The 113th General Assembly Convenes
On Tuesday, January 10, 2023, the Tennessee state legislature convened for the first session of the 113th General Assembly. This legislature welcomed a total of 22 new legislators to the Capitol for the upcoming legislative session. The State Senate welcomed three new members: Senator Adam Lowe (R - District 1), Senator Charlane Oliver (D - District 19), and Senator Brent Taylor (R - District 31). Senate partisan construction remains 27 Republicans and 6 Democrats.
The State House of Representatives welcomed 19 new members: Representative Robert Stevens (R - District 13), Representative Elaine Davis (R - District 18), Representative Bryan Richey (R - District 20), Representative Kevin Raper (R - District 24), Representative Monty Fritts (R - District 32), Representative William Slater (R - District 35), Representative Michael Hale (R - District 40), Representative Ed Butler (R - District 41), Representative Justin Jones (D - District 52), Representative Caleb Hemmer (D - District 59), Representative Gino Bulso (R - District 61), Representative Jake McCalmon (R - District 63), Representative Ronnie Glynn (D - District 67), Representative Jody Barrett (R - District 69), Representative Kip Capley (R - District 71), Representative Jeff Burkhart (R - District 75), and Representative Brock Martin (R - District 79). The House partisan construction is 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats.
In its first week, the legislature elected House and Senate leadership. Speaker Cameron Sexton (R - District 25) and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R - District 5) remain the leaders of their respective chambers. The legislature also announced committee assignments and re-elected two of the State’s three Constitutional Officers: the Comptroller of the Treasury, Jason Mumpower, and the State Treasurer, David Lillard. The Comptroller’s Office has many responsibilities including auditing state and local government entities, overseeing Tennessee’s 95 county assessors of property, managing the state’s debt, approving local government budgets, and participating in the general financial and administrative management of state government. The state Department of the Treasury manages or has oversight over more than $99.2 billion in assets for the state through various investment initiatives, while also offering informational programs about topics such as college savings, financial literacy, unclaimed property, criminal injuries compensation and risk management.
The General Assembly took a short recess before Governor Lee's Inaugural events. On Saturday, January 21, 2023, Governor Bill Lee took his oath of office to begin his second term as the state’s 50th governor. This will be Governor Lee's last inauguration event, as state law prevents him from running for a third term. Governor Lee ran unopposed in the Republican's gubernatorial primary and defeated Democrat Dr. Jason Martin in the November general election, winning 65% of the vote.
The House bill filing deadline was set for January 31; while the Senate bill filing deadline was set for February 2. We anticipate approximately 1,500 bills to be filed ranging on a variety of topics that include data privacy legislation, infrastructure initiatives, workers compensation proposals, workforce policy and significant tax proposals. After the filing deadlines, the Tennessee Apartment Association Executive Committee and Board of Directors will review a comprehensive bill report to identify legislation of interest. Additional information will be distributed to the association’s membership once policy positions have been determined and advocacy efforts are underway.