Five Tennessee bills that were paused until 2024 by the General Assembly

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — With well over 3,000 individual pieces of legislation to consider through the first 45 days of the legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly has opted to pause consideration on several of them until 2024.

The Tennessee Constitution gives the general assembly 90 days with which to file, debate and pass legislation in regular session over each two-year assembly period. Traditionally, the legislature divides the year in half, with 45 session days in each year. The legislature has already passed a number of bills, including a ban on certain drag performances, a prohibition on gender-affirming care for transgender minors, and a cap on the number of councilmembers for a metropolitan government, but not all bills introduced get passed quickly.

Here are five bills that will have to wait until 2024 for further discussion before potentially becoming law.

SB596/HB878

As it is written, this bill would state no one in the state of Tennessee — including county clerks— is required to solemnize a marriage. Solemnization is the act of performing a marriage ceremony. The House version of the bill passed on a party-line vote, but Senate action was deferred until the first Senate Judiciary Committee meeting of 2024.

SB755/HB815

This bill would require insurance companies to have coverage for continuous glucose monitors for people with diabetes who are insulin-dependent and covered by an existing policy. The bill would apply to individual, or group health insurance, policies or contracts issued by a hospital or medical service corporation, individual or group service contract issued by a health maintenance organization and every self-insured group arrangement allowed by law on or after July 1. It would not apply to TennCare or a successor program, according to the bill text. The House version of the bill is set for discussion in the Insurance Committee for March 21, but the Senate version was deferred to the first Senate Commerce & Labor Committee calendar next year.

SB1125/HB621

This bill would raise the speed limit on certain roadways from 70 to 75. The roadways impacted would only be "controlled-access highways" of four lanes or more and interstate highways and would have taken effect July 1 had it not been paused and instead passed. AAA - The Auto Club Group said it was opposed to the measure, according to Senate staffers.

SB298/HB1454

This bill seeks to allow motorcycles to operate between rows of stopped or slow-moving vehicles traveling in the same direction and in between lanes when that traffic was traveling under 25 miles an hour. The Senate piece of legislation was set for January, while the House version was "taken off notice" in the Transportation subcommittee on March 15.

SB1498/HB1158

As written, this bill would lower the age of requirement to obtain an enhanced or concealed handgun carry permit from 21 to 18. The Senate bill is deferred until Jan. 1, 2024, but the House version was taken off notice in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee in February.