Tennessee Bills

SB 2498 requires Tennessee's Department of Finance and Administration to create rules governing cash transaction rounding for businesses. The rules must mandate rounding to the nearest five cents, prevent systematic rounding that favors sellers, and require receipts to clearly show subtotals, rounding adjustments, and the total price. This bill amends Tennessee Code to establish these requirements and directs the department to enforce them using existing resources. It directly affects businesses that accept cash payments and their customers by standardizing rounding practices and increasing transaction transparency.

SB 2511, the "End the Grocery Tax Act," removes the sales tax on groceries and food ingredients in Tennessee starting July 1, 2026. It directly affects grocery retailers (who no longer collect tax on food sales) and state/local governments (which lose this revenue stream and must adjust funding allocations). Key provisions include exempting food from sales tax under Tennessee law, revising how tax revenue previously earmarked for K-12 education is handled, and requiring grocery businesses to maintain at least 20% of sales from food (instead of food taxed at the previous rate). The bill also modifies revenue distribution formulas to ensure counties and municipalities receive equivalent funding based on exempt sales data.

SB 2609 redirects all state sales tax revenue from sales of recreational vessels (including sailboats and non-motorized boats), recreational vessel accessories (like trailers and life jackets), and wildlife-related outdoor goods (such as fishing rods, hunting gear, and ammunition) to the wildlife resources fund starting July 1, 2026. This revenue will specifically fund the operational expenses of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The bill explicitly excludes existing tax allocations for education (under 1992 law) and the 2002 tax rate increase from this redirection, maintaining those funds as currently designated.

SB 2683 exempts tampons and sanitary pads from Tennessee's sales tax. It requires public schools to provide these products free to students upon request by school administrators, boards, or directors. The law applies to all Tennessee public schools and affects retailers selling these items as well as students who need access. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, and defines "feminine hygiene products" as tampons and sanitary pads.

SB 2181 requires Tennessee state and local governments to provide fully paid health insurance to the immediate family members (spouses and children, including unborn children) of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty or suffering a catastrophic injury (as defined in the bill) on or after January 1, 2020. It removes a previous two-year limit on coverage duration and mandates that the state reimburse local governments for the full cost of providing this insurance. The bill expands existing coverage to include officers with catastrophic injuries (e.g., paralysis, severe burns, or brain injuries meeting SSDI criteria) and applies to both state and local law enforcement officers. The law takes effect on July 1, 2026.

SB 2584 requires qualified data centers in Tennessee seeking job tax credits to electronically certify they have not violated the WARN Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, or federal immigration laws in the past year. This applies directly to data centers applying for state tax credits under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 67, Chapter 6. The bill adds a provision allowing this certification to be submitted electronically, streamlining the application process. It does not change the underlying labor or immigration requirements but modifies how compliance is verified for tax credit eligibility. The bill focuses on administrative procedures for tax credit applicants rather than altering labor laws themselves.

SB 2347 exempts the retail sale of food and food ingredients from Tennessee's state sales tax, directly affecting grocery stores, restaurants, and other food retailers that would no longer collect this tax on qualifying items. Key provisions include removing a 0.5% sales tax earmarked for K-12 education (Section 3) and creating a new funding formula to allocate money to counties and municipalities based on exempt food sales (Section 4). The bill also adjusts definitions to remove references to the previous tax rate for food sales (Sections 8-9). It takes effect July 1, 2026, and does not change how food is taxed under other tax provisions.

SB 2464 amends Tennessee law to change the required notice period for meetings of the District Attorneys General Conference from "ten (10) calendar days" to "ten (10) business days" for the president to provide members. This procedural change directly affects the president of the conference when scheduling meetings at will, as defined in Tennessee Code Annotated Sections 8-7-304 and 9-4-101. The bill does not alter the conference's duties or substantive functions, only the timing calculation for meeting notices. It takes effect July 1, 2026, and is currently pending in the Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.

SB 2329 increases base salaries for Tennessee judges and justices effective September 1, 2030. It sets new salary tiers: supreme court chief justices earn the most, with associate justices $5,000 less, appellate chief judges $7,500 less than associate justices, and all other judges receiving progressively lower amounts. The bill also revises how general sessions judges' pay is calculated by replacing the old 7 county classes with a new 5-class system based on population (e.g., Class 1 counties have >49,000 residents), with salaries now tied to circuit court judge pay. These changes apply to all trial, appellate, and supreme court judges, and affect how counties determine compensation for general sessions and juvenile judges.

SB 2193 requires Tennessee's governor to approve all workforce training programs eligible for federal workforce Pell grants, in consultation with the state workforce development board. It mandates coordination between state and federal programs to prevent duplicate payments for the same student costs already covered by federal Pell grants. The law specifies that the state workforce board must establish internal procedures to verify programs meet federal eligibility standards, but prohibits state agencies from creating new rules to implement this section. This bill directly affects workforce training programs seeking federal funding, state agencies managing workforce programs, and students enrolled in these programs.

SB 2559 modifies Tennessee's Alzheimer's and dementia respite care program by removing its temporary status and enrollment limits. Specifically, it eliminates the program's termination date (making it permanent) and deletes the requirement that the program must serve no more than 225 participants annually. This change directly affects individuals receiving respite care for Alzheimer's or dementia in Tennessee, allowing the program to operate indefinitely without a fixed participant cap. The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 52, Chapter 8, Part 2, to implement these operational adjustments.

SB 2399 redefines Tennessee's counseling licensure categories by creating a new "limited practice professional counselor" designation and eliminating the separate license for this category. The bill amends multiple Tennessee Code sections to update terminology, requiring all future applications for this specific license type to meet new standards (including coursework in mental disorder diagnosis and two years of supervised clinical experience). It terminates the issuance of "limited practice professional counselor" licenses effective July 1, 2028, and mandates that existing holders of this license must convert to a "licensed professional counselor" by that date. The bill directly affects counseling professionals seeking licensure or currently holding the limited practice designation under Tennessee law.