Tennessee Lawmakers Are Considering Legislation That Would Prevent Government From Favoring Certain Businesses Over Others During A Health-related State Of Emergency.
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Published March 18, 2021
The Center Square [By Jason Schaumburg]-
The Business Fairness Act would allow a business, regardless of size, to remain open during health emergencies as long as it follows government-issued safety precautions and guidelines.
“The issue is many small businesses wound up on an unlevel playing field (during the COVID-19 pandemic) due to various executive orders, forcing them to close while larger competitors were to stay open,” the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Sen. Bill Powers, R-Clarksville, told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee this week. “… We believe that all businesses are essential.”
The National Federation of Independent Business, the largest small business association in the U.S., was a driving force behind the legislation, and it is endorsed by the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and HospitalityTN, which represents the interests of Tennessee’s lodging, dining and tourism businesses.
“The Tennessee Business Fairness Act is commonsense legislation that will help many small businesses survive another crisis like COVID-19 and keep people working,” NFIB Tennessee State Director Jim Brown said in a statement. “The bill seeks to ensure any government, state or local, stays away from picking winners and losers and ensures small businesses are on a level playing field with their big-box competitors. Hopefully, we’ll never have another situation like we’ve had with the coronavirus, but if we do, we need to make sure small businesses can survive.”
The Business Fairness Act passed the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Tuesday and was referred to the Senate Calendar Committee. The House version, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Powers, R-Jacksboro, cleared the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee on Wednesday.
About the Author:
Jason Schaumburg, The Center Square Managing Editor
Jason Schaumburg is an award-winning, veteran editor who has been a journalist for more than 20 years. He spent a decade as the top editor in three northern Illinois newsrooms for Shaw Media and Pioneer Press.
One Response
Depending on what is decided, this type of legislature could have been helpful to have in place when Covid-19 hit. Some governors turned into dictators resulting in many Americans losing their livelihood. The fact that the businesses were mandated to shut down was problematic enough, but to allow the big stores to stay open, and yet shut down small businesses resulted in economic and emotional despair caused by government. Common sense alone would reveal that the small businesses would lose solvency and not be able to reopen. Covid isn’t what caused the financial problems; the handling of this virus is what created the majority of the economic chaos during and after the epidemic. (Biden’s reckless EO’s are another factor destroying livelihoods, but that calls for other solutions.)