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Votes at a glance: Tennessee House approves constitutional amendments, education and infrastructure bills and dozens of measures
Summary
The Tennessee House took up a broad set of measures across criminal justice, taxation, environment, education and veterans’ benefits. Several proposed constitutional amendments were advanced for the November 2026 ballot. This roundup lists measures called for final action on the House floor and the recorded outcomes.
The Tennessee House completed final action on a wide set of bills and joint resolutions during a floor session that included constitutional amendments to be placed on the 2026 ballot, changes to environmental permitting, veterans’ and guard‑member benefits, and a string of administrative and programmatic measures.
The list below summarizes items taken up on the floor (motion to concur / passage on third reading), the vote tally as recorded on the transcript, and a short description drawn from sponsors’ floor explanations. Where the House recorded a roll‑call tally the clerk’s announced numbers are shown. For constitutional amendments that require voter approval, the House declared concurrence to send each proposed amendment to the November 2026 ballot.
Votes at a glance (selection from the floor diary):
- SJR 25 (constitutional amendment on bail): Approved by the House to proceed to the ballot (clerk tally recorded on floor: 84 yeas, 10 nays, 1 present-not-voting on the roll block announced). Sponsor said the amendment would let judges deny bail for particularly serious violent crimes; it will be placed before voters in the November 2026 gubernatorial election.
- SJR 1 (constitutional amendment to prohibit a statewide property tax): House declared concurrence; clerk announced 89 yeas, 6 nays (two‑thirds threshold met for referral to ballot). Sponsor said the amendment would prevent the legislature from authorizing a statewide property tax and preserve local property taxation.
- SJR 9 (Marshy’s Law — victims’ rights): House concurred; clerk announced 93 yeas, no nays. Sponsors described the measure as clarifying and expanding victims’ constitutional rights and placing the amendment on the 2026 ballot.
- HB 1144 / SB 11-15 (private prisons accountability): Passed (see separate article). Clerk recorded 93 ayes on the roll block announcing the tally.
- HB 894 (reconstitute Board of Groundwater Management): Passed, clerk tally 81 ayes, 11 nays. Sponsor said the bill vacates and reconstitutes the board and adjusts member requirements and duties.
- SB 288 (Barry‑Brady Act additions — firefighter cancer): Passed; clerk recorded 94 ayes. The bill adds prostate, breast and pancreatic cancers to the list of cancers covered under the Barry‑Brady Act for firefighter workers’ compensation presumptions.
- HB 504 (Future Teacher Scholarship program): Passed, clerk recorded 94 ayes. Sponsor said the bill expands eligibility to cover permit teachers with undergraduate degrees seeking initial licensure; scholarship amount cited at $3,500 per year.
- HB 479 (Tennessee National Guard TRICARE premium reimbursement program): Passed, clerk recorded 94 ayes. The bill creates a TRICARE premium reimbursement grant program administered by the Military Department.
- SB 670 / HB 541 (isolated wetlands / wetlands law changes): Passed, clerk announced a recorded tally of 71 ayes, 20 nays, 1 present-not-voting. Sponsor said the bill narrows regulation of certain isolated wetlands to reduce permitting burdens; opponents warned of environmental and flooding risks.
- SB 1138 / HB 542 (sewer system / connection and utility regulation changes): Passed, clerk announced a recorded tally of 71 ayes, 20 nays, 2 nays (reported as 71/20/2 in transcript blocks). Sponsor described rules to protect property owners’ rights to tie into existing gravity sewer lines and required TBUR (Board of Utility Regulation) review before service is cut to areas served long term outside a municipality’s boundaries.
- SB 438 / HB 667 (advisory task force on solid waste disposition): Passed, clerk recorded 94 ayes. The bill creates an advisory task force to study solid-waste disposition.
- HB 717 (Alzheimer’s/dementia respite pilot extension): Passed, clerk recorded 94 ayes. The bill extends an existing respite care pilot program and reimbursement pathway for families who provide care for relatives with Alzheimer’s or related dementia.
- HB 726 (tax filing deadline extension related to hurricane Helene relief): Passed, clerk recorded 91 ayes, 0 nays. Sponsor said the bill extends the deadline for property damage determinations tied to relief qualifications.
- SB 448 / HB 761 (Protect Tennessee Minors Act removal of content definition): Passed, clerk recorded 80 ayes, 6 nays, 2 present-not-voting. Sponsor described it as a narrower housekeeping change to existing statute.
- HB 773 (legal notices publication requirement update): Passed, clerk recorded 84 ayes, 2 nays, 5 present-not-voting. The enacted change requires that legal notices (with enumerated exceptions) be published both in a newspaper of general circulation and, where available, on a county news-and-information website (no paywall allowed).
- SB 1346 / HB 1299 (unauthorized deepfake use / likeness bill): Passed, clerk recorded 94 ayes. Sponsor introduced a constituent victim in the well and cast the legislation as a response to non‑consensual synthetic imagery.
- SB 857 / HB 930 (Homebuyers Revolving Loan / down‑payment assistance update): Passed, clerk announced 91 ayes, 1 nay, 1 present-not-voting. Sponsor said the bill modernizes an existing revolving loan program to make funds more accessible to low- and moderate-income households and to qualifying builders.
- SB 899 (house school safety technical updates): Passed; clerk recorded 92 ayes. Sponsor characterized the bill as technical updates to previous school‑facility safety design requirements.
- SB 1273 / HB 1307 (sunset of Achievement School District / local options for turnaround): Passed on the floor; the House declared concurrence by recorded vote (tally: 75 yeas, 15 nays, 2 present-not-voting on the final roll block announced). Sponsors described the measure as sunsetting the ASD and moving some functions under local or charter options.
What to expect next: Several passed items require administrative implementation by state departments (TDOC, TDEC, Military Department, Department of Education, Department of Finance) or will be placed on the 2026 ballot (constitutional amendments). Some measures include follow‑up reporting requirements or delegation to boards and agencies to issue rules.
Limitations: This roundup uses the clerk’s roll‑call and announced tallies from the House floor transcript to summarize outcomes. It does not attempt to reconstruct each member’s recorded roll‑call vote by name beyond the tallies read aloud by the clerk.
