Policy
2024 Legislative Scorecards
The Chamber values our partnership with elected officials as we work together to create jobs, develop workforce, and build communities. Every year the Chamber’s board of directors adopts a State and Metro Legislative Agenda based on issues identified by our members in our annual policy survey. These agendas are shared with state and local elected officials.
2024 State Legislative Scorecard
The following scorecard reports how elected leaders voted on the Chamber’s priority State legislative areas. See how legislators in the House and Senate voted on the following issues.
Property Rights - Guns on Private Property
This year, two bills, SB2180/HB1904 and SB2912/HB2032, were introduced to remove the felony penalty for ignoring a “No Carry” sign posted by a business. If passed, these bills would eliminate a business’s ability to regulate the presence of firearms on their premises, infringing upon property rights—a position the Nashville Chamber has historically opposed. Although businesses would retain the right to ask armed individuals to leave, this would place them in potentially dangerous situations by requiring them to confront those carrying firearms directly.
These bills were sponsored by sponsored by Rep. Barrett, Rep. Fritts, Sen. Hensley, and Sen. Bailey.
Chamber Position
The Nashville Chamber opposed these bills and sent out an “action alert” to our members and fellow business advocates informing them of our position.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position. SB2180/ HB1904 failed in committee, and SB2912/ HB2032 was taken off notice.
Property Tax Cap
Property taxes are a vital, stable source of revenue for counties and local governments. SB171/HB565 was filed to require local governments to hold a referendum to limit a local legislative body from raising property taxes above 2% per year. This bill, as introduced, removed a county government’s ability to raise funds in a crisis or manage their own bond ratings, thus removing tools to keep a positive business environment. Following these concerns being raised, local governments, chambers of commerce, and the other business entities began advocating against this measure.
This bill was sponsored by Sen. Stevens and Rep. Todd.
Chamber Position
The Nashville Chamber opposed this bill as it would cripple rural counties’ ability to adequately fund their budgets.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position. This bill was taken off notice before it was heard in committee.
English Only Drivers Licenses
Currently, Tennessee’s state driving test is offered in English, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. SB1717/HB1730 was filed to require all driver’s license examinations to be administered exclusively in English. It would have made electronic devices, dictionaries, and translators prohibited during testing. This bill would effectively make Tennessee Driver’s License examinations about language proficiency and not driving proficiency.
This bill was sponsored by Sen. Hensley and Rep. Capley.
Chamber Position
The Nashville Chamber opposed this bill as it would oppose our business-friendly environment and potentially discourage businesses from hiring international workers, like those on a work visa.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position. This bill failed in committee.
ELVIS (Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security)
SB2096/HB2091, the E.L.V.I.S. Act, was filed to protect artists by adding “voice” to the set of protected aspects of a person. This bill came in response to artists whose art and voice was being manipulated by AI without their consent. The Nashville Chamber wholly supports the protection and rights of those artists.
The Nashville Chamber had concerns about certain clauses within the bill regarding AI tools and liability. Language present in the original version of the bill would have held AI tool creators liable for the misuse of a tool whether or not the creator was the one who misused it. Through our efforts and the efforts of the greater business community, this language was amended to no longer hold AI tool creators liable.
This bill was sponsored by Leader Johnson and Leader Lamberth.
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported the amended version of the bill that protected artists from using AI in their work. This bill was vital to protect the “Music City” brand of Middle Tennessee and Nashville.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position as amended. This bill was signed into law.
Entertainment Transportation Vehciles (ETVs)
SB2898/HB209 was filed to establish parameters for the renewal and revocation of entertainment transportation vehicle (ETV) licenses. There were many conversations between city and state officials to determine what the process should be for renewal and what the conditions of license repeal should be. The final version of the bill prohibits a regulator of ETV’s from:
• Refusing to renew an existing license
• Revoking a license for any reason other than “good cause shown in an administrative hearing”
• States that a regulator of ETVs has the authority to remove an ETV license for good cause where an operator does not comply with the local ordinances.
It also defines “good cause”, listed above, as failure to comply with regulations or not using your license for six months.
This bill was sponsored by Sen. Bailey and Leader Lamberth.
Chamber Position
The Nashville Chamber understands the importance of the downtown core as Nashville’s economic hub and seeks to maintain an environment where people can work, live, and play together. We are supportive of this bill as a balanced effort to maintain that kind of environment.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position as amended. This bill was signed into law.
East Bank Development Authority
SB2968/HB2984 was filed to establish the East Bank Development Authority, a board to oversee acquisition, development, management of property, and borrowing for the East Bank development. Extensive discussions between Metro Nashville and the Legislature led to multiple iterations of the proposal. The final structure of the authority will be comprised primarily of appointees from Metro Nashville, with two appointees from the legislature: one from the Speaker of the Senate and one from the Speaker of the House. The Chamber was neutral on this portion of the measure.
This bill was sponsored by Sen. Campbell/Oliver and Rep. Freeman.
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported this bill to ensure the efficient development of the East Bank, a transformative development to our region.
Status
The General Assembly took action supporting the Chamber’s position as amended. This bill was signed into law.
Vouchers - Education Freedom Scholarship Act
SB503/HB1183, the Governor’s Education Freedom Scholarship Act, or vouchers, was the seminal piece of legislation this session, with Governor Lee emphasizing it as his top legislative priority. There were two versions of this bill that emerged: one in the House and in the Senate. The Senate version touted a smaller fiscal note than the Governor proposed, and the House version far outpaced Governor Lee’s initial number. There was extensive debate regarding what should be included along with school choice, such as the House version including an increase in public school teacher insurance policies.
The school choice portion of the Governor’s proposed legislation would provide $7000 per student for qualifying families, 20,000 vouchers in total. 10,000 would be allocated for families below 300% of the federal poverty level, and the remaining 10,000 available for open enrollment. The purported cost came in at $144 Million, which was included in the approved budget this year.
This bill was sponsored by Leader Lamberth and Leader Johnson.
Chamber Position
The Chamber opposed this legislation on the basis that it lacked proper accountability for the private institutions receiving taxpayer dollars and the unknown, long-term fiscal cost.
Status
Franchise Tax Repeal - Credits
SB2103/HB1893 was filed to repeal the franchise tax base minimum measure and requires the state to refund any business that has paid that tax from 2021 until now. This cost was originally an estimated $1.2 billion but has recently been increased to $1.56 billion paid back over a period of three years. We had concerns about how this bill affects credits associated with this portion of the Franchise tax. During the final week of legislative session, decisions regarding details of this bill continued until the final day. Included in these was a transparency measure – businesses who apply for and receive refunds will be listed online in categories based on amount received.
This bill was sponsored by Leader Lamberth and Leader Johnson.
Chamber Position
The chamber worked with members to amend the bill and advocated for the passage of the amended version.
Status
Fort Campbell Childcare Initiative
Workforce development is a vital part of what we do at the Nashville Chamber. A metric that we use to measure workforce development improvement is workforce retention. The more workers that we can keep and train, the more prosperous our region. One of the main barriers to higher rates of workforce retention is affordable childcare. Having identified this issue, we have been able to improve retention rates at Fort Campbell through strategic partnerships. Through working with the Department of Human Services and the federal Department of Defense, over 2000 slots of affordable childcare have been created for active-duty service members and their families. This is a huge step in closing the childcare gap for military families.
Workforce Readiness Grant Program
HB2178/SB1937 as amended was filed to create a grant program to be administered by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to help fund programs for credentials in high-demand fields.
This bill was sponsored by Sen Haile and Rep White.
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported this bill to ensure increased access to workforce training programs and credentials – a vital part of our workforce.
Status
Workforce Budget Request
Each year thousands of requests come into the general assembly to receive funds from the budget that the legislature passes. The Nashville Chamber put in a budget request to fund our work in workforce development. This specific work is with service members transitioning out of active duty at Fort Campbell into the workforce. We have seen a significant increase of workforce retention at Fort Cambell, and we want to continue this work across the state through these dollars.
This request was sponsored by Deputy Speaker Johnson and Sen. Powers.
We did not receive our budget request, partially due to there being a much smaller pool of funds due to the Franchise tax repeal.
Download a PDF of the 2024 State Legislative Scorecard.
2024 Metro Legislative Scorecard
The following scorecard reports how elected leaders voted on the Chamber’s priority Metro legislative areas. See how Metro Council members voted on the following issues.
Lowering Speed Limit from 30 mph to 25 mph
BL2023-1887 lowered speed limits from 30 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour on streets designated as local streets on the Major andCollector Street Plan within the General Services District in urban and suburban neighborhoods. The Metropolitan Transportation Licensing Commission would still retain authority to adopt the policy and provide exceptions to the speed limit reduction.
BL2023-1887 was sponsored by Council Members John Rutherford (31), Russ Pulley (25), Tonya Hancock (9), Russ Bradford (13), Angie Henderson (34), Ginny Welsch (16), Burkley Allen (At-Large), and Zulfat Suara (At-Large).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported BL2023-1887. Lowering the speed limits on local streets benefits the economy in two major ways. First, the community’s quality of life, an important input to economic health, is enhanced with improved pedestrian safety. Furthermore, retail, restaurant, and other businesses benefit from visibility with slower speeds and a safer environment for walk-up business.
Status
BL2023-1887 (Rutherford, Pulley, Hancock, Bradford, Henderson, Welsch, Allen, and Zulfat) was adopted by the Metro Council at its July 6, 2023 meeting.
Entertainment Transportation Vehicles
BL2023-1869 amended Metro Code regarding the renewal of permits for entertainment transportation vehicles. Regarding the annual renewal of certificates, in addition to meeting all applicable standards for renewal, a certificate may not be renewed if the Metropolitan Transportation Licensing Commission has determined that the number of entertainment transportation vehicles exceeds the public need and is adding to traffic congestion.
BL2023-1869 was sponsored by Council Members Russ Pulley (25) and Zach Young (10).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported BL2023-1869. The Chamber has a vested interest in promoting the Nashville region and the downtown area as a safe and thriving neighborhood for businesses, residents, and visitors. Downtown is home to many types of businesses and many Chamber businesses are finding it more difficult for their employees, their vendors, and their customers to make it to their business due in part to the creation of undesirable conditions for safety, traffic congestion, and noise by entertainment transportation vehicles. These vehicles have overwhelmed downtown and have expanded their footprint into neighboring residential communities causing businesses in those neighborhoods to experience similar difficulties in running their businesses.
Status
BL2023-1869 (Pulley and Young) was adopted by the Metro Council at its August 15, 2023 meeting.
Limitation of Amplified Noise & Enforcement enhancement
BL2023-2106 refined provisions related to amplified music and the orientation of speakers in properties lying within the Downtown Nashville core. The ordinance added language that clarified that all interior speakers in an establishment must be oriented towards the center of the establishment. During business hours, all interior speakers would be limited to 85 decibels as measured at street level fifty linear feet from the outside wall of the structure within which noise is produced. The ordinance did allow speakers oriented towards musicians performing live music specifically, otherwise known as “wedges,” exempt from this legislation. The ordinance would also allow for the Nashville Department of Transportation and the Department of Codes and Building Safety, in addition to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, to enforce violations of excessive noise.
BL2023-2106 was sponsored by Council Members Jeff Syracuse (15), Freddie O’Connell (19), Russ Pulley (25), Bob Nash (27), Ginny Welsch (16), and Delishia Porterfield (29).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported BL2023-2106. Downtown is home to many types of businesses and the Nashville Chamber advocates for actions with accountability that ensure that the downtown core functions effectively, strengthens safety, and diversifies the downtown experience for business, residents, and visitors. With this legislation, it is a first step in ensuring that the Downtown core is a balanced and thriving place to live, work, and play.
Status
BL2023-2106 (Syracuse, O’Connell, Pulley, Nash, Welsch, and Porterfield) was adopted by the Metro Council at its August 15, 2023 meeting.
Proposed Development of Multi-Use Performance Space for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center
RS2024-270 created a memorandum of understanding for the proposed development of a multi-use performing arts venue for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on property owned by the Metropolitan Government on the East Bank.
This resolution provided the proposed terms and conditions for the development, construction, and operation of the performing arts center, as well as the preliminary terms for a development agreement and a lease agreement for the specific parcel on the East Bank property. The resolution’s approval by the Metro Council was preliminary and all final forms of the agreement presented in this resolution will require additional approval by the Metro Council.
RS2024-270 was sponsored by Council Members Jacob Kupin (19), Delishia Porterfield (At-Large), Jennifer Gamble (3), Sean Parker (5), Jordan Huffman (14), Jason Spain (35), Terry Vo (17), Clay Capp (6), Joy Styles (32), Sand Ewing (34), Brenda Gadd (24), Sheri Wiener (22), and Kyonzté Toombs (2).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported this resolution. Out of the Imagine East Bank vision and planning process, many residents in Davidson County wanted to ensure that the East Bank developed into a neighborhood of Nashville, rather than an extension of the entertainment district of Downtown Nashville. A way to safeguard this neighborhood feel is to have a balance of development types – retail, residential, cultural spaces, art institutions, and businesses. Having the Tennessee Preforming Arts Center as an anchor cultural and arts institution on the East Bank is the first step in creating this balance.
Status
BL2024-270 (Kupin, Porterfield, Gamble, Parker, Huffman, Spain, Vo, Capp, Styles, Ewing, Gadd, Weiner, and Toombs) was adopted by the Metro Council at its April 16, 2024 meeting.
East Bank Development Agreement
BL2024-258 authorized the Metropolitan Government’s execution and delivery of a master development agreement and ground lease agreements related to a portion of the East Bank stadium campus. This ordinance also included a restated site coordination agreement and a campus operation and use agreement, developing an initial “campus” of 95 acres on the East Bank under the control of the Metropolitan Government.
BL2024-258 was sponsored by Council Members Jacob Kupin (19), Delishia Porterfield (At-Large), Jennifer Gamble (3), Sean Parker (5), Jordan Huffman (14), Brenda Gadd (24), Zulfat Suara (At-Large), and John Rutherford (31).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported the approval of the final term sheet and master development agreement for the East Bank development. The new agreement will ensure the balanced development of the first 95 acres of the East Bank with a partnership between Metropolitan Government, the Titans and the Fallon Company, centered around the vision as set by the Imagine East Bank planning process.
Status
FY25 Metro Nashville-Davidson County Operating Budget
BL2024-389, as substituted, approved the annual operating budget for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County for Fiscal Year 2025 that included investment in education, affordable housing, transportation, and Metro Nashville employee cost of living increases. BL2024-389, as substituted, was sponsored by Council Member Delishia Porterfield (At-Large).
Chamber Position
The Chamber supported Mayor O’Connell’s proposed FY25 operating budget. The proposed annual operating budget invests in things that are important to Nashvillians, our Chamber members, and helps to maintain and strengthen Nashville’s quality of life. The Mayor’s proposed $3.27 billion operating budget anticipated $33.9 million in new revenue and had a 1.4% cost savings across all Metro Departments that would help support a package of compensation increases for Metro employees, totaling a 3.5% cost of living increase in pay. Funding for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) stayed relatively flat at $1.25 billion, about 38% of the overall budget. One critical area that MNPS was focused on was bridging the gap of funding for programs and services that were originally funded through the Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER) program.
As the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, Chair Delishia Porterfield’s substitute budget kept many funding priorities the same as the Mayor’s proposed budget but included a reallocation of about $12 million. Some of those reallocations included:
• Raised the cost of living increased to 4%.
• $1 million allocated to the Varsity Spending Plan, a set of youth violence prevention programs developed by the Southern Movement Committee. The funds will be used to establish an Office of Youth Safety, and $250,000 will contribute specifically to youth violence prevention programs within the Metro Parks department.
• REACH, the non-police 911 responder program, received about $750,000 to expand service to nights and weekends.
• Sexual Assault Center’s Safe Bar program and overdose prevention supplies.
• $900,000 to the Public Defender’s Office for staffing and equipment, with $400,000 earmarked for an indigent defense fund.
• A countywide childcare study for $200,000.
• An equity arts study for $400,000.
• $300,000 to fund Council Member Sandra Sepulveda’s “Build It Right” legislation and the hiring of an executive director.
Status
Download a PDF of the 2024 Metro Legislative Scorecard.
