Tennessee House Bills

Controlled Substances - As introduced, decriminalizes the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana or less than five marijuana plants; authorizes municipalities and counties to impose civil penalties on the possession of marijuana in certain circumstances. - Amends TCA Title 16, Chapter 18, Part 3; Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 4 and Title 40.

Controlled Substances - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Cannabis Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 29; Title 33; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 45; Title 50; Title 53; Title 63; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, makes assault against school employees a Class E felony offense under certain circumstances. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

Scholarships and Financial Aid - As introduced, adds Western Governors University as a postsecondary institution at which Tennessee resident students may be enrolled for purposes of receiving a Senator Ben Atchley opportunity grant. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 8.

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, specifies that the administrative office of the courts may distribute to the courts electronically the discharge from conditions of release form that is required to be sent to law enforcement agencies by the court when a defendant upon whom conditions of release have been imposed is discharged or released from those conditions. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 16; Title 18; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 55; Title 56; Title 62; Title 68 and Title 71.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, expands the offense of unlawful exposure to include the distribution, with the intent to cause emotional distress, of an image of the intimate parts of another identifiable person or an image of an identifiable person engaged in sexually explicit conduct and the image was created or modified by means of a computer software program, artificial intelligence application, or other digital editing tools. - Amends TCA Title 39.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, requires a law enforcement agency to release calls for emergency assistance services at rental homes and apartment complexes to qualified nonprofit organizations for the purpose of distributing the calls to rental property managers and owners to detect and act on escalating crime patterns. - Amends TCA Title 38.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, enacts "MaKayla's Law," which amends the offense of reckless endangerment to specifically include a person's reckless failure to render inoperable or safely secure or lock a firearm, resulting in a child under 13 gaining possession of the firearm and injuring or killing the child or another. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, expands the circumstances under which a law enforcement agency may petition a court for permission to destroy a firearm that has been confiscated by a law enforcement officer and declared to be contraband by a court, to any firearm, rather than only a firearm that is inoperable or unsafe. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, makes it an offense for farmers to keep breeding pigs and veal calves in certain small enclosures, subject to certain exceptions, effective July 1, 2030. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 14; Title 40, Chapter 39; Title 43; Title 44 and Title 53.

Orders of Protection - As introduced, allows a court to issue an emergency protection order upon a finding that a person poses an imminent risk of harm to the person or others if allowed to purchase or possess a firearm; authorizes a family member, household member, intimate partner, or law enforcement officer to petition for such an order. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 39.

Boats, Boating - As introduced, prohibits certain activities, such as fishing, near public boat launches, docks, boats, and marinas so as to interfere with the use of such facilities. - Amends TCA Title 67; Title 68, Chapter 102, Part 6; Title 69 and Title 70.

Education - As introduced, requires the department of education to submit an early grades reading report to legislative committees with jurisdiction over subject matter pertaining to education by December 31 of each year. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Forfeiture of Assets - As introduced, increases the burden of proof required to be met by the state in civil asset forfeiture proceedings from a preponderance of evidence standard to a clear and convincing evidence standard. - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 33.

General Assembly, Confirmation of Appointment - James S. "Steve" Jones, Fish and Wildlife Commission -

General Assembly, Directed Studies - Directs the Department of Health to conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate and make recommendations regarding anesthesia workforce and staffing across all facilities providing anesthesia services in Tennessee. -

Day Care - As introduced, enacts the "Child Care Workforce Improvement Act," which directs the commissioner of human services to develop a program to provide longevity payments to eligible child care workers and a program to provide child care assistance payments to certain early childhood educators. - Amends TCA Title 71, Chapter 3.

Agriculture, Dept. of - As introduced, authorizes the commissioner to designate an existing organizational unit of the department as the office of rural prosperity and consolidate within that office some or all of the department's duties related to improving the well-being of rural communities in this state. - Amends TCA Section 1-3-105; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 9; Title 13; Title 43; Title 44; Title 48; Title 49; Title 50; Title 61; Title 64; Title 66; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 69.

Sexual Offenses - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Sexual Violence Justice Act," making various changes to the requirements for investigating sexual offenses. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 67.

Employees, Employers - As introduced, enacts the "Workers' Right to Live Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 29 and Title 50.

Boats, Boating - As introduced, requires a person to purchase a permit in order to operate a vessel on the intrastate waters of this state that is exempt from being numbered for identification in this state due only to the vessel having a valid number awarded to it pursuant to a federally approved numbering system of another state. - Amends TCA Title 69, Chapter 9.

Controlled Substances - As introduced, enacts the "Pot for Potholes Act"; establishes a regulatory structure for the cultivation, processing, and retail sale of marijuana and marijuana products in this state to be administered by the department of agriculture. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 29; Title 33; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 45; Title 50; Title 53; Title 54; Title 63; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71.

Nurses, Nursing - As introduced, requires all hospitals licensed by the health facilities commission or by the department of mental health and substance abuse services to report annually to the department of health, on a form promulgated by the department, the number of advanced practice registered nurses who are working in the hospital for each month. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 33; Title 53; Title 56; Title 63 and Title 68.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, creates the Class C misdemeanor offense of storing a firearm or firearm ammunition in a motor vehicle while the person is not in the motor vehicle unless the firearm or firearm ammunition is kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, utility or glove box, or a locked container securely affixed to the motor vehicle; requires the owner of a firearm to report the loss or theft of the firearm to law enforcement within 24 hours of the discovery of the loss or theft. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

Physicians and Surgeons - As introduced, extends from 30 to 60 days the period of time following a change in the address listed on a physician's registration certificate within which a physician licensed by the board of medical examiners must notify the board of such change. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49; Title 63 and Title 68.

Consumer Protection - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Consumer Protection and Subscription Renewal Act," which prohibits a business from requiring submission of credit or debit card information, or other payment information for an automatic renewal offer or continuous service offer containing a free gift or trial; makes other changes related to automatic renewal offers and continuous service offers. - Amends TCA Title 45; Title 47; Title 56 and Title 65.

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to make the standardized form for reporting student allergies to the school in which the student is enrolled publicly available on its website. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Consumer Protection - As introduced, reduces, from $100 billion to $50 billion, the amount of assets held by a state or national bank, savings and loan association, savings bank, credit union, industrial loan and thrift, or mortgage lender that are necessary to fall within the definition of a financial institution for purposes of the application of certain consumer protections. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 45; Title 47 and Title 56.

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, enacts the "Bearing Witness to the Death Penalty Act." - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 23.

Immigration - As introduced, requires a financial institution to verify the immigration status of a person sending funds electronically outside of the United States and its territories; changes the definition of resident or citizen of this state to mean citizens of the United States and aliens lawfully present in this state; requires the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a pupil who is not lawfully residing in this state, but who attends a public school in this state, to pay tuition. - Amends TCA Title 1; Title 4; Title 7; Title 45 and Title 49.

Environment and Conservation, Department of - As introduced, requires the department to create and maintain an informational tool on the department's website that provides data related to the presence of facilities that are required to submit toxic release inventory data to the environmental protection agency. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 59; Title 60; Title 68 and Title 69.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, deletes the exception to the criminal offense of unlawfully carrying a firearm with intent to go armed for persons who lawfully possess a handgun, are in a place where the person is lawfully present, and are at least 21 years old or 18 years old with certain military service. - Amends TCA Title 39.

Expunction - As introduced, requires a clerk of a court with criminal jurisdiction to automatically remove and destroy all public records of a conviction for a Class E felony or misdemeanor that is eligible for expunction, one year after the person has completed any sentence imposed by the court. - Amends TCA Title 10; Title 18 and Title 40.

Consumer Protection - As introduced, prohibits sending by mail a fake check or an image of a fake check, for the purpose of advertising. - Amends TCA Title 45 and Title 47.

Education, Higher - As introduced, requires the commission to review and update the outcomes-based funding formula model at least once every five years to provide incentives for institutions that offer programs leading to job placement in high-demand fields in this state. - Amends TCA Title 9; Title 49 and Title 62.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation - As introduced, increases, from 15 to 20, the number of background investigations that the speaker of the senate and speaker of the house of representatives may request a year for persons under consideration for appointment to a position of trust and responsibility. - Amends TCA Title 38; Title 39 and Title 67.

Highways, Roads and Bridges - As introduced, extends the authority for local governments to levy a surcharge on local privilege taxes to fund a transportation improvement program to all cities instead of only Chattanooga, Clarksville, Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis, and to all counties instead of only Wilson, Washington, Blount, Sullivan, Sumner, Montgomery, Williamson, Rutherford, Hamilton, Knox, Davidson, and Shelby counties; expands the use of such local surcharge revenue for highway and bridge projects, in addition to mass transit projects. - Amends TCA Section 67-3-901 and Title 67, Chapter 4, Part 32.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, enacts the "Anti-Road Rage Act of 2024," which creates a Class E felony for the reckless discharge of a firearm while operating, or as a passenger in, a motor vehicle; creates a Class A misdemeanor for the reckless brandishing or display of a firearm while operating, or as a passenger in, a motor vehicle. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 55.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, creates a Class E felony that is committed when a person exercises control over a motor vehicle knowing that the person does not have the permission of the owner of the motor vehicle; creates a Class A misdemeanor of possessing a firearm that the person knows or reasonably should know has been stolen. - Amends TCA Title 39.

Consumer Protection - As introduced, changes, from 45 to 50 days from receipt of a request, the time that a controller has to inform a consumer of the controller's decision to decline to take action regarding the consumer's authenticated request under the Tennessee Information Protection Act. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 10; Title 29; Title 39; Title 47 and Title 48.

Education, Higher - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee for Tampons Act," which requires public institutions of higher education to provide feminine hygiene products in all women's and girl's bathrooms and locker rooms. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9.

Food and Food Products - As introduced, prohibits the sale of food containing nanotechnology created by humans that is capable of collecting and transmitting data unless the food is labeled as containing nanotechnology. - Amends TCA Title 47, Chapter 18 and Title 53.

Livestock - As introduced, requires the commissioner of agriculture and the state veterinarian to receive prior approval from the joint government operations committee of the house of representatives and the senate to order vaccinations and tests for animals in this state; removes the requirement that an owner of a dead animal be liable for the sanitary disposition of the animal; clarifies indemnity procedures for a destroyed animal. - Amends TCA Title 44 and Title 58.

Education - As introduced, enacts the "Freedom to Read Act"; repeals the "Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022." - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 6.

Health Care - As introduced, requires every year, instead of every other year, the commissioner of health, in consultation with the regulatory boards that license healthcare practitioners, to provide a letter no later than November 1 to the governor, the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and legislative committees with subject matter jurisdiction over health that includes updated information on the impact and effects of the restrictions and limitations on treating patients with opioids. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 33; Title 53; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

General Assembly, Statement of Intent or Position - Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint a committee to meet with a like committee from the Senate to consider the removal of Steven J. Mulroy from the office of District Attorney General for the Thirtieth Judicial District by the Tennessee General Assembly acting pursuant to Article VI, Section 6 of the Constitution of Tennessee. -

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to use student performance on career readiness assessments administered to high school seniors as part of the school grading system if the department uses student performance on postsecondary readiness assessments for such purpose; directs the department to only consider student performance on the assessment type for which the student achieved the highest score for school grading purposes, if the student was administered a postsecondary readiness assessment and a career readiness assessment. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) - As introduced, revises the weighted allocations generated by a student for purposes of the TISA based on the number of student members of the LEA in which the student resides; establishes a $50 direct allocation for each student member of each LEA to assist each LEA with maintenance and infrastructure. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 3.

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to compile a list of all of the educator preparation providers' teacher training requirements for licensed educators to teach students in any of the grades K-12 who are employees of a local education agency or public charter school; requires the department to publish the list on the department's website and submit the list to the education committee of the senate and the committee of the house of representatives having jurisdiction over educator licensure by June 30 of each year. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 5.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, requires a parent or guardian who wishes to enroll the parent's or guardian's student into an LEA or public charter school to submit one of the listed documents to the LEA or public charter school upon enrollment of the student unless the parent or guardian pays an amount equal to the amount representing the per pupil state and local funds generated and required through the Tennessee investment in student achievement formula for the LEA in which the participating student resides. - Amends TCA Title 49.

State Government - As introduced, requires the Tennessee advisory commission on intergovernmental relations (TACIR) to conduct a study and propose several steps to protect Tennessee's financial security and soundness and ensure state sovereignty and resiliency. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 12; Title 45 and Title 47.

Taxes - As introduced, requires TennCare to certify an eligible healthcare provider's unreimbursed costs in a calendar year as charitable contributions made exclusively for public purposes to TennCare; requires eligible healthcare providers to pay TennCare $25 annually to receive such certification. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 4.

Bail, Bail Bonds - As introduced, requires a court or magistrate to impose global positioning monitoring as a condition of release for a defendant accused of certain offenses, unless the court or magistrate enters written findings that the defendant does not pose a threat to the victim or public safety; requires the administrative office of the courts to compile an annual report of the number of defendants subject to such an order. - Amends TCA Title 39; Title 40; Title 55; Chapter 969 of the Public Acts of 2024 and Chapter 1033 of the Public Acts of 2024.

Veterans - As introduced, requires the bureau of parks and conservation to designate at least one day per year, instead of just one day per year, during which access to and use of all state parks, including campgrounds and golf courses, must be free of charge for all veterans. - Amends TCA Title 58, Chapter 3.

Education - As introduced, enacts the "Universal Pre-K Funding Act." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 51; Title 49 and Title 67.

School Vouchers - As introduced, requires private schools that participate in the education savings account program or the individualized education account program to publish various items on the school's website; requires private schools that participate in either program to ensure educators hold a valid license to teach; requires students participating in either program to be administered various assessments. - Amends TCA Title 49.

School Vouchers - As introduced, increases the required assessments of students participating in the education savings account program or the individualized education account program to include all Tennessee comprehensive assessment program tests, Tennessee universal reading screeners or universal reading screeners approved by the state board of education, and the assessment administered to public school students in grade 11 that assesses student readiness for postsecondary education and approved by the commissioner of education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Treasurer, State - As introduced, creates within the state treasury a fund known as the crime stoppers trust fund to be used for the purpose of grant administration to fund crime stoppers programs within the state; requires an additional fine of $10 to be imposed on offenders convicted of a felony or misdemeanor offense to be deposited in the crime stoppers trust fund. - Amends TCA Title 38; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 67.

Election Laws - As introduced, requires county election commissions to publish office hours for early voting 30 days rather than 25 days prior to the day of the election. - Amends TCA Title 2.

School Vouchers - As introduced, requires private schools that enroll recipients of an education freedom scholarship, students participating in the individualized education account program, or students participating in the education savings account program to conduct background checks prior to employing a teacher or person who will have direct contact with school children or access to school grounds when children are present. - Amends Chapter __ of the Public Acts of 2025 (1st Ex. Sess. – SB 6001 / HB 6004); and TCA Title 49, Chapter 10, Part 14 and Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 26.