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Votes at a glance: Tennessee Senate Health and Welfare Committee (May 20, 2025)
Summary
The committee considered a broad Health & Welfare calendar: several bills passed or were referred to calendar/committee; a few high-profile measures were postponed for further work. This roundup lists each item acted on in committee and recorded outcomes.
The Tennessee Senate Health and Welfare Committee (May 20, 2025) processed a full calendar. Below are the committee’s formal actions recorded in the transcript. This roundup lists bills that were voted on, moved, or otherwise acted on during the hearing.
Key outcomes recorded in the hearing (selected items):
- SB 1282 (Department of Health cleanup bill) — Amendment adopted; bill passed committee by roll call (Ms. Jimmy reported 9 ayes). The bill allows certain rules-based updates to food safety code, reduces inspection frequencies for some pools and bed-and-breakfasts, and adjusts campground and rented-premises language.
- SB 764 (partial repeal of corporate practice of medicine; AA licensure) — Amendment explaining AA licensure and county population cutoff adopted; committee approved the bill by roll call (8 ayes, 1 no); bill sent to calendar.
- SB 474 (prohibition on firearm-ownership questioning by health care providers) — Extensive testimony heard. Sponsor requested and received permission to roll the bill to the second calendar of 2026 for additional work (no final passage vote recorded).
- SB 6123 (cottage food expansion) — Amendment adopted; committee passed the bill (9 ayes) and sent it to the calendar. The bill broadens foods permitted under the cottage food law while continuing to exclude raw milk, meat, fish and alcohol-containing products.
- SB 152 (stem cell / right-to-try–adjacent statutory clarity) — Committee passed the bill (9 ayes); no additional amendments were recorded in committee.
- SB 1053 (Katie Beckett program change) — Committee forwarded the bill to the Finance committee; sponsor said it alters administrative delivery (no appropriation specified) to make benefits easier to access.
- SB 333 / SB 332 (nurse practitioner supervision and survey) — SB 333 moved to General Subcommittee for additional work; SB 332 (survey and annual reporting) passed committee by roll call (9 ayes).
- SB 6069 (study of psychotropic drugs in mass shooters) — Amendment adopted; committee approved the bill and directed testing/data transfer to University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center College of Pharmacy; sponsors emphasized limited number of qualifying incidents.
- SB 647 (medical-expense relief fund related to TennCare estate recoveries) — Motion to forward to Finance adopted.
- SB 334 (Tennessee Medicaid modernization / reimbursement changes) — Committee voted to refer the bill to Finance and Ways & Means for additional consideration (fiscal note discussed).
- SB 1154 (request to USDA for SNAP-waiver to prohibit candy and soft drinks) — Committee adopted waiver-request resolution language but sponsor agreed to roll the item to next year (motion carried); DHS fiscal note cautioned that USDA waiver authority is the federal gatekeeper.
- SB 1153 (prescriber self-treatment and treatment-of-family) — Committee adopted an amendment that clarifies limited circumstances for self-prescribing and family prescribing (short-term, minor or emergency situations) and the measure passed the committee.
- SB 1388 (blind vendors) — Amendment adopted; bill was sent forward to calendar.
- SB 1185 (rural hospital reimbursement corridor/waiver) — Committee forwarded the bill to Finance; the measure aims to align reimbursement corridors for small rural hospitals but will require a federal waiver to alter rates.
- SB 557 (nursing-home bed assessment renewal) — Motion carried to send the renewal to Finance, Ways & Means.
What to watch: Several bills that would require federal waivers (Medicaid reimbursement changes, SNAP-waiver language) were forwarded but will depend on federal approvals. High-profile items that will return for more work include SB 474 (firearm questions in clinical care) and SB 333 (NP supervision), which the committee moved to further drafting or a later calendar.
