2021 Legislative Priorities: Preliminary List

Below are the bills that the Women’s Fund has designated as legislative priorities for this first year of the 112th session of the Tennessee General Assembly. This list includes bills that touch on 49 to One report priority areas, as well as some that continue the work that the Women’s Fund has prioritized in previous years (Maintaining Past Gains). This year’s list also includes a number of bills being led by our partner organizations across the state - if we want to move Tennessee from 49 to One, it’s going to require the collaborative efforts of all of the women working with commitment to improve lives in Tennessee. This list of bills certainly doesn’t include every bill impacting women and girls in our state, so we will be watching all of the action in our legislature and providing updates to keep you informed about what you can do to make progress for women in our state. As always, if you have any questions or if you want to join our efforts to move Tennessee from 49 to One in the Status of Women, please reach out - we’d love to meet you!

Proactive Legislation

Increasing Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products

1. SB974(Watson)/HB640(Alexander) - Tort Liability & Reform

This bill specifies that a good faith donor of apparently usable feminine hygiene products to a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization for distribution to persons in need of the product is not subject to criminal or civil liability in the absence of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.

Partner Priorities

Advocate Confidentiality - in partnership with AWAKE

2. SB624(Bell)/HB673(Freeman) - Victims’ Rights

This bill prohibits disclosure of certain information by an advocate in regard to a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking in a judicial, legislative, or administrative proceeding unless the victim gives express written consent.  (Aligns with Violence & Safety measures from 49 to One report and supports our victim advocate partners locally and statewide.)

Domestic Violence Awareness Education for Tennessee Licensed Cosmetologists & Barbers - in partnership with the YWCA

3. SB216(Massey)/HB120(Whitson) - Barbers &/or Cosmetologists

This bill requires applicants for a technician certificate of registration, master barber certificate of registration, barber instructor certificate of registration, cosmetologist license, manicuring license, cosmetology instructor license, aesthetician license, or natural hair styling license to obtain up to one hour of online or in-person training by a nonprofit on domestic violence. (Aligns with Violence & Safety measures from 49 to One report.)

Improving the Health Outcomes of Incarcerated Women and Their Pregnancies - in partnership with Healthy & Free Tennessee

4. SB1412(Akbari)/HBTBD - Prisons and Reformatory Institutions

This bill restricts the use of physical restraints on pregnant inmates; prohibits the use of solitary confinement for pregnant inmates and inmates who have given birth within the past eight weeks. (Aligns with Health & Wellness and Reproductive Rights measures from 49 to One report.)

Public Employees Paid Leave - in partnership with A Better Balance

5. Bill Numbers Forthcoming - Public Employees

This bill provides paid family and medical leave for certain state employees. (Aligns with Work & Family measures from 49 to One report.)

Recognition of Doulas as Vital Health Workers - in partnership with Healthy & Free Tennessee

6. HJR4(Lamar) - General Assembly Statement of Intent or Purpose

This resolution recognizes doulas as vital birth and community health workers.

Creation of Lifetime Orders of Protection - in partnership with Tennessee Voices for Victims

7. SB621(Bell)/HB434(Lamberth) - Orders of Protection

This bill permits service of ex parte orders of protection for up to one year from issuance; creates a lifetime order of protection that can be issued to a victim of certain felony offenses to prohibit the offender from coming near or communicating with the victim. 

Child Care Strategic Plan Task Force - in partnership with Tennesseans for Quality Early Education

8. SB677(Massey)/HB598(Hazlewood) - General Assembly, Directed Studies

This bill creates the Tennessee child care task force, a critical step in meeting the dire needs of our child care system. 

Maintaining Past Gains

Ending Child Marriage and Forced Marriage in Tennessee

9. OPPOSE: SB562(Bowling)/HB233 (Leatherwood) - Marriage

This bill deletes the statutes on marriage licensing and ceremonies, effectively rolling back the strides we made to end child marriage and to impose penalties for forced or coerced marriage. The elimination of marriage licenses would also significantly reduce funding for child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence services across Tennessee.

Preventing Human Trafficking

10. SB337(Gilmore)/HB117(Lamar) - Teachers, Principals, & School Personnel

This bill  increases, from one time to once every three years, the required in-service training for a teacher employed by a local board of education in regard to the detection, intervention, prevention, and treatment of human trafficking in which the victim is a child.

Streamlining the Rape Kit Process 

11. SB1035(Bell)/HB39(Freeman) - Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

This bill enacts the "Jim Coley Rape Survivors Protection Act.” It creates new provisions regarding the process of collecting, storing, and tracking evidence from forensic medical examinations and rights of victims of sexually oriented crimes.

49 to One Strategic Priorities

Eliminating Barriers to Secondary Education

12. SB229(Hensley)/HB6(Cepicky) - Tennessee Higher Education Commission

This bill requires the commission to establish a four-year pilot program to award completion grants to Tennessee Promise scholarship students who have an immediate financial need or who are experiencing a financial hardship that may prevent the student from completing a postsecondary degree or credential. (Aligns with Poverty and Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.)

Equal Pay for Tennessee Women

13. SB635(Kyle)/HB816(Clemmons)  - Sex Discrimination

This bill enacts the "Tennessee Pay Equality Act" to revise present law concerning sex-based discrimination in compensation for employment.  (Aligns with both the Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.)

14. SB114(Gardenhire)/HB130(Hazlewood) - Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, Dept 

This bill requires the department to increase over a three-year period the wage for direct care professionals employed by contracted agencies of the department to $15 per hour; requires annual increases in the hourly wage thereafter. (Aligns with both the Employment & Earnings and Poverty & Opportunity measures from 49 to One report.)

Protecting Tennessee Infants and Mothers

15. SB830(Jackson)/HB441(Lamar) - Public Health

This bill creates a task force to study and report on pre-term births and infant mortality as it relates to African-American mothers  (Aligns with Health & Wellness and Reproductive Rights measures from 49 to One report.)

Ensuring Access to Mental & Behavioral Health Treatment

16. SB429(Gardenhire)/HB620(Rudder) - Insurance, Health, Accident

This bill includes as a qualified site for the provision of behavioral health services provided via telehealth, a patient’s home or remote location of choice; includes audio-only conversation within the definition of “telehealth” when providing behavioral health services if certain means of communication are unavailable. (Aligns with the Health & Wellness measures from the 49 to One report.)