Rep. Robert Stevens

Maddy summaryThis bill is a commemorative resolution honoring the Eagleville High School Eagles baseball team for winning their fourth consecutive Tennessee state championship in 2025. It formally recognizes the team's athletic achievements and extends congratulations to the players, coaches, and supporters involved. The resolution does not create any new laws or policy changes; it serves solely as an official acknowledgment of the team's success.

Maddy summaryThis House Joint Resolution honors the Eagleville High School girls' volleyball team for winning the 2025 TSSAA Class A state championship. The resolution formally acknowledges the team's 43-5 season record, their victory over Gordonsville in the final match, and recognizes the coaching staff and individual players by name. It serves as a ceremonial tribute rather than a policy change, expressing official state appreciation for the athletes' achievements and sportsmanship. The document will be presented to the team as a formal recognition of their accomplishments.

Maddy summaryHB 1521, titled the "James Bardsley Life Protection Act," increases penalties for drivers who leave the scene of an accident without stopping. It raises the penalty for leaving an accident causing injury from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony. For accidents where death occurs and the driver knew or should have known, the penalty increases from a Class E felony to a Class D felony. The bill amends Tennessee Code Sections 55-10-101 and 39-13-101, taking effect July 1, 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 2414 deletes an obsolete statute requiring three state agencies - the administrative office of the courts, department of children's services, and commission on children and youth - to submit an annual juvenile justice data report by January 1, 2019. The bill removes this outdated requirement (TCA §37-1-185) as the reporting deadline has long passed. This procedural change affects no current policy or programs, as the statute was no longer applicable. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026.

Maddy summaryHB 998 requires Tennessee's public colleges and universities to submit their annual foreign gifts and contracts disclosure reports to the General Assembly, in addition to current recipients like the Department of Safety. This bill amends Tennessee Code Sections 49-7-1804(f) and related higher education chapters to expand reporting requirements. It directly affects all public institutions of higher education in Tennessee by adding a new recipient for their annual transparency reports. The change creates a formal reporting pathway to the state legislature for foreign-related financial disclosures.

Maddy summaryHB 1523 clarifies that Tennessee financial institutions (like banks and credit unions) do not need to verify if a subpoena was served on a deceased customer, their estate, or heirs if the institution reasonably believes the customer is deceased. This change modifies existing law (TCA Title 45, Chapter 10) to streamline legal processes for institutions handling accounts after a customer's death. The bill does not create new obligations but removes a verification step for institutions in these specific circumstances. Other sections update procedures for delivering financial records under subpoena and securing those records, but the core change affects how institutions handle deceased customers' accounts. The bill is procedural and focuses on clarifying existing legal requirements.

Maddy summaryHB 1998 amends Tennessee law to allow school employees designated by a principal to conduct certain searches of student or visitor containers, packages, or enclosures using metal detectors or handheld devices before entering school buildings. It requires these employees to complete state-developed training and restricts secondary searches to specific staff (like school resource officers or trained administrators), while clarifying that searches cannot violate constitutional rights. The bill directly affects students, visitors, and school staff by standardizing search protocols at school entrances for safety purposes. It does not change existing legal authority for law enforcement officers on school property.

Maddy summaryHB 2416 requires all public charter schools and schools managed by local school boards in Tennessee to publish policies governing AI use by students, teachers, and staff for learning and assignments on their websites. The bill mandates that local boards adopt these policies by the 2024-2025 school year and report compliance annually to the state education department. Schools must post the policies online by July 1, 2024, with ongoing annual updates, applying to AI tools used in instruction and assignments. The law aims to increase transparency around AI in education while setting clear implementation deadlines.

Maddy summaryHB 1524 would have allowed trained school employees to search containers, packages, or other non-clothing enclosures that trigger a school's weapons detection system. It required staff to complete specific training and be designated by the principal before conducting such searches. The bill explicitly prohibited searching clothing worn by students or visitors. This proposed law was withdrawn before becoming effective and never took effect.

Maddy summaryHB 780 requires Tennessee's Department of Economic and Community Development to annually update and certify county and municipal population figures before July 1 each year, using estimates generated by the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. These revised population figures will be used to allocate state revenue to counties and municipalities during the period between decennial federal censuses. The bill amends multiple Tennessee statutes to ensure revenue distributions are based on these annual population updates rather than outdated census data. This change takes effect on January 1, 2026, affecting how state funds are distributed to local governments across Tennessee.