State Legislature Wrap Up – 2020
After closing to the public last weekend, the TN General Assembly will be finishing up Governor Lee’s revised budget and spending bills before taking a temporary adjournment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While we don’t know officially how long the adjournment will last, most insiders believe it will be for roughly 8 weeks, depending on how the US manages its pandemic response.
(PSA: flatten the curve, physically distance yourself from as many other humans as possible)
On the credit union front, we spent much of 2020’s early stages in a defensive posture, dealing with threats to interchange fees and lien priority (Commercial PACE & construction lending bills). In addition, we worked to increase the Homestead Exemption (a bill that we fought in 2019) to $35,000 for individuals and $52,500 for jointly held homes. This was to get out ahead of a potentially much larger number in future sessions.
The bill to raise the Homestead Exemption has passed the Judiciary Committee in the House and awaits a floor vote. That floor vote is not coming before the adjournment. In addition, the bill still needs to clear the Senate Judiciary Committee.
We’re still also tracking the final amendments that will be added to the construction lending bill. Construction lending and Homestead Exemption will likely be taken up once the Assembly reconvenes. In the event that the pandemic alters plans further, it is likely that the Assembly will adjourn for the year (August primaries and a November general election) are looming. If that’s the case, then we’ll have to start all over again come January 2021 with the 112th General Assembly of Tennessee.
