Tennessee House Bills

State Universities - As introduced, expands the list of those who are prohibited from serving on a state university board to include those who hold the position of a member of a governing body for another institution of higher education, not just public institutions of higher education. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 29; Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9.

Education - As introduced, requires the state board of education to authorize a student who is working toward completing a career and technical education elective focus to substitute up to four career and technical education course credits for the required chemistry course credit, computer science course credit, world language course credit, and Algebra II course credit necessary to earn a full diploma upon graduation from high school. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Utilities, Utility Districts - As introduced, requires a utility governed by the Utilities' Cut-Off Procedures Act to publish its policy governing the discontinuation of service for nonpayment of service on the utility's website in a publicly accessible location. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 69.

General Assembly - As introduced, requires the speakers of the senate and house of representatives to determine an equivalent number of legislative conferences, or number of legislative conference days, for which a member of the senate or house of representatives is entitled to attend for purposes of receiving expense and mileage allowances. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 1.

General Assembly - As introduced, entitles a member of the general assembly to expense and mileage allowances for a Saturday or Sunday during a regular or special session if the member is arriving on such day to attend, or in anticipation of attending, a meeting germane to the business of the general assembly for the regular or special session. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 1.

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, creates a law enforcement investigatory privilege; prohibits a subpoena from being issued for a civil or criminal proceeding for information protected by the law enforcement privilege. - Amends TCA Title 24, Chapter 1, Part 2 and Title 40, Chapter 17, Part 1.

General Assembly - As introduced, increases the monthly home office allowance for members of the general assembly from $1,250 per month to $2,250 per month. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 1.

Firefighters - As introduced, increases from within two weeks to 15 days after the occurrence of a vacancy in the office of any commissioner caused by death, resignation, disability, or forfeiture of office, and no later than 30 days prior to the expiration of the term of office of any incumbent commissioner, the time within which the chair of the commission must notify the appropriate association of the vacancy or expiration of the term when the vacancy or expiration results in an opening for that particular association to make recommendations for an appointment. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 7; Title 8; Title 49; Title 50; Title 55 and Title 68.

County Government - As introduced, authorizes a county to forgo the automatic compensation increase for county officers if the department of economic and community development determines that the county experienced substantial characteristics of economic distress in the preceding fiscal year. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 24.

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, adds a 5 percent penalty on delinquent property taxes with the penalty to be used to provide tax relief for the homeowners who are elderly low-income, disabled, or a disabled veteran or widow of a disabled veteran. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Purchasing and Procurement - As introduced, requires local governments to obtain, when possible, three written quotations for purchases costing less than the threshold established pursuant to law but more than 40 percent of such threshold, or some lower amount as may be established by the governing body of the local government. - Amends TCA Section 5-14-204; Section 5-14-205 and Section 6-56-305.

Labor and Workforce Development, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the chief elevator inspector to perform a final acceptance inspection upon completion of the installation, modification, or alteration of a private residence elevator prior to such elevator entering service; requires a homeowner to register a private residence elevator with the department; directs the chief elevator inspector to develop and maintain a database of private residence elevators. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 121.

Insurance, Health, Accident - As introduced, prohibits a health insurance entity or TennCare MCO from including an all-products clause in a network participation agreement with a healthcare provider, and makes certain other changes related to MCO network adequacy. - Amends TCA Title 56 and Title 71.

Landlord and Tenant - As introduced, authorizes a landlord to submit a single registration form for a multi-dwelling property with the agency or department of local government that is responsible for enforcing building codes in the jurisdiction if the property contains five or more dwelling units; authorizes local governments to require residential landlords to register with the local government. - Amends TCA Section 66-28-107.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, creates a Class E felony for altering or defacing a permanent distinguishing number on a firearm and selling, purchasing, or possessing such a firearm with a mandatory minimum sentence of 180 days incarceration. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 1; Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13 and Title 40.

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, creates the commercial development board; with respect to new commercial property developed by private entities in certain taxing jurisdictions, authorizes the private entities to enter into agreements for payments in lieu of ad valorem taxes and leases with the commercial development board. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 9; Title 13; Title 48 and Title 67.

Employees, Employers - As introduced, requires a person who employs an unemancipated minor and who knows or has reasonable cause to suspect that the minor has been subjected to child sexual abuse or attempted child sexual abuse in the course of the minor’s employment or on the premises of the employer to report such knowledge or suspicion to the minor’s parent within 24 hours of discovering the abuse or attempted abuse; imposes a penalty of $1,000 for a first violation or $2,000 for a second or subsequent violation, to be paid to the commissioner of labor and workforce development. - Amends TCA Title 37 and Title 50.

Education, Higher - As introduced, requires the Tennessee higher education commission, in consultation with the department of labor and workforce development, to study all state-funded financial aid and scholarship programs in this state to determine whether programs may be expanded to provide greater financial aid opportunities for individuals interested in pursuing a workforce credential; requires the commission to report its findings and any legislative recommendations to the committee of the house of representatives having jurisdiction over higher education and to the education committee of the senate no later than January 15, 2026. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49 and Title 50.

Taxes, Excise - As introduced, enacts the "CEO Pay Disparity Tax Act," which imposes a pay disparity surcharge in the amount of an additional 0.1 percent to the standard 6.5 percent excise tax rate on each company whose top executive is paid at least 100 times more than the median income of the company's employees. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 4.

Assessors - As introduced, requires assessors of property to correct an assessment of property for any real property destroyed, demolished, or substantially damaged by disaster between September 1 and December 31 of any year by prorating the assessment for that portion of the year and applying it to the subsequent tax year. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5, Part 6.

Municipal Government - As introduced, prohibits a municipality, or an instrumentality of a municipality, from taking an action that affects or has the potential to affect the tax obligations, fees, or other costs for real property owners whose property is located outside of a municipality's corporate boundary, unless the action is approved by the county legislative body in which such property is located; requires the membership of joint economic and community development boards to proportionately represent the citizenry over which the board exercises jurisdiction by July 1, 2029. - Amends TCA Title 5 and Title 6.

Hospitals and Health Care Facilities - As introduced, removes the restriction on the direct employment of radiologists, pathologists, anesthesiologists, and emergency physicians by hospitals and certain healthcare facilities. - Amends TCA Title 47; Title 63 and Title 68.

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, revises the definition of "residential property" for purposes of classification and assessment of property taxes to include property that can be sold and purchased as a single unit fee simple title, regardless of whether it is vacant, owner-occupied, rented, or detached or attached. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

Taxes - As introduced, enacts the "End the Grocery Tax by Closing Corporate Loopholes Act." - Amends TCA Title 57 and Title 67.

TennCare - As introduced, authorizes the governor to expand medicaid eligibility solely for the purpose of providing treatment for a patient with a diagnosis of sickle cell disease in accordance with the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and to negotiate with the centers for medicare and medicaid services with respect to the terms of such expansion. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 71, Chapter 5.

Employees, Employers - As introduced, enacts the "Pay Stub Protection Act," which requires an employer to provide a statement to an employee on the employer's payday that contains certain information about the employee and the employee's wages and hours worked during the applicable pay period. - Amends TCA Title 3; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 50.

Housing - As introduced, authorizes municipalities to create, implement, and enforce a rental property registry for all residential rental dwelling units within the municipality's jurisdiction; requires owners of residential rental dwelling units to register; requires a municipality that adopts a registry to send an annual report containing certain information to the department of economic and community development. - Amends TCA Title 13, Chapter 21.

Tennessee Housing Development Agency - As introduced, deletes provision requiring Tennessee rural and workforce housing tax credits to be authorized by joint resolution of the general assembly. - Amends TCA Section 13-23-134 and Chapter 971 of the Public Acts of 2024.

Pensions and Retirement Benefits - As introduced, allows a retirement allowance increase equal to the percentage increase in the consumer price index if there is an over-collection of state tax revenue; requires this allowance increase to be used instead of the allowance increase in present law, which cannot exceed 3 percent. - Amends TCA Section 8-36-701.

Insurance, Health, Accident - As introduced, requires health insurance carriers to provide mental health coverage in parity with alcoholism and drug dependence coverage. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 33; Title 39; Title 49; Title 53; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

Economic and Community Development - As introduced, enacts the "Hollyssee Act." - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3 and Title 64.

Zoning - As introduced, specifies that a privately owned property built after 1899 that is located in a tourism development zone is not subject to the authority of a historic zoning commission or a historic zoning law, rule, review guideline, or regulation, with respect to certain aspects of a project. - Amends TCA Title 13, Chapter 7, Part 4.

Insurance Companies, Agents, Brokers, Policies - As introduced, requires an insurance company that is admitted to do business in this state and insures the tangible personal property of a policyholder who resides in this state to provide a discount to the policyholder through the policyholder's homeowners or renters insurance policy if the policyholder secures the policyholder's firearms in a firearm safe or uses a firearm safety device for the firearms and requests to receive the annual discount. - Amends TCA Title 56.

Physicians and Surgeons - As introduced, increases from 10 to 30 business days, the period of time that must be included in a non-compete agreement between an employing entity and a physician regarding the time after which, if no agreement on the fair market value of the practice can be determined when an attempt to repurchase the practice is made, the physician may remove any restrictions on the physician’s ability to practice by tendering the amount that was paid to the physician for the sale of the practice. - Amends TCA Title 63 and Title 68.

County Government - As introduced, authorizes certain counties to, by the adoption of a resolution by a two-thirds vote of the county legislative body, impose a moratorium on the development of property, including property within the boundaries of a municipality, for apartment complexes. - Amends TCA Title 5.

Taxes, Personal Property - As introduced, authorizes, subject to a two-thirds vote of the legislative body, the county trustee or other property tax collecting official in Hamilton County to decline to bill or refer for collection a de minimis personal property tax totaling less than $20 under certain circumstances. - Amends TCA Section 67-5-2013.

State Employees - As introduced, requires an employee in the preferred service system to file an appeal regarding an adverse employment action to the board of appeals not later than 10 days rather than 14 days after the date the employee became aware, or should have reasonably became aware, of the adverse action. - Amends TCA Section 8-30-318.

Expunction - As introduced, permits the expunction of a Class E felony conviction for official misconduct. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40, Chapter 32.

Attorneys at Law - As introduced, specifies that an attorney who, while acting in the capacity of counsel for a client or an identifiable prospective client, engages in conduct that constitutes the offense of perjury, aggravated perjury, subornation of perjury, tampering with or fabricating evidence, destruction or tampering with governmental records, or coercion or persuasion of a witness is not immune from prosecution. - Amends TCA Title 23, Chapter 3; Title 27 and Title 39.

Consumer Protection - As introduced, prohibits an online payment system from freezing the funds of a user without first providing the user with a written notice of the online payment system's intent to freeze the user's funds; designates a violation as an unfair or deceptive act or practice pursuant to the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977. - Amends TCA Title 45 and Title 47, Chapter 18.

Health, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the commissioner to report to the chairs of legislative committees having jurisdiction over health-related matters on the standards and policies for assisted reproductive technology in this state. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 29; Title 36; Title 63 and Title 68.

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to establish and administer a three-year artificial intelligence weapons detection system grant pilot program to award grants to eligible LEAs for the purchase of artificial intelligence weapons detection systems for schools without an artificial intelligence weapons detection system. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Highways, Roads and Bridges - As introduced, requires the department of transportation to study the development of a new bridge crossing the Mississippi River and connecting to Arkansas. - Amends TCA Title 54.

Probate Law - As introduced, requires the personal representative to notify beneficiaries or intestate heirs of their right to file exceptions to claims of creditors filed against an estate; makes various other changes regarding wills and claims of creditors against an estate. - Amends TCA Title 30 and Title 32.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, specifies that the comptroller of the treasury is authorized to determine how soon after June 30 of each year charter schools are required to submit audits of their accounts and records. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 13.

Safety, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to provide a person with a free photo identification license at each location where the department issues a driver license or photo identification license if the person signs an affidavit stating that the person does not have a valid government issued photo identification. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 8 and Title 55, Chapter 50, Part 3.

Libraries - As introduced, prohibits libraries from banning, removing, or otherwise restricting access to a book or other material based solely on its viewpoint or the messages, ideas, or opinions it conveys, except as otherwise authorized. - Amends TCA Title 10 and Title 49.

Alcoholic Beverage Commission - As introduced, changes from March 1 to February 15 the date by which the executive director of the commission must file an annual report concerning rules promulgated during the prior year with the appropriate standing committees of the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 57.

Traffic Safety - As introduced, requires a motor vehicle exceeding 75 feet in length and hauling a load of poles, logs, or timber to haul the load on a trailer having an extendable and retractable rear impact protection or to be followed by an escort vehicle that is signed. - Amends TCA Title 55 and Title 65.

School Transportation - As introduced, extends the use of service of a conventional and Class D school bus from 200,000 miles to 230,000 miles. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6 and Title 55.

Traffic Safety - As introduced, removes the prohibition on a person physically holding or supporting, with any part of the person's body, a wireless telecommunications device or stand-alone electronic device while operating a motor vehicle on a road or highway other than in a marked school zone or work zone; retains restrictions on activities such as texting on, reaching for, or watching or recording a video on such device while operating a motor vehicle on a road or highway. - Amends TCA Section 55-8-199.

Motor Vehicles - As introduced, creates a Class A misdemeanor for a person who is in the United States without legal authorization to operate a motor vehicle without possessing a valid driver license and evidence of financial responsibility; limits the fine for such offense to a maximum of $1,000. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 55.

Driver Licenses - As introduced, requires all written driver license examinations to be administered in English only; prohibits the use of a translation dictionary, electronic device, or interpreter to assist a person taking the examination. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 50, Part 3.

Education, Curriculum - As introduced, requires local education agencies and public charter schools to provide age-appropriate instruction to students on how to access, utilize, and critically evaluate various artificial intelligence tools within the curriculum taught by the educator; requires the department of education to issue guidance on how to implement the required instruction; requires the department to provide a professional development program in artificial intelligence education for educators, subject to available funding. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Health Care - As introduced, requires the Tennessee council on autism spectrum disorder to submit an annual report by February 1 of each year to legislative committees that details, at a minimum, the council's findings, progress on the comprehensive statewide plan and system of care, and recommendations for legislation. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 56 and Title 71.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, requires school board members to be elected at the same election beginning in 2028. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Aircraft and Airports - As introduced, establishes a process for renaming an international airport governed by a metropolitan airport authority to Trump International Airport. - Amends TCA Title 42, Chapter 3; Title 42, Chapter 4 and Title 55.

Abortion - As introduced, clarifies that the term "abortion," as defined for the offense of criminal abortion, does not include the use of contraceptives, including any device, medication, biological product, or procedure that is generally intended for use in the prevention of pregnancy, whether specifically intended to prevent pregnancy or for other health needs, or the disposal of embryos resulting from fertility treatments, including healthcare services, procedures, testing, medications, treatments, or products. - Amends TCA Title 37; Title 39; Title 63 and Title 68.

Traffic Safety - As introduced, requires the driver of a vehicle approaching a slow-moving or stationary farm tractor or implement of husbandry that displays an indicator that it is a slow-moving vehicle to reduce speed and move over, if possible to do so safely. - Amends TCA Title 55.

Birth Control - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Contraceptive Freedom Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 53; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.