Tennessee House opens extraordinary session and refers multiple bills to committees

The Tennessee House of Representatives opened an extraordinary session, observed an opening prayer led by Representative Kumar and conducted procedural business that sent several bills and resolutions to standing committees.

Lawmaker Larry Lambert moved that House bills 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, together with House Joint Resolutions 6 and 9, be heard this week in the congressional redistricting committee. After the presiding officer put the question and the Clerk took the vote, the presiding officer announced, “The motion prevails,” indicating the referral was approved.

Lambert also moved that House Bill 5 be heard this week in the Finance, Ways and Means Committee. The chamber voted and the presiding officer again announced that the motion prevailed, sending HB 5 to Finance, Ways and Means.

Clerk Clark reported committee scheduling: the congressional redistricting committee will meet at 1 p.m. in House Hearing Room 1, followed immediately by Finance, Calendar and Rules in the same hearing room. The Clerk provided an updated attendance count during the session, reporting 87 members present earlier and 86 at a subsequent roll call.

The House concluded its business and, on a motion from Lawmaker Cochran, the chamber stood in recess until 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 7, 2026, without objection.

What changed: the session produced formal referrals of multiple bills and joint resolutions to committee and set committee hearing times; there were no floor debates on the merits of the bills recorded in the available transcript segments.

Next steps: referred bills are scheduled for committee hearings as announced by the Clerk; the House will reconvene at the stated date and time.