Conference committee approves tax‑rebate compromise, orders written report after 8–2 vote

A legislative conference committee approved a compromise on a tax‑rebate package in an 8–2 roll‑call vote after agreeing to a set of procedural concessions and reporting requirements.

Leader Lambert moved to adopt the conference committee report coded 018982 with the changes discussed; the motion was seconded and the committee recorded eight ayes and two no votes. Committee members instructed legal staff to draft the written conference committee report for distribution and signature after the verbal agreement.

The agreement includes three principal elements that members highlighted during debate. First, the House agreed to a full refund covering a roughly three‑and‑a‑half‑year look‑back period for eligible rebates; committee members said that cost is budgeted. Second, the draft requires a one‑time public disclosure of companies that applied for rebates, published in three bucketed ranges (0–$750; $751–$10,000; $10,001 and up) so exact taxpayer amounts are not revealed. Third, the draft includes legal protections intended to limit future litigation: applicants who accept a rebate will sign a waiver and the report would specify that attorney fees will not be provided to plaintiffs pursuing claims against the state.

"If you get a rebate, you will be signing a waiver with the state of Tennessee that you will not be suing the citizens of this state," Leader Lambert said during the meeting, summarizing a legal condition the draft would impose. He added the attorney general's office has been involved in shaping the language and that "there will be no attorney's fees" for those who sue over the rebate under the franchise and excise tax.

Members discussed practical timing and implementation details at length. The committee adopted a six‑month claim window for companies to apply for refunds that will begin after November (members agreed to change an earlier November 15 start date to November 30 to accommodate department software constraints), and run through May 31. The committee also directed that the department publish the bucketed disclosure on May 31 and keep it available for 30 days (through June 30), then remove the posting. Because some complex claims could remain unresolved by the reporting date, the committee agreed to add a fourth, "pending" category on the May 31 posting that will list applicants whose refund amounts are still unresolved rather than publishing an estimated amount.

Chairman Williams urged a narrow reporting window and proposed that administrative staff could issue payments in tranches as claims are resolved and then aggregate the reporting data for the May 31 disclosure so that earlier‑paid claims would not be disadvantaged in public perception. "Nothing's to prevent in the language the department from paying a tranche of checks in January, February, March, April, and then in May, collect that data altogether and do one report," he said.

On procedural points, members asked legal counsel to check Section 8 and other sections of the draft to ensure the deadlines and definitions (for example, what counts as a "resolved" claim) are clear and executable by the department. Several members raised the risk that complex, high‑value claims could take many months to settle and asked that the statute avoid placing the department in a position where compliance with a reporting deadline is impossible.

The conference committee ended by instructing legal staff to prepare the written report reflecting the verbal agreement so members can review and sign it. The committee then adjourned.

Votes at a glance: the motion to adopt the conference committee report coded 018982 passed 8–2 on a recorded roll call. The clerk recorded the following votes: Leader Ackberry — No; Leader Johnson — Aye; Senator Stevens — Aye; Senator Watson — Aye; Senator Yeager — Aye; Representative Hazelwood — Aye; Representative Hicks — Aye; Representative Miller — No; Representative Williams — Aye; Leader Lambert — Aye.

Next step: legal counsel will prepare the final conference committee report text for members to review and sign; the committee did not vote on a written document at the meeting.