(The Center Square) – The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce said Monday that a bill that requires state agencies to provide peer-reviewed, scientific evidence when considering regulation will serve as a model for other states.
Senate Bill 880/House Bill 996, sponsored by Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro and Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, is a first of its kind in the U.S., according to the organization.
“This statutory requirement effectively compels regulators to ‘show their work,’ offering transparency in the rulemaking process and curbing the potential for reactionary or ideologically driven policy decisions,” the Chamber of Commerce said in a report recapping bills it supported, along with those the organization opposed during the legislative session.
The organization also praised House Bill 541/Senate Bill 670, which would change how wetlands are defined by creating four categories.
“Prior to this reform, Tennessee maintained one of the broadest wetlands regulatory scopes in the country, encompassing all wetlands—including isolated, low-functioning, or seasonally wet areas with minimal ecological value,” the chamber said. “As a result, businesses, property owners, and infrastructure developers faced excessive permitting delays, inflated costs, and regulatory uncertainty—frequently without any corresponding environmental benefit.”
Rep. Kevin Vaughan, R-Collierville, and Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, sponsored the bill.
The chamber praised lawmakers for passing a bill that would allow voters to decide if they want to permanently ban lawmakers from enacting a property tax. Legislation that allows school districts to issue emergency teaching certificates when a certified candidate is not available was also praised by the organization.
The chamber counted the defeat of some bills as a win. A bill that would have allowed Memphis to surpass the state-allowed sales tax rate for cities failed, along with one that would have added land use regulations on solar energy projects.
The organization also fought against a bill that would have raised caps on non-economic damages in civil lawsuits.
“These caps, established in 2011, were designed to curb excessive liability and enhance legal predictability,” the chamber said. “Tennessee’s existing caps are already among the highest in the country, and raising them further would encourage inflated settlement demands, drive up insurance rates, and increase costs for employers, health care providers, and local governments alike.”
