Week 15 Capitol Round-Up: Adjourned SINE DIE & Back Home

We officially adjourned Sine Die—which means “indefinitely.” (Though, practically speaking, we all know the General Assembly will gavel back in the second Tuesday of January.)  We wrapped on Thursday just after 9:00 PM Central / 10:00 PM Eastern, closing out a long 12-hour day on the House floor.

🏛️  Final Day at the Capitol

Thursday wasn’t dominated by new bill votes. Instead, much of the day was spent working through message calendars—the back-and-forth process when the House and Senate don’t agree on different versions of a bill.

This involves:

• Negotiations between chambers

• Temporary recesses while discussions happen

• In some cases, forming a conference committee to resolve differences

  
  

A few bills even came back with both majority and minority reports from conference committees, which were then presented and voted on by the full House.

Many longtime members noted they hadn’t seen this many bills on message calendars before. It made for a stop-and-go kind of day—we recessed several times but couldn’t leave until every issue was resolved.

📊  Week in Review

We voted on 150+- bills this week, with most of that work completed earlier in the week on Tuesday. One bill of particular interest to Hamilton County—the annexation bill—did not have the votes to move forward and was ultimately held on the desk. That’s a big win!

⚖️ Notable Debate: TCAP & ESA Expansion HB1881

One of the more complex areas of consideration involved the bill to remove TCAP testing requirements.

A late amendment in Finance would have:

• Expanded the Education Savings Account (ESA) program to Knox County, which is separate from the more recent EFS program from last year.

• Removed enrollment caps

• Increased income eligibility to 400% (effectively making it near-universal)

After discussions, it became clear there were not enough votes in the House for that expansion. The amendment was removed, and the bill reverted to focusing solely on eliminating TCAP testing requirements for ESA students.

👉 My vote: NO Without a common assessment, we lose the ability to compare outcomes between students in public schools and those who transition to private education through ESA programs.

📝 House Floor Highlights

Here are several notable bills from the final week:

• HB1709 – Requires individuals to be a U.S. citizen or authorized alien to be eligible for a license, certificate, or permit

  HB1664 – Requires higher education institutions to certify compliance with laws prohibiting discriminatory DEI preferences

  HB1757 – Creates an offense for firearm discharge in the air, ground or water near public gatherings (Voted NO – aspects of the bill language weren’t concrete to prevent unintended consequences)

  HB1455 – Makes it a Class A felony to train AI to encourage suicide or criminal homicide

  HB2317 – Enacts the Tennessee Anti-Grooming Act

  HB753 – Adjusts property tax assessments for certain low-income housing developments (Voted PNV – concerns about reducing large multi-unit rental properties’ property tax, requiring other taxpayers to cover the difference )

  HB1979 – Funds a private entity setting up free and reduced cost childcare for specific employers (Voted NO – concerns about fairness & redistribution of tax dollars rather than reducing taxes and hiring another private entity to administer a child care program)

  HB2219 – Requires compliance with court orders related to unlawful sanctuary policies

  HB1817 – Requires commercial drivers to demonstrate English proficiency

  HB1847 – Requires data centers to cover full infrastructure costs

  HB1959 (FAIR Rx Act) – Major pharmacy reform increasing transparency and reducing conflicts of interest

  HB819 – Eliminates Certificate of Need (CON) for certain healthcare facilities

  HB2243 (SHIELD Act) – Protects doctor’s office from being financially penalized for patients declining vaccinations

  HB2612 – Requires REAL ID to be presented as optional providing informed consent by offering comparisons differences between the non-REAL ID driver’s license or REAL ID.

  HB2509 – Workforce housing pilot program (Voted PNV – concerns about market interference with property values and long-term impacts like seen during the previous housing recession)

  HB1710 – Requires verification of lawful presence in the United States for public benefits

  HB2121 – Requires school districts to submit detailed annual financial reports

  HB1951 – Creates offense of coercive suicide. The testimony about a man coercing a young woman to commit suicide for his entertainment who couldn’t be charged with any crime revealed this law was needed.

  HB2301 – Expands laws on adulteration of food, liquid or other consumed products (like pharmaceuticals used to intoxicate without consent)

  HB1900 – Allows lifetime orders of protection for certain victims

  HB2428 – Increases penalties for assaulting first responders

  HB2526 – Allows detention of minors needing heightened supervision (Voted PNV – due process concerns and potential for misuse)

Looking Ahead

It’s good to be back home for the duration—there’s nothing like being in the district after a long session. But we won’t be slowing down for long. With the August 6th primary approaching, I’ll be shifting gears and heading out on the campaign trail soon.

Constituent Services

Even though session has adjourned, my office is still here to serve you.

If you are having issues with a state department or agency, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me at rep.michele.reneau@capitol.tn.gov or call 615-741-2746. Helping navigate those challenges is an important part of what we do year-round. Thank you for following along this session—and for the opportunity to serve.

Rep. Michele Reneau

Tennessee House District 27