As the Tennessee General Assembly’s annual legislative session nears, members are beginning to set their sights on top priorities for the upcoming session. The bipartisan House Select Committee on Redistricting held its first meeting on September 8th. The Senate’s bipartisan redistricting committee was announced earlier this month and is expected to hold its first meeting in the coming weeks.
Though much of the buzz around Capitol Hill has pertained to redistricting, several joint committees convened in September for their respective summer studies beginning with the House Criminal Justice/Senate Judiciary Joint Committee to Study Bail Reform. Over a two-day span, the committee heard testimony from dozens of witnesses about issues Tennesseans face relative to the bail bond industry.
The House Children & Family Affairs Subcommittee convened on September 21st to discuss the foster care and adoption system and processes in the state with hopes of reducing barriers for families to participate. Subsequently, the Education Administration and Education Instruction Committees convened to study chronic absenteeism and truancy on September 22nd. They returned on September 23rd to conduct a review of summer learning camps created in the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act and to discuss the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS).
Members also returned to Nashville to conduct their regularly scheduled TACIR, Fiscal Review, and Government Operations Committee meetings, in addition to various Government Operations Subcommittees convening. While September was a busy month for members, October is slated to be just as busy, as legislature will return to Nashville on October 18th for a special session.