Committee sends House Bill 1710 to summer study after presentation by Chairman Powers

A House committee voted 6–2 to send House Bill 1710 to summer study and moved the measure to the full committee after a presentation in the meeting transcript.

According to the transcript, Chairman Powers described House Bill 1710 as a proposal that would require Tennessee state and local governments to verify U.S. citizenship or lawful presence before providing taxpayer-funded benefits such as housing, food, or childcare aid. The presentation, as recorded, said the bill would require reporting to immigration authorities when a recipient’s status cannot be confirmed, would add financial penalties for noncompliance, and would preserve exceptions for emergencies and disasters. "I'll be glad to take any questions and renew my motion," the transcript records Chairman Powers saying after outlining the bill.

Representative Chisholm moved to send the bill to summer study; the motion received a second and was put to a vote. Chairman Martin called the previous question before the final tally. The clerk announced the result as "6 ayes, 2 nos, and 0 present not voting," after which the chair stated the ayes had it and that the bill would move on to full committee. The committee also noted remaining bills on the calendar would be rolled to the next available calendar in two weeks.

The transcript does not record extended debate, amendments, or a roll-call list of how individual members voted. The committee’s action was a referral to summer study rather than final passage; further review in the full committee is the next procedural step.