114 session

Highways, Roads and Bridges - As enacted, lifts certain restrictions on temporary borrow pits used to source material for a road work construction project performed in a FEMA-certified county under a contract for construction work entered into with the state that is part of a state or local Hurricane Helene recovery effort. - Amends TCA Title 54, Chapter 1.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 04/21/2025

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, expands the definition of "racketeering activity" to include committing, conspiring to commit, aiding, attempting to aid, soliciting, coercing, facilitating, or intimidating another person to commit the criminal offense of animal fighting. - Amends TCA Title 39.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

Tickets, Admission - As introduced, prohibits a third-party reseller from selling or offering for sale a speculative ticket; requires the division of consumer affairs in the attorney general's office to enforce the prohibition and assess a penalty of $5,000 per violation. - Amends TCA Title 47.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Boats, Boating - As enacted, generally increases from 12 to 14, the age that a person must be to lawfully operate a personal watercraft upon the waters of Tennessee without being under the direct supervision of an adult, except that persons 12 and 13 may continue to operate a personal watercraft upon the waters of Tennessee without being under the direct supervision of an adult on Monday through Friday, excepting legal holidays. - Amends TCA Title 69, Chapter 9.

2026-03-16 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 584

Solid Waste Disposal - As introduced, changes from March 31 to February 1, the date by which each region must submit its annual report to the commissioner of environment and conservation for the immediately preceding calendar year that includes data on collection, recycling, transportation, disposal, public costs, and other information deemed relevant to solid waste planning and management. - Amends TCA Title 68 and Title 69.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

Sexual Offenses - As enacted, provides that when the victim of a sexually oriented crime is a minor, the consent of a parent or guardian is not required for the victim to receive a forensic medical examination. - Amends TCA Title 29; Title 38 and Title 39.

2026-03-23 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 597

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.

2025-03-31 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Health, Dept. of - As introduced, directs the commissioner to conduct a study on creating new or streamlining existing pathways to careers as primary care providers in this state for individuals who have medical training as noncommissioned officers in the armed forces of the United States; requires the commissioner to conduct the study using existing department resources; requires the commissioner to deliver findings and recommendations from the study to the chief clerk of the senate, chief clerk of the house of representatives, and the legislative librarian no later than December 31, 2025. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 33; Title 63 and Title 68.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Health and Welfare Committee

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.

2025-04-02 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

District Attorneys - As introduced, adds an additional assistant district attorney general position and criminal investigator position in each judicial district that includes a state correctional facility. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 16 and Title 41.

2026-04-20 — Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/21/2026

Taxes, Sales - As enacted, sets the end date at June 30, 2027, for the exemption from sales and use tax for purchases and leases of equipment and infrastructure used to produce broadband communications services or provide internet access. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 6, Part 3.

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025

Tobacco, Tobacco Products - As introduced, increases, from a Class C to a Class A misdemeanor, the penalty for selling or distributing a vapor product to an individual under 21 years of age; requires retailers of vapor products to obtain a license for such retail sales from the department of commerce and insurance; provides for civil penalties for violations by licensees. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 15 and Title 62.

2025-03-11 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Wine & Wineries - As introduced, requires the Tennessee wine and grape board to coordinate with wineries across this state in an effort to create a statewide wine trail. - Amends TCA Title 57.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

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.

2025-03-26 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

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.

2025-03-24 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Environment and Conservation, Department of - As introduced, increases, from three to five days after receipt, the maximum time that the department has to publish on the department's website a notice of intent to appeal a final order by the board of water quality, oil and gas or an administrative judge. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 11; Title 66; Title 67, Chapter 4, Part 4; Title 68 and Title 69.

2025-03-26 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

Food and Food Products - As enacted, prohibits labeling a cell-cultured food product as meat or a meat food product. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 39; Title 40; Title 43; Title 44; Title 47 and Title 53.

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025, 07/01/2025

DUI Offenses - As enacted, creates a distance to drive program study committee to help determine the feasibility of implementing a distance to drive program that would facilitate reinstatement of suspended and revoked driver licenses for criminal defendants based on meeting the objectives set by the court and completing all the requirements set by the department of safety. - Amends TCA Title 16; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 55.

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025, 07/01/2025

Boards and Commissions - As enacted, makes various revisions to the governing boards of public higher education institutions. -

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025

Education - As introduced, prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or marital status against a student or an employee in a public institution of education; requires public institutions of education to treat harassment or discrimination against students or employees, or resulting from institutional policies or programs on their campuses, motivated by or including antisemitic intent in an identical manner to discrimination motivated by race; requires Title VI coordinators to be designated to monitor antisemitic discrimination and harassment at K-12 schools and institutions of higher education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

Abortion - As introduced, adds the chairs of the judiciary committee of the senate and the committee of the house of representatives with jurisdiction over criminal justice-related matters to whom the department of health shall submit a report of each abortion procedure and the disposition of the aborted fetus or aborted fetal tissue to no later than January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 of each year. - Amends TCA Section 39-15-203.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

State Government - As enacted, requires each governmental entity to revise any existing ordinance, resolution, rule, policy, and procedure that includes a reference to a natural person's sex or gender to state that those terms are defined as the immutable characteristics of the person's reproductive system that identify the person as male or female, as determined by anatomy and genetics testing at the time of birth; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 1; Title 3; Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7 and Title 8.

2026-05-15 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 938

Education - As enacted, prohibits a public school, LEA, or teacher, employee, or contractor of a public school or LEA from requiring a student, teacher, employee, or contractor of the public school or LEA to provide the individual's preferred pronouns; makes related revisions. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 9, Chapter 8; Title 29, Chapter 20 and Title 49.

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025

State Employees - As enacted, grants eligible state employees mandatory paid leave for fostering a minor child. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 50, Part 8.

2026-03-30 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 621

General Assembly, Directed Studies - As enacted, requires TACIR to study the economic impact that the cosmetology and barbering professions have in this state; upon completion of the study, requires TACIR to report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to legislative committees having jurisdiction over cosmetology and barbering, and to provide a copy of the report to the legislative librarian. - Amends TCA Title 62, Chapter 3 and Title 62, Chapter 4.

2025-04-04 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 102

Alcoholic Beverages - As enacted, expands the immunity from prosecution when seeking medical assistance for a person experiencing, or believed to be experiencing, an overdose to include alcohol-related offenses; clarifies that overdose includes both drugs and alcohol. - Amends TCA Title 63.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

Charitable Institutions - As enacted, establishes a five-day period after the effective date of this act during which a nonprofit organization may apply to operate a charitable gaming event during the annual period beginning July 1, 2025, until June 30, 2026. - Amends TCA Title 3, Chapter 17.

2025-04-08 — Effective date(s) 04/02/2025

Boards and Commissions - As introduced, creates the Tennessee board of sign language interpreting. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 63; Title 68, Chapter 1, Part 1 and Title 71, Chapter 4, Part 21.

2026-03-18 — Failed (no second) in Senate Education Committee

Civil Procedure - As enacted, requires, in a child custody order, the court to include written findings of fact as to whether the limitations in present law relative to restrictions in temporary or permanent parenting plans apply; makes other changes relative to child court proceedings; clarifies, for purposes of domestic abuse law, that "abuse" includes acts inflicted directly by the offending party or indirectly through a third party, including, but not limited to, a family member, friend, significant other, or coworker, on behalf of the offending party. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

Criminal Offenses - As enacted, requires the department of mental health and substance abuse services to establish a mental health evaluation process for a community mental health center or qualified mental health professional to evaluate a defendant convicted of domestic assault, child abuse, aggravated child abuse, cruelty to animals, aggravated cruelty to animals; requires a court in which a person is convicted of any such offense to order the offender to undergo a mental health evaluation prior to the sentencing hearing. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 39 and Title 40.

2025-05-27 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 511

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.

2025-03-19 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

Local Education Agencies - As enacted, requires an LEA that receives credible information regarding a threat of violence or significantly disruptive behavior directed toward, or occurring on the grounds of, a public school in the LEA, and that reports the threat or disruptive behavior to a state or local law enforcement agency, to notify the parents and guardians of students enrolled in the public school of the same threat or disruptive behavior within 48 hours of the LEA making its report to law enforcement. - Amends TCA Title 49.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 04/15/2025

Consumer Protection - As introduced, changes the definition of "definable group" for purposes of the Ensuring Likeness, Voice, and Image Security Act of 2024 to include a choral group rather than a glee club. - Amends TCA Title 47, Chapter 25, Part 11.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Housing - As enacted, requires certain property, projects, and joint ventures to meet certain requirements if a legislative body of a county or municipality adopts by resolution or ordinance an affordable housing program. - Amends TCA Title 47 and Title 67.

2025-05-13 — Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

Taxes, Ad Valorem - As introduced, changes from March 1 of the second year following a tax year to March 1 of the tenth year following a tax year by which certain corrections to the property tax assessment for that tax year are to be initiated by an assessor or requested by a taxpayer. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 5.

2025-02-12 — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

Education - As enacted, creates a federal education deregulation cooperation task force to prepare Tennessee for the potential of deregulation of federal laws, regulations, requirements, and guidance for K-12 education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

2025-05-15 — Effective date(s) 05/09/2025

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.

2025-03-19 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

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.

2025-03-25 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate State and Local Government Committee

Pensions and Retirement Benefits - As enacted, authorizes, after July 1, 2025, a political subdivision to adopt a supplemental bridge benefit for members who are in positions covered by mandatory retirement provisions; makes related changes relative to supplemental bridge benefits. - Amends TCA Title 8, Chapter 34; Title 8, Chapter 35 and Title 8, Chapter 36.

2025-05-13 — Effective date(s) 05/05/2025

Traffic Safety - As enacted, authorizes counties to delegate authority to the chief administrative officer of the county highway department to set lower speed limits on county roads if the department employs an engineer who is capable of completing required engineering and traffic investigations. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 8.

2025-04-08 — Effective date(s) 04/03/2025

Health Care - As enacted, enacts the "Medical Ethics Defense Act." - Amends TCA Title 63.

2025-04-29 — Effective date(s) 04/24/2025

Expunction - As introduced, lowers the period of time that must elapse after completion of the sentence imposed before a petitioner may have an eligible criminal offense expunged, for misdemeanors or Class E felonies, from five years to three years, and for Class D felonies, from 10 years to six years. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

2025-03-17 — Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, prohibits the possession, manufacture, transport, repair, or sale of a switch or auto sear device designed, made, or adapted for the purpose of converting a weapon to shoot automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger unless certain exceptions apply. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

2025-04-08 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Public Funds and Financing - As introduced, creates in the department of human services a community grant advisory board for the purpose of administering the community-based organizations grant program to financially support eligible nonprofit organizations that serve communities in the areas of education, public health, housing, social issues, and economic and workforce development. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 9; Title 67 and Title 71.

2025-03-12 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Government Operations Committee

Sentencing - As introduced, permits a person who is serving a sentence of incarceration of eight years or more for an offense committed prior to January 1, 2026, and who is a victim of domestic abuse subjected to substantial physical, sexual, or psychological abuse inflicted by a member of the same family or household as the person to submit to the sentencing court, a request to apply for resentencing. - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40.

2025-03-11 — Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

Election Laws - As introduced, requires county election commissions to include three non-binding questions related to the legalization of marijuana on the November 2026 ballot; requires the secretary of state to compile the results of the non-binding, advisory referendum, publish the results on the secretary of state's website, and forward the results to the members of the general assembly. - Amends TCA Title 2.

2026-03-24 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate State and Local Government Committee