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Votes at a glance: Tennessee House approves wide slate of bills on education, child welfare, safety and more
Summary
The Tennessee House passed a series of bills on March 26, 2026, including measures on child-welfare screening, pre-K placement for children of LEA teachers, hospital-proceeds flexibility for Williamson County, school safety task force creation, no-surprise ambulance billing protections, and an early-childhood mental-health pilot. Several bills passed unanimously or by wide margins.
On March 26, the Tennessee House cleared a broad package of bills on final consideration covering child welfare, education, local government finance, school safety, and health-care protections. Below are key outcomes and brief descriptions.
House Bill 2262 (DCS screening instrument): Adopted with Committee Amendment 1; authorizes an initial screening instrument for Tennessee Department of Children’s Services to include caregivers in initial screening; passed (Ayes 93, Nays 0).
Senate Bill 2426 (pre-K teacher priority): Substituted and passed; allows students of LEA-employed teachers priority placement in voluntary pre-K without creating additional seats (Ayes 94, Nays 0).
Senate Bill 2194 (Williamson County hospital proceeds): Allows proceeds from a county-approved hospital sale to be used for roads, jails, or schools as locally decided; passed (Ayes 95, Nays 0).
Senate Bill 2207 (school safety task force): Establishes a school safety task force placed under the Department of Commerce and Insurance to advise on facilities and safety issues; includes state and technical experts; passed (Ayes 92).
Senate Bill 2069 (EMS care for injured K-9s): Creates a narrow pathway for EMS personnel to provide emergency stabilization and transport for injured specially trained canine officers when no human patient requires care; includes good-faith immunity; passed (Ayes 94).
Senate Bill 2310 (limits on digital devices for K–5): Requires LEAs to prioritize in-person, teacher-led instruction and restrict routine one-to-one device use for K–5 without a clear educational benefit; members debated device definitions; passed (Ayes 87, Nays 6).
House Bill 1061 (no surprise ambulance billing): Eliminates surprise balance billing by ambulance services and establishes reimbursement and enforcement provisions; passed (Ayes 94).
House Bill 2313 (early childhood mental-health home visiting pilot): Authorizes a voluntary Department of Health home visiting program to offer screening and family supports for children under five; passed (Ayes 71, Nays 17).
Other bills: A number of additional bills on elections recordkeeping (SB 1619), early-childhood and university board items, and local government measures were passed or rolled per the regular calendar.
What happens next: Passed measures move to the Senate (if House-originated) or to the governor as per session procedures; several items include departmental implementation steps and reporting expectations.
Vote counts and procedural notes were taken from the official House floor record on March 26; where a roll-call tally was recorded, it is listed above.
