse of information.
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