Tennessee Senate approves dozens of measures including school device policy, medical conscience protections and education funding changes

The Tennessee Senate on the floor on March 10 advanced and passed a slate of bills and resolutions covering education policy, health‑care conscience protections, criminal‑justice constitutional language and other measures.

A cluster of education bills won final approval, including a requirement that local boards adopt policies restricting student use of wireless communications devices during instructional time and changes to how state education funds are distributed to charter schools. The chamber also approved an updated “Right to Try” law for experimental treatments, a Medical Ethics Defense Act protecting some health‑care workers’ conscience claims, and multiple administrative and sunset extensions.

The votes moved quickly through the calendar, with several items carried by unanimous or near‑unanimous margins. Lawmakers debated some measures at length — most notably the wireless device policy and the Medical Ethics Defense Act — and adopted committee amendments on several bills before final passage.

Senator Brent Pote moved and won final passage of Senate Bill 27, a short measure described on the floor as clarifying that, “under no circumstances can anybody suspend our constitution,” a phrase the sponsor used to describe limits on suspending constitutional provisions during emergencies. Senator Pote spoke in favor of keeping emergency executive powers while preserving the state constitution; the bill passed on third reading and was announced as having received the constitutional majority and declared passed.

Senator Watson, speaking as sponsor, said Senate Bill 282 updates Tennessee’s 2015 Right to Try law (the Phil Kemp/Amanda Wilcox Right to Try Act) to reflect pharmacological advances such as individualized genomic therapies. “This just updates our law from 2015 to address the advancements in pharmacology,” Watson said. SB 282 passed third‑and‑final consideration after a brief floor exchange; the tally announced on the floor was recorded as 28 ayes and 1 nay.

Education measures Senate Bill 246, reported by Senator Garten Heyer, requires the Tennessee Department of Education to convene a working group to develop best practices and strategies for English‑language‑learner educators serving K‑12 students. "Senate Bill 246 requires the Department of Education to convene a working group to study and develop best practices, strategies, and programming for English language learner educators," the sponsor said. The bill passed on third reading with an aye vote announced as 31 and no nays.

House Bill 932 (heard as Senate substitute on the floor as House Bill 9 32) drew extended discussion. Senator Katie Hale, sponsor on the floor for the bill, described it as a requirement that “local boards of education [and] public charter schools [ ] adopt a wireless communication device policy” prohibiting student use of devices during instructional time while allowing local exceptions for emergencies and instructional use. The sponsor said the measure is intended to reduce classroom distractions and protect students from bullying that can happen over devices. The Senate adopted an Education Committee amendment clarifying permitted uses (including assistive technology) and passed the bill on third reading; the roll call shown on the floor reported 30 ayes and no nays.

Senate Bill 1019 (as passed here) and Senate Bill 1018, both education‑related funding and charter school administration bills, were amended in committee and carried by the Senate; those measures passed by roll calls announced as 29 ayes (SB1019) and 28 ayes (SB1018), respectively. Senate Bill 1272, an administration bill addressing virtual school caps and other K‑12 funding mechanics, was also passed after committee amendment; the sponsor said the bill sets a 1,500‑student cap per district for virtual school enrollment and redirects some tutoring funding into local district grants. The vote tally announced on the floor for that bill was 28 ayes.

Medical and conscience law Senate Bill 955, titled on the floor as the Medical Ethics Defense Act, was described by Senator Hale as a bill that “safeguards the rights of doctors, nurses, and medical students to practice medicine in alignment with their moral, ethical, and religious beliefs.” The chamber adopted a Health and Welfare amendment clarifying that the act does not apply when a health‑care professional is treating an individual who is in imminent danger of harming themselves or others. The bill passed third reading; the announced vote was 26 ayes and 3 nays.

Family law and court practice Senate Bill 540 (Senate Bill 5 40 on the calendar) was amended to allow courts to award reasonable attorney fees and litigation expenses to either party in grandparent visitation cases and to permit courts considering custody to factor a parent’s failure to pay child support at any time. Sponsor Senator Stevens said the amended bill “will allow the court to consider the failure to pay child support at any time.” The bill passed on final reading with an announced vote of 26 ayes and 3 nays.

Other measures and procedural items The Senate moved and passed a variety of additional bills on the regular calendar, including committee‑confirmed administrative bills, charter and charter‑authorization funding changes, and a number of joint resolutions and memorials placed on consent calendars. Several bills were read for first reading and were laid over per constitutional or rule requirements (for example, a proposed constitutional amendment to Article 1, Section 15 related to bail was read for the first time and laid over).

Votes at a glance - Senate Bill 27 (Pote) — third and final consideration; passed (announced passed; roll call as recorded on the floor). Motion: pass on third and final consideration. Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 97 / House Bill 275 (Jackson) — sunset extension for Tennessee Monuments and Memorial Commission; passed (announced: 27 ayes, no nays). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 105 / House Bill 283 (Jackson) — conform/substitute; passed (announced: 32 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 246 (Garten Heyer) — ELL working group; passed (announced: 31 ayes, no nays). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 282 (Watson) — updates to 2015 Right to Try law; passed (announced: 28 ayes, 1 nay). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 319 (Massie) — require instruction about Safe Haven law in schools; passed (announced: 30 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 442 / House Bill 499 (Seal) — resigning registered agent certification changes; passed (announced: 30 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 480 (Bolling) — housing authority and blight/condemnation changes; passed (announced: 30 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 540 (Stevens) — grandparent visitation / custody clarifications and fee‑shifting amendment; passed (announced: 26 ayes, 3 nays). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 897 / House Bill 932 (Hale) — school wireless device policy; adopted Education amendment; passed (announced: 30 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 955 (Hale) — Medical Ethics Defense Act, as amended; passed (announced: 26 ayes, 3 nays). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 1018 (White) — charter school/related changes; passed (announced: 28 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 1019 (White) — TISA distribution and charter school funding changes, as amended; passed (announced: 29 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 1272 (White) — virtual schools, caps, and administrative changes; passed (announced: 28 ayes). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 1284 (Harshbarger) — Department of Health licensing board changes; passed (announced: 28 ayes, 1 nay). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 569 (Reeves) — pharmacy scope and payment clarifications (cleanup); passed (roll call announced; constitutional majority). Outcome: approved. - Senate Bill 694 (Johnson) — industrial loan and thrift company interest and fee changes; passed (announced: 23 ayes, 3 nays). Outcome: approved. - Multiple joint resolutions and consent calendar items were adopted on voice votes or unanimous roll calls; several memorializing resolutions and confirmation consent calendars were adopted without roll call.

What the Senate did not do today A constitutional amendment (Senate Joint Resolution proposing changes to Article 1, Section 15 regarding bail) received its required first reading and was laid over until the next legislative day for the second reading; no final vote on that constitutional amendment occurred today.

Context and next steps Most bills passed on third reading will be enrolled and forwarded as required for further processing or, in the case of bills that originated in the House and were substituted, returned to the House for its action where required. Several measures that were amended on the floor or adopted with committee substitutes will now proceed according to normal enactment procedures. The Senate reconvened its schedule and announced an adjournment until Monday at 4 p.m.

Speakers quoted in this article spoke on the floor of the Tennessee Senate during the March 10 session and are identified as labeled in the official transcript.