Tennessee Senate Bills

Abortion - As introduced, specifies that the offense of criminal abortion does not include an abortion that was necessary due to a medical emergency affecting the physical or mental health of the pregnant person or performed on a patient whose pregnancy was the result of rape or incest. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 15; Title 63 and Title 68.

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.

Zoning - As introduced, extends the terms of members of historic zoning commissions from five years to six years. - Amends TCA Title 13, Chapter 7, Part 4.

State Symbols - As introduced, designates "Tennessee" by Arrested Development as an official state song. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 1, Part 3.

TennCare - As introduced, removes the requirement that the governor receive authorization by the general assembly prior to making any decision or obligating the state with regard to the expansion of optional enrollment in the medical assistance program. - Amends TCA Title 71.

Human Services, Dept. of - As introduced, enacts the "Workers Need Child Care Act"; establishes the child care infrastructure fund from which the department disperses grants to nonprofit entities for establishing new licensed child care agencies in this state. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 37 and Title 71.

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, excludes materials obtained by an individual teacher that are made available in the teacher's classroom to students assigned to the teacher's class from having to be identified in a list of library collection materials posted on the school's website; requires each local board of education and public charter school governing body to adopt a policy for developing and reviewing classroom libraries. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.

Motor Vehicles - As introduced, excludes automated driving system (ADS)-operated vehicles used to transport property for hire in interstate commerce or to transport passengers for hire from the exemption allowing ADS-operated vehicles to be operated without a human driver physically present. - Amends TCA Title 55 and Title 65.

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.

Local Government, General - As introduced, authorizes a local government having a population of 100,000 or more and having centralized purchasing with a full-time purchasing agent to use any project delivery method that the local government determines most effectively meets the needs of the local government for the construction of local projects or additions to existing buildings. - Amends TCA Title 12, Chapter 3, Part 12.

Pensions and Retirement Benefits - As introduced, authorizes a firefighter with a rank equal to or higher than shift commander to continue in service beyond the mandatory retirement age of 62 years of age. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 36.

Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, Dept. of - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Mental Health Volunteer Alliance Act." - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 49; Title 63 and Title 68.

Contractors - As introduced, clarifies that an applicant for a license under the "Contractors Licensing Act of 1994" who has been advised to appear before the board at a scheduled time and place must provide notice to the board of the applicant's inability to appear three business days in advance, rather than three calendar days. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 47, Chapter 18; Title 62, Chapter 6 and Title 67, Chapter 4.

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.

Historical Commission - As introduced, provides for the purchase of the James K. Polk Home in Columbia by the commission; authorizes the commission to contract with a nonprofit corporation for the improvement, maintenance, and operation of the property for the benefit of the citizens of this state and the general public. - Amends TCA Title 4.

Lobbying, Lobbyists - As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Foreign Adversary and Chinese Military Company Disclosure and Accountability Act." - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 6; Title 4; Title 39, Chapter 16, Part 5 and Title 58, Chapter 2.

Municipal Government - As introduced, expands the criteria for real property that is eligible for the property owner to petition a municipality to deannex. - Amends TCA Section 6-51-201.

Sewage - As introduced, decreases from 60 to 45 days, the amount of time the executive director of the board of commissioners of a water and wastewater treatment authority has to annually prepare the operating budget of the authority and submit the budget to the board for approval prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 69.

Housing - As introduced, authorizes local governments to regulate sober living homes for recovery from alcohol, drug, and substance abuse to the extent such regulation complies with the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, including prescribing a distance requirement for such homes from primary schools, preschools, and daycares, regulating the location and operation of such homes, and requiring that prospective residents receive a clinical referral for placement in a sober living home. - Amends TCA Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13 and Title 33.

State Government - As introduced, increases membership of the information systems council by adding a state employee with experience in the field of cybersecurity, to be appointed by the governor. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3.

Economic and Community Development - As introduced, extends, from December 1 to January 1, the date by which the office of business enterprise in the department of economic and community development must submit to the general assembly its annual report on advisements to the commissioner regarding disadvantaged businesses and the number of or amount of community block grants received by disadvantaged businesses. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9 and Title 67.

State Employees - As introduced, increases, from three days to three months, the amount of paid leave provided to the officers and employees of the various agencies, boards, and departments of state government in the event of the death of such officers' or employees' children or stepchildren. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 50.

TennCare - As introduced, directs the governor to seek a new TennCare waiver within 180 days of the effective date of this act to provide medical assistance coverage for individuals whose gross annual income is equal to or less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level; clarifies that the amendment takes effect upon federal approval. - Amends TCA Title 71, Chapter 5.

Alcoholic Beverage Commission - As introduced, requires the presence of one rather than two credible witnesses to be present when an officer of the commission destroys contraband distillation equipment, paraphernalia, and personal property. - Amends TCA Title 57.

Alcoholic Beverage Commission - As introduced, restricts the prohibition on holding an interest in or being employed by a distillery, wholesale dealer, or retail dealer, or holding an alcoholic beverage license in this state, only to family members of voting members of the commission. - Amends TCA Title 57, Chapter 1.

Aircraft and Airports - As introduced, adds the legislative librarian to the list of persons required to receive from the metropolitan airport authority quarterly reports or briefings of the activities, plans, and conditions of the authority, and any proposals for capital expansion or improvements prior to the expansion or improvements. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 42 and Title 67.

Aircraft and Airports - As introduced, increases, from 30 days to 30 business days, the amount of time before the start of a fiscal year that a joint board composed of public agencies overseeing a county or municipal airport has to submit its total expenditures to be made to the governing bodies of its constituent public agencies. - Amends TCA Title 42.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation - As introduced, requires the annual written report submitted to legislative committees with subject matter jurisdiction over criminal matters regarding activities of narcotics investigations by the bureau and the assistant director of the narcotics investigation division be submitted by March 1 of each year. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 27; Title 29; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41; Title 53, Chapter 11 and Title 55.

Fireworks - As introduced, extends from 10 to 14 days following the date of last publication in a newspaper of a notice from the state fire marshal about the seizure of and intent to destroy contraband fireworks, the period during which an owner may claim the fireworks and after which, if no such ownership claim is made, the state fire marshal may destroy the fireworks. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 104.

Fireworks - As introduced, extends from 60 to 75 days, the time following receipt of a completed application within which the fire marshal must issue a fireworks exhibitor's license to an applicant who has complied with state law and rule relevant to the exhibitor licensing process. - Amends TCA Title 68, Chapter 104.

Commerce and Insurance, Dept. of - As introduced, deletes obsolete definitions of the term "contractor" and obsolete penalty provisions from statute governing the unlawful representation as a contractor without a license. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 12; Title 13; Title 42; Title 43; Title 44; Title 45; Title 46; Title 47; Title 48; Title 50; Title 53; Title 54; Title 55; Title 56; Title 61; Title 62; Title 65; Title 66; Title 67; Title 68 and Title 71.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) - As introduced, requires TEMA to annually submit by February 1 of each year, a report to the governor, speaker of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives detailing recovery efforts engaged in by the agency during the prior calendar year and recommendations on how to improve the efficiency of future recovery efforts. - Amends TCA Title 9, Chapter 4, Part 2; Title 50, Chapter 7, Part 3; Title 58, Chapter 8; Title 58, Chapter 2 and Title 67, Chapter 5.

Transportation, Dept. of - As introduced, removes obsolete provision requiring the department, in consultation with the department of safety, local law enforcement agencies, and highway safety offices, to submit a report on or before February 15, 2024, of its findings and recommendations regarding the development of a strategic statewide plan to increase pedestrian safety to legislative committees. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 54.

Education - As introduced, removes an obsolete provision requiring a report be provided by July 1, 2024, from the department of education, after working in partnership with the state board and the Tennessee higher education commission, to legislative committees regarding implementation of legislation concerning student literacy. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 49; Title 8 and Title 49.

Safety, Dept. of - As introduced, requires, by February 1 of each year, the department to submit a report to the governor, the speaker of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives that provides the number of individuals for whom a court enhanced their statutory penalty because either the conviction is for the commission of a violent crime and the defendant was an illegal alien or the conviction involved the use or display of a deadly weapon and the defendant was an illegal alien. - Amends TCA Title 2; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 55.

Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) - As introduced, authorizes the suspension of certain requirements for purposes of obtaining unemployment benefits during emergencies; authorizes the agency to assist local governments and local emergency management agencies with recovery from disasters and emergencies on public property. - Amends TCA Section 50-7-302 and Section 58-2-106.

Education, Higher - As introduced, terminates the governing board of directors for the Tennessee student assistance corporation (TSAC); requires the Tennessee higher education commission to be the governing board for TSAC; changes the name of the "Wilder-Naifeh technical skills grant" to "TennesseeWORKS scholarship." - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 49, Chapter 4 and Title 49, Chapter 7.

Motor Vehicles, Titling and Registration - As introduced, deletes requirement for the department of revenue to report on the status of the computerized titling and registration system to the transportation and safety committee of the senate and transportation committee of the house of representatives. - Amends TCA Title 55.

Employees, Employers - As introduced, changes the maximum penalty amount from $7,000 for each violation by an employer of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1972, and from $70,000 for each willful and repeated violation of the act, to the maximum penalty allowed by the federal occupational safety and health administration. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 3, Part 4.

Banks and Financial Institutions - As introduced, requires a state-chartered bank to obtain an annual audit of its financial statements at intervals of no longer than 15 months, unless the bank's financial statements are included in the audit of its holding company's consolidated statements; requires the board to review, discuss, and record the audit in meeting minutes; requires each bank to provide the commissioner of financial institutions with a copy of the external audit within 45 days of receiving the audit; requires each bank to notify the commissioner whenever an independent public accountant is engaged to perform external auditing work, or when a change or termination of the bank's independent accountant occurs. - Amends TCA Title 45.

Children's Services, Dept. of - As introduced, changes from 10 to 15, the number of days of prior written notice the department must provide to a relative caregiver of any additional requirements for receiving payments as a relative caregiver. - Amends TCA Title 37 and Title 71.

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.

Insurance Companies, Agents, Brokers, Policies - As introduced, imposes requirements for health insurance issuers using artificial intelligence, algorithms, or other software for utilization review or utilization management functions. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 27; Title 56 and Title 71.

State Symbols - As introduced, designates Nashville as the hot chicken capital of this state. - Amends TCA Title 4.

Children - As introduced, specifies that "neglect" does not include permitting a child, whose basic needs are met and who is of sufficient age and maturity to avoid harm or unreasonable risk of harm, to engage in independent activities, including traveling to and from school by walking, running, or bicycling; traveling to and from commercial or recreational facilities; playing outdoors; remaining at home unattended for a reasonable period of time; and other similar independent activity. - Amends TCA Title 36; Title 37 and Title 39.

TennCare - As introduced, increases from 60 to 75 days the period after the close of each fiscal year within which the department of finance and administration must submit a report to the governor and members of the general assembly that includes an account of the operations and expenditures of all funds under the Medical Assistance Act of 1968, statistics by county about all medical assistance within the state, rules promulgated to carry out the Act, and other information the department deems advisable. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 56 and Title 71.

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.

Energy - As introduced, enacts the "Clean Energy and Jobs Act"; creates the Clean Energy Workforce Training Grant Fund; establishes a tax credit for certain systems, methods, improvements, structures, devices, or appliances used by renewable energy businesses, and small businesses to implement or improve the business's sustainable practices. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 5 and Title 67.

Drugs, Prescription - As introduced, deletes an obsolete provision that required the comptroller of the treasury, in conjunction with any appropriate TennCare drug utilization review committees, to study the use of prescription drugs in nursing homes and the costs of those prescription drugs for residents of nursing homes; to examine prescription use overall; to focus on any practices that would improve the quality of resident care while reducing costs to the TennCare program; and to report by January 1, 2005, to the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 33 and Title 71.

State Government - As introduced, prohibits a nongovernmental or intergovernmental entity in this state from infringing upon or restricting private property rights without due process or an individual's constitutional rights by virtue of pursuing a policy recommendation originating from or traceable to the United Nations, a subsidiary entity thereof, or an international policymaking organization; makes it an offense for the state or an official or political subdivision in this state to infringe upon or restrict private property rights without due process or an individual's constitutional rights in pursuing United Nations or international policymaking organizational policy. - Amends TCA Section 4-1-422.

Sports - As introduced, changes from January 1 to March 1, the date by which each local education agency and public charter school is required to submit documentation to the department of education evidencing its compliance with the requirement to notify an association that regulates interscholastic athletics at the school in which the student is enrolled of a student's placement in foster care; removes the requirement that the department annually submit a report of this information to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 48 and Title 49.

State Government - As introduced, requires each state department and agency to post to the department's or agency's website the report provided annually to the general assembly that describes the department's or agency's progress in achieving economic efficiency. - Amends TCA Title 4.

Expunction - As introduced, reduces from 15 years to 10 years the amount of time that must have elapsed since the completion of the sentence imposed for illegal registration or voting before filing a petition for expunction. - Amends TCA Title 2, Chapter 19 and Title 40, Chapter 32.

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.

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

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, requires directors of schools and directors of public charter schools to immediately notify all students, parents, educators, employees, and contractors of the local education agency or public charter school of the presence of an immigration officer on school grounds. - Amends Chapter __ of the Public Acts of 2025 (1st Ex. Sess. – SB 6002 / HB 6001); and TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 49.

Probation and Parole - As introduced, enacts the "Parole Relief and Opportunity Act"; expands the definition of hardship for purposes of determining the ability of a parolee to contribute to the cost of the person's supervision and release. - Amends TCA Title 40 and Title 41.

Correction, Dept. of - As introduced, adds the availability of services relating to housing as an issue that must be addressed in the orientation that the department is required to conduct before an inmate is released from confinement. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

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

Scholarships and Financial Aid - As introduced, enacts the "Speak UP, Tennessee Scholarship Act"; requires the Tennessee student assistance corporation to establish by rules a program that provides scholarships for students in grade 12 and at public institutions of higher education in this state who demonstrate artistic excellence in spoken word poetry through a competitive, performance-based selection process to pursue higher education to further develop their literary and performance skills. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 4 and Title 49, Chapter 7.