Finance Ways & Means subcommittee advances dozens of bills; many placed behind budget

The Tennessee House Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee met April 2, 2025, and handled 60 calendar items in a roughly two-hour hearing that advanced a mix of administrative bills, grant programs, criminal-justice measures and funding proposals. The committee voted many bills out to the full Finance Committee, placed several measures “behind the budget” for later funding consideration and referred other items to specialized calendars including the constitutional, driver’s license and TASSAR/task-force calendars.

Why it matters: The subcommittee’s action determines which measures reach the full Finance Committee for budget consideration and which require additional funding decisions. Several bills advanced without recorded opposition; many that create or expand programs were set aside pending budget decisions.

Key actions and outcomes (front-loaded):

- Multiple bills were sent to full finance with recorded unanimous or near‑unanimous votes, including House Bill 759 (Speaker Pro Tem Marsh), House Bill 810 (Chairman Grills) and omnibus bills such as House Bill 212 (Chairman Howe) and House Bill 213 (Chairman Howe). Where recorded, vote tallies were provided on the record (examples below).

- Numerous bills with fiscal impact were explicitly placed “behind the budget,” meaning the committee approved moving the bills forward but deferred funding decisions; that status applied to a wide range of items from education and health to corrections and transportation.

- Several measures were rolled to a future meeting or sent to other calendars (for example, the constitutional calendar, the TASSAR/task-force calendar, driver’s license calendar and the TASSAR calendar for fast‑growing counties).

Votes at a glance (bill — sponsor — outcome — recorded tally if given):

1) House Bill 759 — Speaker Pro Tem Marsh — moved to full finance (recorded: 8 ayes, 0 no) 2) House Bill 69 — Leader Lambert — rolled 1 week 3) House Bill 1324 (13‑24) — Leader Lambert — placed behind the budget (fiscal note ~$12,000,000 noted) 4) House Bill 1134 — Chairman Boyd — rolled to HEAL (working on amendment) 5) House Bill 1144 — Chairman Boyd — amendment adopted; placed behind the budget (fiscal impact) 6) House Bill 52 — Chairman Boleso — placed behind the budget (increase in veteran homestead exemption) 7) House Joint Resolution 2 — Chairman Darby — sent to the constitutional calendar 8) House Bill 573 — Chairman Doggett — to the Hill/HEAL (no chair present) 9) House Bill 578 — Chairman Doggett — to the Hill/HEAL 10) House Bill 577 — Chairman Doggett — to the Hill/HEAL 11) House Bill 802 — Chairman Grylls — placed behind the budget (liability coverage for conservation district employees using surplus federal vehicles) 12) House Bill 810 — Chairman Grylls — moved to full finance (recorded: 8 ayes, 0 no) 13) House Bill 133 — Representative Raper — moved to full finance (recorded: 9 ayes, 0 no) 14) House Bill…