Amends TCA Title 4; Section 8-50-103 and Section 68-1-113.

ON APRIL 20, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2774, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 rewrites this bill to vacate and reconstitute the membership of the Tennessee human rights commission effective September 1, 2022, and make other changes concerning the commission. This amendment does not change the number of commission members or the appointing authorities. This amendment replaces the present law requirement that three members of the commission reside in each grand division with a requirement that the appointing authorities shall strive to appoint members from each grand division of the state. Under present law, commission members service six-year terms. Under this amendment, the terms of members who are initially appointed to the reconstituted commission will be staggered and all subsequent appointees will serve four-year terms. Under present law, a commissioner who is absent from more than three regularly scheduled meetings in the course of the commission's fiscal year may be removed from the commission by the respective appointing authority. This amendment instead requires that a commission member who misses more than 50 percent of the scheduled meetings in a calendar year must be removed as a member of the commission. This amendment adds a requirement that the commission provide a detailed accounting of its finances and a comprehensive analysis of how the commission is adhering to the requirements of state law concerning human rights to the division of audit within the office of the comptroller of the treasury, the chair of the government operations committee of the house of representatives, and the chair of the government operations committee of the senate no later than January 15 of each year for review. Present law authorizes the commission to appoint an executive director. This amendment adds a requirement that, prior to the reappointment of an executive director, the commission conduct a comprehensive review of the executive director's performance for the preceding 12 months. This amendment also requires the commission to develop measurable goals or benchmarks, or both, in determining whether to reappoint an executive director pursuant to the comprehensive review. This amendment prohibits any entity or person appointed by or serving at the recommendation of the commission from exercising more authority than the commission. This amendment requires any entity or person appointed by or serving at the recommendation of the commission to transmit copies, records, information, and other material obtained by such entity or person to the commission within five business days of receipt. This amendment requires the office of the attorney general and reporter to: (1) Make a complaint form available on the office's website for persons alleged to have been aggrieved by the commission pursuant to the commission's authority under state law concerning human rights; (2) Supply an individual with a written copy of the complaint form via the USPS upon request; and (3) Facilitate the submission of complaint forms via the internet. If a complaint is filed via the internet, then the complaint is deemed to be signed so long as the name of the filer is indicated in the complaint. Anonymous complaints cannot be accepted by the office for investigative purposes. ON APRIL 25, 2022, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2774 FOR HOUSE BILL 2877, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2774, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 changes the appointments to the commission to provide for the senate speaker, the house speaker, and the governor each appointing three members and to require each appointing authority to appoint one member from each grand division. ON APRIL 27, 2022, THE SENATE NONCONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1. ON APRIL 27, 2022, THE HOUSE REFUSED TO RECEDE FROM ITS ADOPTION OF HOUSE AMENDMENT #1. ON APRIL 27, 2022, THE SENATE REFUSED TO RECEDE IN ITS ACTION IN NONCONCURRING IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1, AND APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. ON APRIL 28, 2022, THE HOUSE APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE. ON APRIL 28, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT AND MADE IT THE ACTION OF THE SENATE. ON APRIL 28, 2022, THE HOUSE ADOPTED THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT AND MADE IT THE ACTION OF THE HOUSE.