Higher Education panel advances bills on NIL pay, campus food aid, scholarships and governance

The House Higher Education Subcommittee on Wednesday, March 19, advanced several bills that would change how Tennessee higher education institutions handle name-image-and-likeness (NIL) pay, fund campus hunger programs, expand scholarship eligibility, cover technical-college fees and adjust governance rules for student-aid administration and university personnel discussions.

The measures were moved out of the subcommittee largely by voice vote or unanimous recorded votes; most sponsors said the bills respond to court decisions, administrative reviews or identified student needs.

Committee discussion focused on how the proposals would be implemented and funded, with repeated assurances from sponsors that existing safeguards, privacy protections and non-appropriated payment channels would prevent misuse.

House Bill 194 (NIL updates) Representative William Vaughn, sponsor, said the bill updates state rules so public institutions can comply with court settlements and directly pay student-athletes through university-affiliated entities. "This bill will allow our member institutions to do is, frankly, upon these court cases and settlements, allow them to comply with these settlements and directly pay student athletes," Vaughn said. The bill maintains guardrails against NIL deals that promote gambling, tobacco, THC products, alcohol or adult entertainment and continues financial training for athletes. Vaughn emphasized payments would not come from general-appropriated funds: "it allows for the payment of student athletes but it does not come from appropriated funding that the General Assembly provides these member institutions."

House Bill 7 (Hunger Free Campus grant program) Chairman Hale said the bill, based on a Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) report, would create a Hunger Free Campus Grant program to give institutions funds to address student food insecurity. "THEC would have mastered these grants and is supportive of this legislation," Hale said. THEC will administer the grants to campuses across the state, including University of Tennessee campuses, the sponsor said. The committee noted the THEC report estimate that roughly 30% of higher education students experience food insecurity.

House Bill 13‑24 (Tennessee Works grant to TCAT students) Leader Lambeth described the bill as creating a Tennessee Works grant to cover technical college (TCAT) fees that tuition currently does not cover. "This is a straightforward bill. It just creates a Tennessee Works grama, which would fully fund a TCAT education. So currently, we cover tuition, but we don't cover fees," Lambeth said, citing an example of a roughly $2,000 equipment cost as a barrier for some families. He noted the bill carries an "over $12,000,000 fiscal note" to be paid from the lottery fund and cautioned the fund has been stressed in recent years.

House Bill 408 (move TSAC governance under THEC) Chairman White presented an amendment that rewrote the bill and said the change would transfer governance of the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) into the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to reduce administrative duplication as certain programs wind down. "No students will be impacted by the repeal of these programs," White said. The amendment was adopted and the bill was moved to the full Education Committee.

House Bill 777 (HOPE scholarship eligibility for candidate institutions) Representative Reeves said the bill would expand HOPE scholarship eligibility to students attending private Tennessee postsecondary institutions that are candidates for regional accreditation, using Williamson College (about 60 students) as an example. The committee agreed to place the measure on the lottery calendar for further consideration.

House Bill 1036 (private meetings for some university personnel contract discussions) Chairman Baum explained the bill would allow a state board of trustees to meet in private when discussing contracts for senior administration personnel, treating such matters similar to an executive-session personnel discussion. He said any final decisions would still be made public though some underlying discussion could remain private. The amendment rewriting the bill was adopted and the bill was sent to full education.

Votes at a glance - House Bill 13‑24 (Leader Lambeth): moved to full education; recorded on the initial vote as 4 ayes, 0 nays. - House Bill 408 (Chairman White, as amended): amendment adopted; moved to full education; recorded vote 5 ayes, 0 nays. - House Bill 194 (Chairman/Representative Vaughn, as amended): amendment adopted; moved to full education; recorded vote 5 ayes, 0 nays. - House Bill 7 (Chairman Hale, as amended): amendment adopted; moved to full education; recorded vote 5 ayes, 0 nays. - House Bill 777 (Representative Reeves): placed on the lottery calendar (to be heard next week). - House Bill 1036 (Chairman Baum, as amended): amendment adopted; moved to full education; recorded vote 5 ayes, 0 nays.

Other calendar actions Several bills were rolled or taken off notice: House Bill 1344 was rolled one week; House Bill 474 and House Bill 75 were taken off notice; House Bill 1386 and House Bill 1103 were rolled to next week.

The committee chair said next week will be the subcommittee's final and lottery calendar meeting. The session closed after welcoming visitors to the committee.