Finance, Ways and Means advances 16 bills — from constitutional amendments to vaping restrictions and NIL updates

The Tennessee House Finance, Ways and Means Committee advanced 16 bills to the calendar and rules on its April 2025 agenda, moving constitutional amendments, regulatory changes, and funding proposals closer to floor consideration. Notable items included HJR 48 (a proposed amendment on victims' rights known in the hearing as “Marshy's Law”), HJR 49 (a bail-bonding constitutional amendment), a comprehensive youth-vaping measure (House Bill 9 68 as amended), the creation of a Tennessee Persistent Domestic Violence Offender Registry (House Bill 1,200), and updated NIL (name, image, likeness) rules for college athletics (House Bill 194).

The committee, which opened with a roll call confirming a quorum, handled 16 calendar items. Several bills advanced with unanimous or near-unanimous votes after short sponsor descriptions; a subset prompted substantive questions from members and one bill was rolled to a later calendar.

Committee sponsors described the most prominent items in brief presentations. Chairman Doggett introduced HJR 48 as “a constitutional amendment that amends article 1, section 35 of our state's great constitution in regards to victims' rights. This is adding this is known as Marshy's law, and we are adding enforceable victims' rights into our state constitution with this,” and the committee voted 26-0 to advance the item to calendar and rules.

Chairman Howe described HJR 49 as a proposed ballot initiative to give judges discretion over bail for violent offenders, stating the measure would allow a judge to deny bail when a preponderance of evidence indicates flight risk or ongoing threat; that measure moved forward 26-0. Chairman Darby’s HJR 2, a proposed constitutional ban on a statewide property tax, also advanced 26-0.

On policy and program bills, the committee advanced House Bill 12 42 (sponsor: Chairlady Hilton Haynes), which the sponsor said vests enforcement with the Attorney General, preserves front-end pharmacy discounts for safety-net providers and includes a grandfather clause removing a fiscal note; the bill moved 27-0. Haynes also described House Bill 13 10 as a cleanup and modernization of environmental health statutes that, among other changes, would allow some rule changes by administrative rule, adjust campground and pool inspection definitions/frequencies, and limit certain fee increases; that bill advanced 27-0.

Chairman Kumar described two education-related bills that advanced. House Bill 11 99 (23-2-1) would ask each local education agency to develop policy for appointing a nonvoting high school student member to attend school-board public meetings (exempting LEAs that already operate advisory groups). House Bill 1,200 would create a Tennessee Persistent Domestic Violence Offender Registry to be operated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; Kumar said the registry will require ongoing staffing and “will be an ongoing expense of about a half a million dollars a year,” and he said funding was included in the budget; the bill advanced 27-0.

Representative Boyd described House Bill 11 34 as a permissive property-tax-relief option for municipalities for nonprofit-owned permanent affordable housing where at least 30% of units serve veterans experiencing homelessness; that bill advanced 27-0.

Leader Cochran sponsored several measures that the committee advanced, including House Bill 5 47 (a permissive $12.50 fee option to replace declining bad-check fees that district attorneys receive; 28-0) and House Bill 12 70 (a measure described as protecting students and state employees from compelled speech; 20-6). House Bill 9 10 (sponsor: Representative Garrett) would transfer certain Civil Rights Commission functions to a new Division of Civil Rights Enforcement within the Attorney General’s office; the committee advanced that bill 21-6 after questions about complaint-handling procedures and conflicts of interest.

One of the lengthiest and most debated items was House Bill 9 68, a comprehensive vape-policy bill that the committee advanced after adoption of a multi-party amendment (drafting code 7,573). Deputy Speaker Zachary, sponsor of the amendment, said it aims to protect 21-and-older commerce while restricting products targeted at youth, to prohibit banned or unregulated products (including many imported from China), require products to be processed at FDA-registered or monitored facilities, add ABC enforcement capacity, and provide a two-year implementation window. The committee advanced HB 9 68 to calendar and rules by a 25-1-1 tally.

Other bills advanced included House Bill 133 (expanded residential living for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities led by a nonprofit in Bradley County; 25-0), House Bill 11 34 (permissive property-tax relief for veteran housing; 27-0), House Bill 11 34 (duplicate listing resolved in the record), House Bill 11 34 (see above), and House Bill 194 (annual NIL update for college athletics; 27-0). The committee also rolled item 16 (House Bill 13 44) to the next available calendar after reconsideration.

Votes at a glance: HJR 48 — advanced to calendar and rules (26-0); HJR 49 — advanced (26-0); HJR 2 — advanced (26-0); HB 12 42 (as amended) — advanced (27-0); HB 13 10 — advanced (27-0); HB 11 99 — advanced (23-2-1); HB 1,200 — advanced (27-0); HB 124 — advanced (25-0-1 present not voting); HB 133 — advanced (25-0); HB 11 34 — advanced (27-0); HB 5 47 — advanced (28-0); HB 12 70 — advanced (20-6); HB 9 10 — advanced (21-6); HB 9 68 — advanced (25-1-1); HB 194 — advanced (27-0); HB 13 44 — rolled to next available calendar (reconsidered and postponed). (Tallies recorded by the committee clerk during the meeting.)

The meeting closed with the committee standing in recess until the following day; members were asked to return for additional business as the calendar is finalized.

The article lists the bills and recorded tallies from the committee record; individual bill texts and detailed fiscal notes remain the official reference for specifics such as funding, effective dates, and statutory changes.