Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 5 R cosponsors

HB 1197 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to the nonsectarian, nonreligious study of the Bible.

Last action — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 314

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 27, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 21, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 80% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 5 sponsors

    1 primary, 4 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (5 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Education, Curriculum - As enacted, makes various changes to the approval process and notice requirements for nonsectarian, nonreligious Bible courses; clarifies that public charter schools are authorized to provide nonsectarian, nonreligious Bible courses in the same manner as local education agencies. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  3. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  4. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/12/2025

  5. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  6. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/17/2025

  7. Senate Reset on calendar for 3/31/2025

  8. Sponsor(s) Added.

  9. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/31/2025

  10. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/3/2025

  11. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/3/2025

  12. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/7/2025

  13. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/7/2025

  14. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/9/2025

  15. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/9/2025

  16. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/14/2025

  17. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  18. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/15/2025

  19. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/15/2025

  20. Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0200)

  21. Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0, PNV 1

  22. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  23. Subst. for comp. HB.

  24. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0231)

  25. Passed H., Ayes 82, Nays 8, PNV 2

  26. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  27. Signed by Senate Speaker

  28. Signed by H. Speaker

  29. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  30. Signed by Governor.

  31. Pub. Ch. 314

  32. Effective date(s) 07/01/2025

  33. Filed for introduction

  34. Intro., P1C.

  35. P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  36. Assigned to s/c Education Instruction Subcommittee

  37. Placed on s/c cal Education Instruction Subcommittee for 3/4/2025

  38. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Education Committee

  39. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/11/2025

  40. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/18/2025

  41. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/18/2025

  42. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/25/2025

  43. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/25/2025

  44. Action def. in Education Committee to 4/1/2025

  45. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 4/1/2025

  46. Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  47. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/3/2025

  48. Action def. in Calendar & Rules Committee to 4/10/2025

  49. Sponsor(s) Added.

  50. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/10/2025

  51. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  52. Sponsor(s) Added.

  53. Comp. SB subst.

  54. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 314

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 4 co-sponsors · 128 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (4)

Not signed on (128)

128 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 128 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Subjects

education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 1197 do?
Education, Curriculum - As enacted, makes various changes to the approval process and notice requirements for nonsectarian, nonreligious Bible courses; clarifies that public charter schools are authorized to provide nonsectarian, nonreligious Bible courses in the same manner as local education agencies. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6.
Who sponsors HB 1197?
HB 1197 is sponsored by Kumar, Sabi 'Doc' (Republican), Powers, Dennis (Republican), Reedy, Jay D. (Republican), Fritts, Monty (Republican), and Howell, Dan (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 1197?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 27, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 1197?
Track HB 1197 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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