Staff reports | State lawmakers introduced 108 bills over the past week, many of which were congratulatory or memorials, such as one to honor the late Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins, for his service. He died Tuesday.
In the Senate, members introduced bills related to financial exploitation of vulnerable adults as well as measures for agriculture and rural jobs, community development tax credits and municipal tax relief.
In the House, state Rep. Josh Putnam. R-Piedmont, introduced several measures seeking to get rid of the state Transportation Commission and have the Department of Transportation eventually run by an elected secretary. He also proposed getting rid of all state sales tax exemptions.
IN THE SENATE
Health care shopping. S. 400 (Davis) seeks a state law to allow people the “right to shop for health care” with many provisions.
Financial exploitation. S. 403 (Davis) seeks a law to allow for a civil action to be filed for a “vulnerable adult” who is financially exploited, with several provisions.
Ag and rural jobs, credits. S. 407 (Campbell) seeks to enact the state Agribusiness and Rural Jobs Act with tax credits and other incentives. S. 412 (Campbell) seeks to increase the tax credits for work done by community development organizations, with several provisions.
Municipal tax relief. S. 426 (Hembree) seeks to enact the “Municipal Tax Relief Act” to allow a municipality to impose a sales and use tax of up to 1 percent subject to referendum, with several provisions, including possibilities of a property tax credit.
Easements. S. 429 (Senn) calls for conservation easements acquired with public funds to be lands that are open to the public.
IN THE HOUSE
Cost limitation. H. 3739 (Loftis) seeks a law to limit the costs of the state Department of Transportation to no more than 7.5 percent of a project’s cost, with several provisions.
Anti-discrimination law. H. 3745 (Rutherford) seeks a uniform anti-discrimination law with many provisions, including expansion of the definition of discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Public assistance system. H. 3769 (Loftis) seeks a computerized income, asset and edibility verification system to verify a person’s identity and eligibility for public assistance, with many provisions.
Nursing updates. H. 3772 (Clary) seeks to amend state law to make updates for nursing regulations, such as allowing certain noncontrolled prescriptions, with many provisions.
Transportation. H. 3779 (Putnam) seeks for Department of Transportation commissioners to be elected. H. 3781 (Putnam) seeks a constitutional amendment to have a Transportation Secretary to be elected, starting in 2022. H. 3782 (Putnam) seeks a resolution to suspend laws related to the Commission to use state funds and for the department to be run by the secretary of Transportation. H. 3784 (Putnam) would allow a governor to appoint the secretary to the department, with many provisions including elimination of the transportation Commission and state Infrastructure Bank.
Sales tax exemptions. H. 3780 (Putnam) calls for the repeal of 82 exemptions from state sales tax.
Property taxes. H. 3783 (Putnam) seeks to allow local governments to override millage caps by a majority (returning to an earlier way of doing it) with many provisions related to local government taxes.
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