Tennessee Governor Resists Calls to Tweak New Cap on Damages

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam doesn’t intend to rework the state’s new law limiting payouts in successful lawsuits against doctors and other businesses, despite calls from some members of his own party for changes to be made in the upcoming legislative session.

Placing a $750,000 cap on non-economic damages like pain and suffering was one of the governor’s main priorities during his first legislative session this year. Haslam told The Associated Press after a grant ceremony in Erwin last week that he was not aware of calls for changes to the new law.

“I haven’t gotten that feedback. I’ve met probably with 100 different businesses who’ve said this really helps us,” he said. “The feedback I’ve gotten is that it addresses their needs”

But some Republican lawmakers have suggested the law could be improved.

House Speaker Pro Tempore Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, said at a National Tea Party Doctors event at Lipscomb University earlier this month that he wants the caps to be lowered to between $250,000 and $300,000 to bring those damages into line with the liability limits for state government.

“If it’s good enough for the government, it’s definitely good enough for our citizens,” he said. “It’s truly a double standard there that I hope to address very soon in the General Assembly.”

Matheny said he sees the efforts to limit lawsuit damages as a work in progress.

“It is hopefully the first step of several steps in issues that we hope to deal with in regards to tort reform,” he said. “It’s important to remember that sometimes progress is made in baby steps.

“After a three- or four-year period, maybe we can look back and really see some true progress.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah, has filed a bill seeking to lift the cap in cases where injuries were caused during a felony. The House version of the bill had included that provision, but the Senate had declined to agree. The bill as passed instead lifted the caps only in cases where an offender has the intent to cause an injury.

Dennis said during the second-to-last day of the legislative session in May that he was willing to go along with the Senate version in the interests of “expediency” as lawmakers were trying to adjourn for the year.

The next day, Dennis filed the bill seeking to lift the caps if the defendant was convicted of a related felony under state or federal law. The bill already has 25 co-sponsors in the House.

Dennis said Monday that he hasn’t spoken with the governor about his bill, but agrees that there’s no need for wide-ranging changes to the new law.

“I don’t anticipate any kind of a broad, multifaceted approach as we had this year,” he said. “We will have just a handful of things to bring forward.”

Haslam appears to prefer waiting to see how the original version of the law works out.