House panel advances three bills on driving penalties, school sidewalks and transportation funding

The Tennessee House Transportation Committee on Friday advanced three bills after brief debate and formal votes: a bill to align penalties for driving without a license with suspended‑license offenses, a proposal to create a student pedestrian protection grant fund for sidewalks near public schools, and a bill to direct certain sales tax revenue from vehicle and tire sales into a transportation fund.

The committee recorded these outcomes:

- House Bill 359 (Leader Lambreth): Reclassifies driving without a license as a B misdemeanor when a person has no license or the license is suspended or revoked; retains a C misdemeanor where a licensed driver simply lacks the license on their person. The committee reported the vote as 14 ayes, 2 nays and 1 present not voting. The bill was advanced to the finance committee.

- House Bill 16 (sponsor identified in the hearing as the bill sponsor): Creates the Student Pedestrian Protection Grant Fund, a TDOT‑overseen account intended to supplement local efforts to build sidewalks around public schools that are not on state roadways. The sponsor said the measure only establishes the fund (a receiving account) and does not appropriate money; any deposits would require future action by the Legislature. The sponsor cited pedestrian crash figures for 2024, saying there were about 1,900 pedestrian accidents statewide and roughly 150 pedestrian deaths. The committee adopted an amendment (drafting code 3653) and approved the bill 16 ayes to 1 nay; the measure goes to the Government Operations Committee.

- House Bill 969 (Chairman Hawk): As amended in committee, redirects sales tax revenue generated by sales of new and used motor vehicles and sales of tires to a transportation fund. The sponsor and TDOT staff described the governor’s budget as including approximately $80 million recurring from tire sales tax and roughly $1 billion nonrecurring in sales tax on motor vehicles; committee members discussed how earmarked or redirected sales tax revenue could create a recurring transportation funding source. The committee approved the bill by voice vote; the clerk recorded 20 ayes and the bill was advanced to the finance committee.

Votes and procedure Each item received a motion and second on the committee floor before being explained by the sponsor and put to a vote. The clerk opened the vote boards and reported tallies as recorded above. Where the transcript did not list individual member votes by name, the committee tally was recorded as reported by the clerk.

Context and next steps Committee members asked questions about fiscal notes and implementation. For HB 16, the sponsor and committee clarified that the bill creates the account only and does not allocate funds; the amended fiscal note was stated to be none because the bill requires future appropriation action. HB 969 was discussed in the same meeting that included TDOT’s FY‑26 budget presentation; lawmakers and TDOT staff tied the bill’s revenue concepts to ongoing discussions about recurring and nonrecurring transportation funding.

All three bills will proceed to the next committee of referral for further consideration.