Charles Stofel, general manager of the Columbia Neon Co., received an unwelcome surprise when he went down to Columbia City Hall about six months ago for a permit.
He expected quick approval of a sign he was building for a client, but instead was told that the state had begun requiring expensive engineer-approved drawings along with the permit application, adding at least $400 to the sign's $2,000 cost, and perhaps as much as $600 or $700.
The state regulatory change, which was later rescinded but could be revived in the General Assembly, would be a major financial burden for Stofel's small sign-making businesses, he said. And it would come on top of his rising license costs, which have been spiraling upward by thousands of dollars a year.
Tennessee is already a business-friendly, low-tax state, but Republicans who now have majorities in the House and Senate are promising to make doing business here easier in the next legislative session, which starts in January, pledging to keep down costs for small-business owners and ease regulations.
"This economy is tough enough without having any burdensome laws or regulations hurting people even more. We want to be about providing a very strong pro-business, pro-jobs, pro-citizen environment in Tennessee," said Majority Leader Jason Mumpower, a Bristol Republican who's likely to be the next speaker of the House, where the GOP now has a slim 50-49 edge.
Mumpower said GOP law makers plan to fend off "job killer" bills, such as minimum-wage legislation and expanded workers' compensation, but said a business agenda is still being formed as bills are filed. Business groups plan to propose a raft of business legislation to lawmakers before the session begins.
Rep. Mike Turner, an Old Hickory Democrat, said that the General Assembly is already business-friendly, and that working Tennesseans will suffer with the Republicans in charge.
"We're a right-to-work state, we don't have a lot of excessive labor laws, so I don't know what he's talking about doing, unless he wants to go back to a plantation mentality where the workers have no rights whatsoever," he said. "It looks like that's what they want to do."
'A pretty strong agenda'Stofel, who's been with the 76-year-old Columbia Neon since the 1960s, said he has found many Democratic allies over the years, but expects a slightly more sympathetic hearing with Republicans in charge.
"I think they'd have more of a receptive ear to the fact that small businesses are really struggling right now and really having a hard time," he said.
Jerry Lee, president of the Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council, didn't foresee major changes, saying the legislature already is sensitive to business concerns. But he did predict that the Republicans would move swiftly to cut back on workers' compensation coverage and institute medical malpractice limits, for example. Hopes for long-sought minimum-wage legislation, he said, are "dead in the water."
"It's the first time since 1869 they've had control of both houses, and I'm sure they've got some pent-up emotions and some pent-up agendas they're going to let loose. I think you're going to see a pretty strong agenda," he said.
Rep. Susan Lynn, a Mt. Juliet Republican who sits on the Commerce Committee, takes the view that government should "get out of the way" of business.
"So long as they're not risking anyone's life, their safety, or playing foolishly with their future welfare, or causing monopolies — those are the things governments should be concerned about — let's let people dream and be entrepreneurs," she said.
Business groups, while careful to note that many Democrats also have been supportive of business interests, generally expect a smoother ride for bills geared toward business, and a steeper climb for legislation they oppose, such as minimum-wage legislation.
Jim Brown, state director of the small-business group the National Federation of Independent Business, said the GOP leadership probably will be more amenable to certain business reforms, such as tort reform, which in the past have sometimes disappeared into committees dominated by Democrats. It also could mean that regulations erected in the past could be revisited and struck down.
"It doesn't necessarily mean that things are going to change dramatically. It means that you're going to see debate on topics that weren't debated in the past," he said.
Help for nursing homesOne beneficiary of the change could be the nursing home industry, which last year sought to cap nursing home liabilities for residents who sue, and steer lawsuits into arbitration, where damages would be limited.
Nursing home representatives said the legislation was needed to stem what they see as out-of-control litigation brought by personal injury lawyers; critics said it was a means to dodge accountability for poor care in residences. One outspoken critic, Rep. Henry Fincher, D-Cookeville, mockingly called it the "Kill Old People Cheap Act of 2008." The bill stalled in a House committee in the face of opposition.
Ron Taylor, president of the Tennessee Health Care Association, which lobbies on behalf of nursing homes, said that he did expect Republicans to pay close attention to issues like tort reform, and that the nursing home bill could get a new, more sympathetic look.
"Tort reform in general, and tort reform specific to nursing homes, will be significant issues again in the upcoming General Assembly," he said.
Green issues won't dieEnvironmental issues, often identified with Democrats on the national level, won't necessarily suffer with the GOP in charge, and may fare the same, said Stewart Clifton, a lobbyist for Tennessee Conservation Voters.
Some of the biggest environmental champions in the legislature are Republicans who support policies friendly to business, he said, pointing out that some environmental legislation that advanced last year in the GOP-controlled Senate — such as a mountaintop mining bill opposed by coal companies — met their demise in a Democrat-controlled House committee.
"I think you can safely say over the last eight years on the national level that the Democratic Party has been more receptive to environmental concerns, but I don't think that necessarily holds true on the state level," he said. "We have strong supporters in both parties."
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