Vote scheduled on GOP bill targeting public education for immigrant children
8:30 a.m. CT – Senate Regular Calendar - Watch - 1. SB0836 by Watson
- Senate Bill 836 would require every family enrolling a child in public school to produce documents that establish their child’s legal status and then allow school districts to deny enrollment to children who are undocumented.
- The legislation’s Republican sponsor says he hopes the effort will lead to a lawsuit challenging the 53-year-old U.S.
Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe, which held that states cannot deny students access to public K-12 schools based on immigration status.
- Standing in the way of passage is a bipartisan group of lawmakers, families, faith leaders and educators who believe it is immoral to deny a public education to children based on their citizenship status.
- The current version of the Senate bill will force officials at every K-12 school in the state to implement a process to request documents that verify their child’s U.S. citizenship or legal status as part of the enrollment process. However, it will still be optional for districts to deny enrollment or charge tuition to undocumented students.
- Democrats say it’s in the community’s best interest to educate all children. They also argue that the document mandate will be costly for school districts to implement and difficult for some families to comply with — especially those affected by recent natural disasters.
- Even though Republicans control 27 seats in the Senate, the vote is expected to be close.
Akbari bill aims to end poll taxes on voting rights restoration
8:30 a.m. CT – Senate Regular Calendar - Watch - 16. *SB0336 by Sen. Raumesh Akbari
- Voting rights can play a key role in rehabilitating a person who is reentering society after finishing a sentence for a past conviction.
- But in Tennessee, recent estimates show that over 470,000 people pay state taxes but still have no right to vote in elections – many due to arbitrary “poll taxes” in state law.
- Senate Bill 336 by Democratic Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari would eliminate two such poll taxes, allowing a person who has finished their sentence and paid restitution to their victims to regain their right to vote. Specifically, the bill removes outstanding court fees and child support as barriers to restoring voting rights.
- Tennessee is the only state in the nation that ties child support to the voting rights restoration process. While this bill does not fully disconnect the two, it would allow a person who is complying with a child support order to restore their voting rights – without erasing any debt.
TUESDAY: Budget bills in committee
- The Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee has placed three budget bills on the agenda: the budget implementation act (SB 1429), the appropriations act (SB 1431) and the billion dollar bond bill (SB 1430).
- Gov. Bill Lee’s administration presented his $343 million amendment to the budget the last week of March.
- The rumor is that Republican lawmakers are planning substantial changes to the governor’s recommended spending plan for fiscal year 2026.
8:30 a.m. Senate Floor
1. SB0836 by Watson. (*HB0793 by Lamberth.)
Local Education Agencies - As amended, requires documentation showing that a student is a citizen of the United States, is in the process of obtaining citizenship, or holds a legal immigration or visa status at the time of the student’s enrollment in an LEA or public charter school. Additionally, this legislation permits an LEA or public charter school to charge tuition and require full payment prior to enrollment for any student who cannot provide the required documentation.
Watch. Bill aims to deny undocumented families access to public schools and overturn four decades of SCOTUS precedent. Authorizes schools to deny enrollment or charge tuition for students who are undocumented
2. *SB0128 by Bailey. (HB0164 by Marsh.)
Professions and Occupations - As amended, requires the Board of Chiropractic Examiners (BCE) to adopt rules for: (1) regulating the practice of animal chiropractic; (2) establishing educational standards for certification of a chiropractic physician to perform animal chiropractic; and (3) establishing health and sanitation standards for a facility where a chiropractic physician performs animal chiropractic and human patients are treated.
3. *SB0256 by Gardenhire. (HB0601 by Freeman.)
Appeal and Review - Amends TCA Title 40. As introduced, establishes a procedure through which a district attorney general or person convicted of a criminal offense may, at any time, request post-conviction relief by filing a verified petition alleging actual innocence based on new evidence that was not known by the judge or jury at the time of conviction, including scientific and non-scientific evidence.
4. *SB0727 by Lowe. (HB1127 by Farmer.)
Fiduciaries - As amended, requires, in any sale of land to foreclose a deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien securing the payment of money or other thing of value or under judicial orders or process, that advertisement of the sale be made at least two times for sales occurring prior to July 1, 2027, and at least one time for sales occurring on or after July 1, 2027, instead of at least three times, in a newspaper in the county where the sale is to be made. Requires advertisement of the sale to additionally be made through a third-party internet posting company for at least 20 continuous days.
5. SB0842 by Walley. (*HB0763 by Littleton.)
Tort Liability and Reform - Amends TCA Title 12; Title 12, Chapter 3 and Title 29. As introduced, clarifies that any governmental entity may purchase any of the insurance authorized under state law, without the necessity of public bidding, as required by any public or private act or charter restriction, if such insurance is purchased through a plan authorized and approved by any organization of cities, counties, or other governmental entities as contemplated by state law.
6. *SB0848 by Hatcher. (HB0935 by Moon.)
County Government - Amends TCA Title 5 and Title 12, Chapter 3, Part 12. As introduced, authorizes a county that has adopted the County Purchasing Law of 1957 to require a competitive bid process for insurance brokerage services.
7. SB0889 by Reeves. (*HB0695 by Baum.)
Taxes - Amends TCA Title 67, Chapter 7, Part 2. As introduced, increases, by 15 cents over a 10-year period, and subject to a two-thirds vote of the county legislative body, the maximum mineral severance tax rate that may be levied by a county on all sand, gravel, sandstone, chert, and limestone severed from the ground within its jurisdiction; removes the authorization for Smith County to allocate its mineral severance tax to the county general fund or a fund other than its county road fund.
Allows for a local tax increase on mineral mining companies.
8. SB0895 by Haile. (*HB0826 by Faison.)
Children - As amended, authorizes a school to require a parent to attend a meeting to discuss their child’s educational future if their child is absent for 20 or more days during a school year for religious purposes. Authorizes a government entity to make a video or voice recording of a child during an activity approved by the school related to academic instruction without first gaining parental consent. Authorizes a person who act reasonably to render appropriate, on-emergency first aid to a minor appear or representing to be sick or injured without first requesting parent authorization.
9. SB0908 by Harshbarger. (*HB0731 by Hulsey.)
Open Meetings - Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 3, Part 5; Title 8, Chapter 44; Title 43, Chapter 1; Title 58; Title 68, Chapter 1 and Title 70. As introduced, specifies that the Tennessee One Health Committee is a governing body under the open meetings act; requires meetings of the committee to be open to the public.
10. SB0932 by Rose. (*HB0787 by Moody)
DUI Offenses - As amended, creates the Distance to Drive Program Study Committee (Committee) to determine the feasibility of implementing a distance to drive program that would facilitate reinstatement of suspended and revoked driver licenses for criminal defendants based on meeting the objectives set by the court and completing all the requirements set by the Department of Safety.
11. *SB0948 by Powers. (HB1134 by Boyd.)
Veterans - With amendment, allows a local government to adopt an affordable housing program for a property that provides permanent affordable housing to low-income household, of which at least thirty percent of the units are dedicated to provide permanent affordable housing for veterans experiencing homelessness.
12. SB1070 by Johnson. (*HB0973 by McCalmon.)
Statutes of Limitations and Repose - Amends TCA Title 28 and Title 40, Chapter 2. As introduced, extends the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of certain child sexual abuse felonies from 25 years from the child's 18th birthday to 30 years from the child's 18th birthday; extends the statute of limitations for a civil action based on child sexual abuse from 15 years from the child's 18th birthday to 30 years from the child's 18th birthday.
13. SB1078 by Johnson. (*HB0743 by Keisling.)
Commerce and Insurance, Dept. of - Effective January 1, 2026, enacts the Debt Resolution Services Act by requiring licensure for providers of debt resolution services, with certain exceptions, under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977.
14. *SB1297 by Johnson. (HB1316 by Lamberth.)
Driver Licenses - Amends TCA Section 2-7-112 and Title 55, Chapter 50. As introduced, prohibits the use of digital driver licenses and digital photo identification licenses for voter identification purposes; regulates the use, retention, and disclosure of data submitted by persons participating in the digital driver license system, including biometric identifiers; prohibits geolocation data from being collected for purposes of the digital driver license system; revises other provisions related to driver licenses.
Watch.
15. *SB0415 by Lowe. (HB0675 by Cochran.)
Education- As amended, creates an advisory committee composed of Senate members, House members, representatives of the board of education and department of education that is tasked with studying teacher and principal evaluation processes, state and locally mandated assessments, a potential shift in required instructional hours rather than days, substitution of CTE courses for courses required for graduation, and educational, licensure, and training requirements for teachers, as well as, compensation structure. The committee is required to submit a report to the speakers of both houses, and the appropriate education committees by December 31, 2025.
16. *SB0336 by Akbari. (HB0687 by Camper.)
Election Laws - As amended, removes the requirement that an individual pay all court costs assessed against them in order to be eligible to apply for a voter registration card. Authorizes an individual to be eligible to their right of suffrage if they are compliant with orders related to child support arrearages, instead of being current on all child support.
17. SB0629 by Briggs. (*HB0627 by Crawford.)
Taxes, Hotel Motel - As amended, prohibits a municipality from increasing the hotel occupancy tax in an amount such that the cumulative occupancy tax levied in an incorporated area of a county exceeds eight percent. Changes how counties and municipalities may utilize proceeds from hotel occupancy taxes.
Tennessee Municipal League opposes.
Message Calendar
1. *SB0258 by Pody. (HB1139 by Boyd.)
Water - As amended, if a point-of-entry treatment device is installed in a facility solely to soften hard water and, because of the installation of such a device, the house, building, or complex of buildings meets the definition of a public water system under the Tennessee Safe Drinking Water Act of 1983, then the facility constitutes a consecutive system, and is required to monitor the influent and finished water for hardness, alkalinity, and pH on a quarterly basis, and sodium on an annual basis, and report the results to TDEC within 15 days of the end of the reporting period.
2. SB0689 by White. (*HB0408 by White.)
Education - As amended, eliminates the Governing Board of Directors for the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation (TSAC) and moves TSAC under the governance of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) as a new division.