Committees Finishing Up Work as General Assembly Turns to Budget

 

As House and Senate committees completing their business for the year and shut downing, the legislature is moving toward focusing on the state budget, and many bills that would be harmful to municipal electric utilities were killed in recent weeks. As other committees finish their work, the House and Senate Finance Committees are getting ready to make final changes to the state budget. Those committees are also seeing long calendars with bills approved by other committees that have costs to the state. The legislature is moving along with adjournment anticipated for early April. 

Utility Fee Sales Tax Bill on House Subcommittee Calendar

Legislation to prevent sales tax from being collected on utility fees is scheduled for it first hearing in the House. SB2121 by Sen. Ken Yager and Rep. Steve McDaniel would keep the status quo so sales tax would not have to be collected on utility fees, which the Tennessee Department of Revenue wants to start collecting after it discovered through an audit of the city of Lebanon and its water department that state law could allow the department to require utilities to collect sales tax on connection and reconnection fees. All of the state’s utility associations (TMEPA, TECA, TML, Tennessee Association of Utility Districts, Tennessee Gas Association, and even TML) filed the legislation to prevent a tax increase from going into effect. The bill will next be heard by the full Senate Finance Committee and the House Finance Subcommittee. It’s uncertain when this will be, but we are already talking with committee members. The fiscal note on the bill is a concern as it says the bill will forgo state and local tax revenue, even though this revenue isn’t coming in right now because the sales tax isn’t being collected currently. If a bill has a cost, it usually has to be funded in the budget, but we’re working on this fiscal note not being a stumbling block to passing the bill. The bill is scheduled for the House Finance Subcommittee on Wednesday, however with an agenda for the meeting of over 100 bills it may not be heard this week.The bill has already received a positive recommendation from the Senate Finance Revenue Subcommittee

Small Cell Legislation Moves Forward in House and Senate

This week the Senate Commerce Committee passed out SB2504, the wireless industry’s attempt to put in place statewide guidelines for how local governments approve and site small cell wireless antennas. With TDOT and associations representing county and city governments seeking changes to the bill, the bill language is still being changed, with the latest amendment found here. The latest amendment on the bill keeps the exemption for any poles owned by a distributor of electric service and any "government-owned electric, gas, water or wastewater utility." The bill language is largely set, with only one or two small tweaks possible as the bill moves closer to approval by the legislature. The bill sets the ceiling for application fees and attachment rates, puts a deadline for applications to be acted on, restricts the height when poles are replaced, prohibits an exclusive franchise to a single small cell company, and sets out other regulations for local governments. The full House Finance Committee and the Senate Finance Committee are set to hear the bill this week.

Bills Restricting Smart Meters Dead for the Year

Two smart meter bills are dead for the year. HB2490 by Rep. Andy Holt and Sen. Mark Green would have prohibited an electric or gas utility from 1) installing a smart meter without the customer's written and signed consent; 2) discontinuing service to a customer if the customer declines to install or use a smart meter; 3) charging a customer any fee for not installing or using a smart meter; or 4) charging a customer any fee to remove a smart meter. It was referred to summer study in the Senate State and Local Government Committee and the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee. Sometimes a bill is referred to "summer study" as a way to politely kill a bill, and with this bill we’ll see if a summer study committee meeting is actually held on the legislation. If it is, the meeting will be a good opportunity to educate legislators about utilities using advancing meter infrastructure to benefit the utility and ratepayers. Another smart meter bill was brought to a vote and defeated. HB1910 by Rep. Antonio Parkinson would prohibit a utility from charging its customers who have a smart meter a fee to reconnect service if the service was disconnected due to nonpayment. The House Business and Utilities Subcommittee defeated it by a vote of 2-7. We appreciate everyone’s help in defeating these bad pieces of legislation. 

Bill on Utility Bill Round-up Programs Dies

The House Consumer and Human Resources Subcommittee took a bill off notice that dealt with opt-out  round-up programs. As originally drafted, Rep. Joe Towns’ SB2114 would prohibit any person, governmental entity, or other legal entity, including a utility district, from rounding up the consumer's bill without obtaining the consumer's express, written permission to opt-in to such a billing procedure.  Rep. Towns had drafted an amendment that would continue to allow opt-out round-up programs, but it would put in place more local and state reporting on the funds raised. TMEPA had testified to the subcommittee about municipal electric utilities’ round-up statute, how the round-up programs operate, and what the funds from the programs generally are used for. The subcommittee appeared generally comfortable with municipal electric round-up programs, but the bill sponsor and a subcommittee member pledged to work on the issue over the summer as the bill was made mute for the year. 

Broadband Expansion Bills Likely Dead for Year

With the legislature passing broadband legislation last year, it appears there is little appetite to pass any bills on the topic this year. HB969 by Sen. Janice Bowling and Rep. Dan Howell was defeated in the Senate Commerce Committee last week when it failed to receive a second to the motion to approve it. The bill would have allowed anyone that serves at least 1,000 with fiber to the premise to receive a statewide internet franchise. HB970, also by Sen. Janice Bowling and Rep. Dan Howell, is  TMEPA’s bill from last year that allows municipal broadband to expand beyond its electric service area, and it was deferred a week in the Senate Commerce Committee. Both bills were taken off notice in the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee as it completed its business for the year. This means it’s highly likely that any broadband expansion legislation is dead for the year. The legislature’s biggest backer of municipal broadband expansion nearly won committee approval of a municipal broadband expansion bill a couple of weeks ago. Sen. Bowling is unrelenting in her push to remove barriers to access and allow municipal and cooperative broadband providers to offer broadband outside of their territories. A couple of weeks ago, her SB1045 was heard in the Senate Commerce Committee. With two committee members absent, the bill failed by one vote in a 3-4 vote. This is the closest vote a bill that includes municipal broadband expansion has gotten in a Senate committee in years. 

Online Courses for Municipal Water Utility Board Training

A couple of weeks ago the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee passed legislation that would allow municipal utility boards that oversee water and wastewater services to receive training online. Last year the legislature passed legislation that requires municipal utility boards that oversee water and wastewater services to receive training, with 12 hours required within one year of appointment to the board and 12 hours over the next three years. Sen. Mike Bell and Rep. Bill Sanderson are sponsoring SB2292 that as amended would require the comptroller’s office to offer online training to comply with the training requirements. The bill has been approved by the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday and is up in the full House Business and Utilities Committee this week. 

Rep. Brooks Abandons All Utility Board Bills

This year’s session saw four bills filed by Rep. Harry Brooks of Knox County in response to issues he saw with Lenoir City Utility Board, and all four bills would have negatively affected other municipal electric utilities across the state. Early in the session, Rep. Brooks said he would not be moving three of his bills: HB1897, HB2066, and HB2067. Two weeks ago, he abandoned his fourth,  HB1898. As originally drafted, the bill prohibits a member of any utility board from being an employee of the utility, an elected official, or having an immediate family member who is an employee of the utility. The bill applies to all utilities (electric, water, wastewater, telephone, municipal, cooperative, utility district), and it would impact municipal utilities that have city council members or mayors on its board, along with impact utilities whose city council or county commission serve as the utility board. After meeting with utility association, Rep. Brooks drafted an amendment that is somewhat of an improvement over the original bill, but it still infringes on local authority of appointing utility board members. Under the amendment, elected officials could on utility boards or city councils as utility boards would be permissible if the state or local law that allows it was in place by January 1, 2018. The amendment would also prevent an employee of the utility or someone with a felony from being on a utility board, a utility board member from hiring or promoting a family members, violating Title 12, Chapter 4 of state law, or have an immediate family member from getting a direct benefit from a utility contract. Even though the amendment was better than the original bill, TMEPA remained opposed to the bill. Due to TMEPA’s opposition and opposition by the Tennessee Gas Association, Rep. Brooks took his bill off notice and won’t be pursuing it any more this session. We greatly appreciate everyone’s help in defeating these bills.

Broadband Providers and Parental Controls

In the House Consumer and Human Resources Subcommittee, Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver’s SB1960, was taken off notice and won’t move forward this year. The bill designates as an unfair or deceptive act or practice the failure of a broadband service provider to give a new consumer notice of the availability of parental control protections. TMEPA is opposed to the legislation due to the burdensome requirement that would be placed on broadband providers. 

Net Neutrality Bills Dead for Year

When the FCC revoked its net neutrality rules in 2017, some states have taken steps to implement similar rules on the state and local levels. Three bills heard in the  House Business and Utilities Subcommittee and the Senate Commerce Committee are dead for the year. 

• HB2253 prohibits an internet provider engaging in certain activities when providing internet service to the state, including but not limited to unreasonably interfering or disadvantaging either the state or a state employee’s ability to select, access, and use broadband internet access service or lawful internet content or services of the state or employee’s choice. This bill is also scheduled for the Senate Commerce Committee.
• HB1755 prohibits an internet service provider from engaging in certain activities that would impede a customer’s access to lawful content or services. It also prohibits an internet service provider from engaging in deceptive or misleading practices that misrepresent the treatment of internet traffic or content to a customer. The bill also bans any state governmental entity or local government from contracting with an internet service unless the provider is compliant with this act. TMEPA is opposed to this legislation due to the restriction placed on local government entities. This bill is also scheduled for the Senate Commerce Committee.
• HB2405 creates a task force of eight members of the general assembly to study issues relating to the FCC’s withdrawal of the Open Internet Order. It requires the task force to timely report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the general assembly no later than January 2019.