Tennessee Senate Bills

Education, Higher - As introduced, changes the reporting requirements for the board of regents, each state university board, and the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee summarizing grievance activities of the previous year from annually to upon the request of the education committee of the senate or the committee of the house of representatives having jurisdiction over education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

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.

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.

Solid Waste Disposal - As introduced, creates exception to the state regulation of biosolids by authorizing the legislative body of Grundy County to regulate such activities. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 68, Chapter 211; Title 68, Chapter 221 and Title 69.

Education - As introduced, makes various changes to the categories of individuals who are not required to use a preferred pronoun, and for whom a preferred pronoun can be disregarded, if the pronoun is inconsistent with the person's biological sex; makes various changes to the civil liability and adverse action protections as it relates to the use of, or the refusal to use, a pronoun or preferred pronoun. - Amends TCA Title 49.

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, 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.

Human Resources, Department of - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Health SNAP Act," which requires the department to submit a request for a waiver from the United States department of agriculture's food and nutrition service to seek authorization to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of candy and soft drinks. - Amends TCA Title 71.

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.

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.

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, Dept. of - As introduced, creates the temporary youth mental health service program. - Amends TCA Title 33 and Title 49.

Children's Services, Dept. of - As introduced, requires that a reimbursement payment to a child advocacy center be completed within 30 days of receipt of a request for reimbursement; requires payment of a 10 percent late payment fee for failing to make a timely reimbursement to a child advocacy center; requires the department to submit to the general assembly an annual report on the timeliness of reimbursement payments to child advocacy centers. - Amends TCA Title 9 and Title 37.

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.

Air Pollution - As introduced, designates the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight, or supplying or otherwise providing the chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus required for the conduct, as a Class A misdemeanor; makes other changes related to investigations and enforcement related to weather modification. - Amends TCA Title 58, Chapter 2 and Title 68, Chapter 201.

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.

Taxes, Tobacco, Tobacco Products - As introduced, requires cigarettes that are defined as heated tobacco products to be taxed at a rate of 0.15 cents per cigarette. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 4.

Appropriations - As introduced, appropriates funds to the department of education for the purpose of providing school safety grants to LEAs, public charter schools, and nonpublic schools to be used for walk-through detectors and scanners in schools. - Amends TCA Title 9; Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13 and Title 49.

State Employees - As introduced, requires the attorney general to annually report by January 15 of each year to the governor, speaker of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives the number of injunctions brought against persons who committed harassment against a state employee in the preceding calendar year. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 1.

Hospitals and Health Care Facilities - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Healthcare Quality and Access Act of 2025." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 34; Title 42; Title 56; Title 63; Title 68; Title 71 and Chapter 985 of the Public Acts of 2024.

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.

Expunction - As introduced, shortens the length of time that a petitioner must wait before having an eligible Class D felony expunged from 10 years after the completion of the sentence imposed for the offense the petitioner is seeking to have expunged, to eight years from completion. - Amends TCA Title 40, Chapter 32.

Election Laws - As introduced, prohibits online voting, except for the electronic provision of voting materials to military members and citizens abroad; prohibits the use of a post office box for establishing residency for voting purposes; requires a registered voter who moves to a different county in this state to vote based on current residence regardless of whether the voter has updated the voter's registration. - Amends TCA Title 2.

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.

Sentencing - As introduced, reduces the percentage of sentence that a person convicted of first degree murder on or after July 1, 1995, and sentenced to life imprisonment is required to serve before becoming eligible for release from 100 percent of 60 years less sentence credits earned and retained to 60 percent of 60 years less sentence credits earned and retained; prohibits a defendant becoming eligible for parole before serving 25 years of the sentence, if the defendant was 25 years of age or younger at the time of the offense, or 30 years of the sentence, if the defendant was 26 years of age or older at the time of the offense. - Amends TCA Title 37; Title 39, Chapter 13, Part 2 and Title 40.

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.

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.

Election Laws - As introduced, prohibits using voting machines or voting equipment to cast, receive, or transmit an election ballot via the internet, except for military personnel and citizens abroad. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 6, Part 5 and Title 2, Chapter 9.

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.

Salaries and Benefits - As introduced, increases, from $7.25 to $20, the minimum hourly wage for employees within this state. - Amends TCA Section 8-23-203; Title 12 and Title 50, Chapter 2.

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.

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.

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.

Employees, Employers - As introduced, increases the hourly minimum wage to $20.00, or the federal minimum wage established pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, whichever rate is greater. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 23; Title 12, Chapter 4, Part 4 and Title 50, Chapter 2.

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.

Naming and Designating - Tennessee TriStar Day -

Memorials, Recognition - "General Pulaski Memorial Day" in Pulaski -

House of Representatives - As introduced, revises the statutory reference to the house committee responsible for approving the Tennessee Code Commission style guidelines from the civil justice committee of the house of representatives to the committee of the house of representatives with jurisdiction over subject matters pertaining to the code commission. - Amends TCA Title 1; Title 2; Title 3; Title 4; Title 7; Title 8; Title 9; Title 10; Title 11; Title 12; Title 13; Title 16; Title 17; Title 29; Title 33; Title 36; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 43; Title 47; Title 49; Title 50; Title 52; Title 53; Title 54; Title 55; Title 56; Title 57; Title 58; Title 62; Title 63; Title 64; Title 65; Title 67; Title 68; Title 69; Title 70; Title 71 and Chapter 895 of the Public Acts of 2024.

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.

Real Property - As introduced, changes from a preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence the burden of proof for a debtor to prove that property sold at a foreclosure sale for an amount materially less than the fair market value in order to rebut the presumption that the foreclosure sale price of the property was equal to the fair market value at the time of sale. - Amends TCA Title 35.

Mental Illness - As introduced, requires the chief officer of an inpatient mental health treatment resource to notify the committing court if a patient who was involuntarily committed for mental health treatment becomes eligible for discharge; permits the court to hold a hearing to determine whether to order the person's return to the hospital under the original commitment or order the person's release from involuntary commitment in accordance with the recommendations of the chief officer. - Amends TCA Title 33 and Title 52.

Abortion - As introduced, defines the terms "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function" and "lethal fetal anomaly"; specifies that a physician does not commit the offense of criminal abortion if, under certain circumstances, the physician performs or attempts to perform an abortion to address a lethal fetal anomaly or a premature delivery of an unborn child with a lethal fetal anomaly. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 29; Title 33; Title 37; Title 39; Title 40; Title 53; Title 56; Title 62; Title 63; Title 68 and Title 71.

Abortion - As introduced, creates an exception to the offense of criminal abortion if the person who performed or attempted to perform the abortion was a licensed physician and the patient's pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 15, Part 2.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, enacts the "Protect Kids Not Guns Act." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 10; Title 13; Title 16; Title 29; Title 33; Title 36; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 47; Title 49; Title 50; Title 55; Title 58; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 70.

Memorials, Recognition - Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, May 2025 -

Safety - As introduced, changes the reporting date, from February 1 to January 15, by which the commissioners of education and safety must jointly report to the governor and the general assembly on the implementation of the "Schools Against Violence in Education Act." - Amends TCA Title 49 and Title 68.

Comptroller, State - As introduced, deletes antiquated language that required the office of research and education accountability in the office of the comptroller to submit a report by November 1, 2018, to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives regarding the formation and operation of community schools. - Amends Chapter __ of the Public Acts of 2025 (1st Ex. Sess. – SB 6001 / HB 6004); and TCA Title 4; Title 8 and Title 49.

Tennessee Higher Education Commission - As introduced, requires the commission, in consultation with the department of finance and administration, to submit a report to the general assembly of the state appropriations made to each land grant institution in this state from 1987 to 2020, on a per pupil basis, by December 31, 2025. - Amends TCA Title 9 and Title 49.

Water Pollution - As introduced, prohibits the department of environment and conservation from applying criteria that will result in the classification of real property as a wetland if the property is prior converted cropland that is exempt from classification as a wetland under federal law. - Amends TCA Title 11, Chapter 14, Part 4 and Title 69.

Education - As introduced, authorizes virtual schools to administer TCAP tests to their students in a virtual setting if certain requirements are met. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Education - As introduced, authorizes the board of regents to produce and make available a copy of the board's tenure policy in an electronic format or in a printed, physical medium. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 49 and Title 62.

Scholarships and Financial Aid - As introduced, adds an institution accredited by the National Accrediting Commission of Career Arts and Sciences (NACCAS) that has its primary campus domiciled in this state as an eligible postsecondary institution in which a student may be enrolled for purposes of receiving a Tennessee Promise scholarship; conditions the availability of the scholarship at such an institution on there being no available enrollment slots in a Tennessee college of applied technology in the student's county of residence for the student's desired program of study. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Environment and Conservation, Department of - As introduced, requires the department to make the catalog of materials on source reduction and recycling created by the department available on the department's website. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7 and Title 68, Chapter 211.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, allows a third grade student who achieves a performance level rating of "approaching" on the English language arts portion of the student's most recent Tennessee comprehensive assessment program test, and who has earned an overall letter grade of A or B in the student's third grade ELA class, to be promoted to fourth grade if promotion is recommended by a majority of the categories of participants in a conference convened by the student's LEA or public charter school; requires a student promoted to fourth grade through such process to receive tutoring services for the entirety of the student's fourth grade year. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.

Environment and Conservation, Department of - As introduced, prohibits the board of water and wastewater operator certification from delegating, by contract or other agreement, to a third-party its authority to determine minimum operator competency or to prepare examinations administered to applicants seeking operator certification; establishes requirements for such examinations and minimum scores required for issuance of a certificate. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 221, Part 9.

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.

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.

Special License Plates - As introduced, exempts new specialty earmarked license plates for which the funds are allocated to, and used by, a nonprofit organization to support state historic sites from meeting the minimum initial issuance requirement of 1,000 plates and the minimum issuance requirement of 800 plates upon renewal. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4.

Motor Vehicles - As introduced, authorizes a dealer applicant without an established place of business to be issued a motor vehicle dealer license if the applicant is a nonprofit religious organization that is organized or incorporated in this state, has its certificate of incorporation or authority in good standing with the secretary of state, and has an established program of receiving donations of motor vehicles that it donates to individuals and providing free vehicle repair services to individuals with demonstrated need of a motor vehicle or repair services necessary to the individual's effort to become a self-sufficient member of the workforce. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 17.

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.

Education, Dept. of - As introduced, requires the department to award grants to local education agencies that operate or authorize at least one public school located in a county with a county juvenile offense rate that is at least 10 percent higher than the statewide juvenile offense rate to enable such LEAs to provide after school programs for students in grades K-12. - Amends TCA Title 37 and Title 49.