Tennessee House passes consent calendar and dozens of measures, including online driver-education registration

The Tennessee House of Representatives convened on March 25, 2026, opened with an invocation and a ceremonial honoring of Dr. Julie Gooden, and then moved through a packed agenda that included adoption of the consent calendar and the passage of multiple bills on third and final consideration.

Members voted to approve the consent calendar and then considered a sequence of measures across transportation, public safety and professional licensure. Representative Freeman moved to substitute and conform to Senate Bill 22-53 related to autonomous vehicle policy and moved its passage; the presiding officer declared the measure passed after the clerk called the vote. Representative Freeman led that action on the floor.

Representative Caleb Hemmer explained House Bill 18-91 as a modernization of motor-vehicle traffic laws to make online traffic-school options more accessible. "If the person successfully completes the course online within 90 days, the points from the speeding conviction may be removed from the individual's driver's record with a cap of 5 points that can be removed," Representative Hemmer said, and noted the bill requires court clerks to provide online registration and for approved vendors to report course completion to the Department of Safety. The bill drew questions about verification: several members asked whether the online courses will include video proctoring or other identity checks, and Representative Hemmer said vendors are Department of Safety–approved and that attestation and other verification steps are part of existing processes. An effort to refer the bill to the judiciary committee failed on the floor, and the House ultimately passed HB 18-91 on third consideration.

Other bills advanced included measures updating practice-of-medicine statutes to add clinical informatics and lifestyle medicine titles, clarifying podiatrist authority to treat certain soft-tissue conditions, and changes related to death-certificate next-of-kin rules for appeals in suicide rulings. Chairman Terry and other committee chairs presented those bills and the chamber declared them passed after recorded votes.

Representative Stinnett sponsored legislation to give the state treasurer limited authority to request information from selected county clerks to monitor the Criminal Injury Compensation Fund; that bill passed after a committee amendment. Chairman Powers presented the Rescue Squad Recognition Act, which requires rescue squads to be recognized and authorized by the state fire marshal's office to operate; the House adopted an amendment updating effective dates and passed the measure.

On the floor, Representative Justin Jones urged broader ballot access for primary candidates, saying lawmakers "should allow every new one to run for office" and warned against selecting rather than electing candidates. Representative Salinas reported visiting a constituent in detention and said the family had received no explanation from the Memphis task force about the detention; those comments were made during member announcements and remarks.

Procedural items included motions to refer bills to committees for later hearings and several resolutions adopted under suspension of rules to honor high school teams and local coaches. The House recessed until 9:00 a.m. on March 26, 2026.

What to know next: affected bills will proceed according to their statutory timelines after enrollment or transmission to the Senate as required; several items were referred to committees for additional consideration this week. The House did not record detailed, consistent roll-call tallies for every item in the transcript; where the clerk recorded counts, the chair declared measures passed after the constitutional-majority threshold was met.

Quotes in this article are drawn from the House floor transcript of March 25, 2026.