The Honorable Michael Curcio
425 5th Avenue North
Suite 630 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Dear Chairman Curcio,
On behalf of our respective groups, we urge you and the entire Tennessee legislature to include House Bill 2517 as essential legislation to pass before the legislature breaks as a safety precaution around COVID-19.
House Bill 2517, drug-free school zone reform legislation, is an essential bill that will bring significant cost savings to the state that will be needed during this time of crisis. It also has wide bipartisan support, the support of many local and national organizations, and no major public opposition.
House Bill 2517 is estimated to save the state $18 million dollars. Cost-savings is an essential priority for the Legislature right now: middle Tennessee recently experienced a devastating natural disaster that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, and with COVID-19 starting to grip the state, the economic downturn the state may experience in the coming months will be difficult to recover from. This bill presents the Legislature with the opportunity for significant cost savings that will be needed as the state continues to get a handle on this pandemic.
Beyond its cost savings, House Bill 2517 better aligns the statute with lawmakers’ intent: to keep dangerous drugs away from children while making sure that those whose crimes did not endanger children are not subject to unnecessarily excessive mandatory sentences. This will reserve valuable prison space and resources for those who truly pose a danger to children -- another important consideration during this pandemic, as prisons are places where it will be difficult to contain the spread of COVID-19 and properly treat and isolate those who become ill.
In a normal legislative session, we believe House Bill 2517 would pass by healthy margins in both chambers. But given the current pandemic and potential economic fallout from both COVID-19 and continued rebuilding efforts in central Tennessee, we believe that the time is now for the Legislature to consider passing this as essential legislation. The ability to free up resources to invest in other areas during this crisis will be crucial as the state begins to fully grapple with the impact of this virus, and we urge you to support this bill’s inclusion as essential legislation this week.
