114 session

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.

2025-02-24 — Sponsor(s) Added.

Economic and Community Development - As introduced, increases, from 30 to 45, the number of days within the end of a fiscal year, for which a municipality is requesting an allocation of sales and use taxes revenues, that a municipality may submit a summary of the cost of an economic development project through to the end of that fiscal year, with supporting documentation certified by the chief financial officer of the municipality. - Amends TCA Title 7, Chapter 40.

2026-04-22 — Re-refer to Senate State & Local Gov't Committee

Consumer Protection - As enacted, adds as unlawful under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977 the making of false statements or misrepresentations of fact to a consumer to indicate or imply that the consumer is a party to a civil lawsuit or a defendant in a criminal prosecution in order to induce the consumer to pay for services related to the purported lawsuit or prosecution or to pay costs, fines, penalties, or other assessments related to the purported lawsuit or prosecution. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 39; Title 47 and Title 65.

2025-04-30 — Effective date(s) 04/11/2025

Drugs, Prescription - As enacted, authorizes a healthcare practitioner to prescribe and a pharmacist to dispense a prescribed, bronchodilator rescue inhaler to an authorized entity to be administered to a person believed to be experiencing asthma symptoms or respiratory distress in an emergency situation, under a standing protocol from the healthcare practitioner; encourages schools in LEAs and public charter schools to keep bronchodilator rescue inhalers to be administered to students believed to be having asthma symptoms or in respiratory distress in an emergency situation. - Amends TCA Title 49; Title 53; Title 63 and Title 68.

2025-05-08 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 346

Business and Commerce - As introduced, prohibits an individual without a valid transportation network license from accepting or transporting a prearranged ride originating in this state; requires the department of commerce and insurance to issue transportation network licenses to eligible individuals; limits the issuance of transportation network licenses to residents of this state and residents of certain out-of-state counties adjacent to this state. - Amends TCA Title 55 and Title 65, Chapter 15, Part 3.

2025-03-18 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

Remedies and Special Proceedings - As introduced, creates a civil action against any person or government entity that infringes upon a person's right to bear arms under the Tennessee or United States Constitutions; requires the person or entity to be liable for actual or statutory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, and court costs. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 54.

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

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.

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

Education, Curriculum - As enacted, establishes a pilot program that provides grants to local education agencies to advance substance abuse and violence prevention programs. - Amends TCA Title 49.

2026-05-27 — Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

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.

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

Election Laws - As introduced, clarifies that the county election commissions have the duty to purge the permanent registration records of certain voters unless otherwise prohibited by federal law. - Amends TCA Section 2-2-132.

2025-04-02 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate State and Local Government Committee

Firearms and Ammunition - As introduced, removes the criminal offense of possession of a weapon in a building or on property that is properly posted; removes the requirement that the department of safety suspend or revoke a handgun carry permit for a violation of that offense by a handgun permit holder. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.

2026-03-23 — Sponsor(s) Added.

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.

2025-03-19 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee

Taxes, Business - As introduced, exempts services furnished by persons engaged in the appraisal of real estate or real property from business tax. - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 4, Part 7.

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

Schools, Private - As enacted, prohibits the state board of education from requiring a private school that provides a fully online, self-paced educational program to comply with certain class size, school calendar, vaccination, and assessment requirements in order to operate in this state as an approved Category III nonpublic school. - Amends TCA Title 49.

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

Health Care - As introduced, requires a person who collects blood donations for the purpose of providing blood for blood transfusions to require a blood donor to disclose if the donor has received a COVID-19 vaccination; permits a person in need of a blood transfusion in a nonemergent situation to request blood based on the blood donor's COVID-19 vaccination status. - Amends TCA Title 68.

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

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, creates the Class B misdemeanor of intentionally refusing a law enforcement officer's request to exit from a motor vehicle during a lawful traffic stop. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 16.

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

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, specifies that the offense of reckless endangerment includes a person who recklessly discharges a firearm into the air while in a densely populated area; provides that a densely populated area may be proven by evidence of the population of the city or county, housing density in the immediate area of the offense, the number of persons present at the time of the offense, or any other evidence. - Amends TCA Title 39.

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

Election Laws - As introduced, requires a voter to designate on the voter registration record a political party with which the voter is affiliated in order to vote in primary elections for such political party. - Amends TCA Title 2.

2026-03-31 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate State and Local Government Committee

Labor - As introduced, permits state governmental entities and local health departments to submit annual reports to the general assembly electronically regarding compliance with the Eligibility Verification for Entitlements Act. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 50 and Title 57.

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

Law Enforcement - As introduced, requires a law enforcement officer who becomes aware that an order of protection has been entered against a person in the officer’s presence but has not been served on the person to take appropriate steps to facilitate service of the order of protection, including notifying the sheriff’s department of the person’s immediate location; requires the curriculum of the Tennessee peace officer standards and training commission to include instruction on such requirements. - Amends TCA Title 36, Chapter 3, Part 6; Title 38 and Title 40.

2026-03-25 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

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.

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

Alcoholic Beverage Commission - As enacted, allows a judge, hearing officer, or administrative judge to award a person or entity that prevails in an administrative or civil action brought against the person or entity attorneys' fees and costs incurred as a result of the administrative or civil action. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 5; Title 27, Chapter 1 and Title 57, Chapter 1.

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

Local Education Agencies - As introduced, authorizes LEAs and public charter schools to refuse to enroll students who are unlawfully present in the United States. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49.

2026-03-26 — Re-refer to S. Cal Comm

Statutes and Codification - As enacted, clarifies that a "person," as used in Tennessee Code Annotated, does not include artificial intelligence, a computer algorithm, a software program, computer hardware, or any type of machine. - Amends TCA Title 1.

2026-04-28 — Effective date(s) 04/23/2026

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.

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

Health Care - As introduced, extends from March 1 to April 1, the date by which the department of health must submit to the governor, the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and legislative committees with subject matter jurisdiction over health a report with de-identified aggregate claims data on every inpatient and outpatient discharge that includes coded drug poisonings as reported for the calendar year two years prior to the current year by licensed hospitals to the commissioner of health. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 37; Title 44; Title 47; Title 49; Title 53; Title 63 and Title 68.

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

Lottery, Scholarships and Programs - As introduced, creates two special accounts in the state treasury, the K-12 lottery capital outlay special account and the early learning program account, for excess lottery funds; requires the comptroller of the treasury to develop and administer a program to provide grants from such accounts to local education agencies to be used for capital outlay projects for K-12 educational facilities and for new or existing pre-K programs. - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 51; Title 8, Chapter 4; Title 9 and Title 49.

2026-02-17 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Education Committee

Criminal Procedure - As introduced, requires a person arrested for a felony offense to have a biological specimen taken by the arresting authority for the purpose of DNA analysis to determine identification characteristics specific to the person. - Amends TCA Title 18; Title 38, Chapter 6; Title 39 and Title 40, Chapter 35.

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

Tort Liability and Reform - As enacted, clarifies that any governmental entity may purchase any of the insurance authorized under state law, without the necessity of public bidding, as required by any public or private act or charter restriction, if such insurance is purchased through a plan authorized and approved by any organization of cities, counties, or other governmental entities as contemplated by state law. - Amends TCA Title 12; Title 12, Chapter 3 and Title 29.

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

Real Property - As enacted, expands the purposes for which monies in the wetland acquisition fund may be used. - Amends TCA Section 67-4-409.

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

Taxes - As introduced, increases, from 10 to 12, the number of days from an action taken by the department of revenue that a person may be afforded an opportunity for a formal hearing before the commissioner for an issue in connection with an application, entitlement, or proposed revocation of or to a certificate, license, permit, privilege, or right, or for any other adverse action proposed or taken to implement any revenue regulatory or registration law. - Amends TCA Title 67.

2026-01-08 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate F,W&M Revenue Subcommittee

Local Government, General - As enacted, sets up a process by which the attorney general and reporter may review whether a local government action violates state law or the Constitution of Tennessee. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 9.

2025-05-27 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 514

Courts - As enacted, enacts the "Violent Criminal Court Act." - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 10; Title 16; Title 37; Title 38; Title 39; Title 40; Title 41 and Title 55.

2026-05-15 — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 937

Zoning - As introduced, requires, on and after July 1, 2025, a deed of conveyance of real property to include the zoning classification of the property at the time the deed is recorded; prescribes a process by which a local zoning authority may notify a state department, agency, or officer of a local zoning violation by a business resulting in the revocation or suspension of a license, permit, or certificate of a business in violation of a local zoning ordinance, resolution, or law; prescribes the process for reinstatement or appeal, including the assessment of a reinstatement fee. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8, Chapter 13; Title 13, Chapter 7; Title 62; Title 66 and Title 68.

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

County Government - As enacted, authorizes a county that has adopted the County Purchasing Law of 1957 to require a competitive bid process for insurance brokerage services. - Amends TCA Title 5 and Title 12, Chapter 3, Part 12.

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

Health, Dept. of - As enacted, requires the department to collaborate with an organization in this state to create or identify a continuing education program to provide healthcare professionals with information or training relative to maternal mental health disorders. - Amends TCA Title 63.

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

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.

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

TennCare - As introduced, authorizes the governor to expand medicaid pursuant to the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; authorizes the governor to negotiate with the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services to determine the terms of the expansion. - Amends TCA Title 71, Chapter 5.

2025-03-26 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Health and Welfare Committee

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.

2025-03-26 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Health and Welfare Committee

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.

2025-03-25 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

District Attorneys - As introduced, extends the time within which each district attorney general must submit a funding report to the district attorneys general conference from 90 days after the end of the fiscal year to 120 days after the end of the fiscal year. - Amends TCA Title 8; Title 10 and Title 17.

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

Utilities, Utility Districts - As enacted, establishes a process for a municipality that operates a sewerage system outside of its corporate boundaries and has imposed a moratorium on new sewer connections outside of its corporate boundaries for a period of five or more consecutive years to extend sanitary sewer service or allow sewer connection only to property located within an adjacency area if the property owner or developer agrees to pay, or the municipality assesses, a housing surcharge. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12; Title 13; Title 29; Title 54; Title 64; Title 65; Title 68 and Title 69.

2026-05-27 — Effective date(s) 05/22/2026

Bail, Bail Bonds - As enacted, allows a magistrate to consider hearsay evidence when determining whether a defendant should be released on bail pending trial and the amount of bail necessary to reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant while at the same time protecting the safety of the public. - Amends TCA Title 24; Title 39 and Title 40.

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

Housing - As enacted, authorizes any county having made loans in excess of the amount of funds in the initial capitalization of the loan fund pool for the county to terminate its participation in the homebuyers' revolving loan fund pool with notice to the Tennessee housing development agency and to retain all funds, including any funds used for initial capitalization or interest earnings on repayments. - Amends TCA Title 13, Chapter 23.

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

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.

2025-03-25 — Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, specifies that a person using force intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily injury from within the person's residence or dwelling is presumed to have acted in self-defense when that force is used against an individual armed with a deadly weapon who is unlawfully present on the person's property and outside of the enclosed structure of the person's residence or dwelling. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 11 and Title 40.

2025-03-11 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

Anatomical Gifts - As introduced, creates a process by which an individual or terminal patient can refuse to make an anatomical gift that cannot be amended by another person; requires a procurement organization to follow certain procedures for contacting a decedent's family member or other authorized person. - Amends TCA Title 63 and Title 68.

2025-03-26 — Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Health and Welfare Committee