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The General Assembly adjourned sine die which means this session has ended for 2024.
PASSED: $2 Billion Franchise Tax Reform — SB2103/HB1893, the House and Senate reached an agreement and passed the Governor’s proposed franchise tax reform. The final package included a repeal of the real and tangible property alternative minimum measure of the franchise tax, which will result in more than $400 million in recurring cuts to the franchise tax each year moving forward. It also included the full 3-year refund period that was in the Senate’s original proposal, which will total up to $1.5 billion in refunds for Tennessee businesses.
The final version included the House’s important provision that protects businesses with franchise tax credits from having those devalued by allowing an option to remain in the
current environment – where they pay on real and tangible property instead of going to net worth – if the real and tangible property measure results in a higher tax liability than the net worth measure would.
PASSED: Wiretapping — SB2221/HB1658 with the adopted amendment, clarifies that Tennessee's wiretapping statute does not apply to business’ using common website technology and removes the statute’s civil penalties, removing the threat of massive lawsuits against businesses for simply operating a website while running their business.
PASSED: Pro-Business Cybersecurity — SB2018/HB2434 restricts companies' civil liability for cybersecurity attacks unless the attack “was caused by willful, wanton, or gross negligence on the part of the private entity.” Right now, companies can be held liable in class action lawsuits for the damages for a failure to take “reasonable care.” By raising the standard for liability to gross negligence, creative trial attorneys will have less incentive to bring frivolous cases against businesses that have suffered a cyberattack despite efforts to protect their systems.
PASSED: Artificial Intelligence Council — SB2530/HB2325 creates the Tennessee Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council. The council would be required to submit an action plan to the governor to address how to position Tennessee competitively to ensure its citizens capture the full economic benefit from artificial intelligence opportunities and to address how to responsibly leverage artificial intelligence to improve the efficiency of state and local government services.
TAKEN OFF NOTICE: Vouchers — SB503/HB1183, Governor Lee announced that his push for legislation to create a statewide voucher program was dead for this year’s legislative session. Despite months of meetings and the inclusion of $144 million in the budget for the program, the Governor, Senate, and House were unable to bridge significant differences between their preferred approaches to the issue.
Information provided by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.
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