Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 2 R cosponsors

HB 1973 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to discipline of an educator license.

Last action — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 898

  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 22, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 21, 2026.

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 74% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

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

In plain language

This bill prohibits certain sexually related behavior between educators and students.

The bill prohibits educators from engaging in sexually related behavior with students, including those who have graduated or withdrawn. Violations must be reported to the state board of education.

Summary

Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, prohibits an educator from engaging in any sexually related behavior with certain students enrolled, graduated, or withdrawn from school; requires violations to be reported to the state board of education. - Amends TCA Title 49.

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 2/25/2026

  5. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  6. Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/2/2026

  7. Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  8. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  9. Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  10. Subst. for comp. HB.

  11. H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0908)

  12. Passed H., as am., Ayes 91, Nays 1, PNV 0

  13. Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/16/2026

  14. Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/16/2026

  15. Concurred, Ayes 30, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0908)

  16. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  17. Signed by Senate Speaker

  18. Signed by H. Speaker

  19. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  20. Signed by Governor.

  21. Pub. Ch. 898

  22. Effective date(s) 05/05/2026, 07/01/2026

  23. Filed for introduction

  24. Intro., P1C.

  25. P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  26. Assigned to s/c Education Administration Subcommittee

  27. Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 3/3/2026

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

  29. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  30. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/17/2026

  31. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/17/2026

  32. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/24/2026

  33. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/24/2026

  34. Action def. in Education Committee to 4/1/2026

  35. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/31/2026

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

  37. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/2/2026

  38. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/9/2026

  39. Comp. SB subst.

  40. Sponsor(s) Added.

  41. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 898

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 131 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (131)

131 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 131 →

"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

civil-rights 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 1973 do?
Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, prohibits an educator from engaging in any sexually related behavior with certain students enrolled, graduated, or withdrawn from school; requires violations to be reported to the state board of education. - Amends TCA Title 49.
Who sponsors HB 1973?
HB 1973 is sponsored by White, Mark (Republican) and Reneau, Michele (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 1973?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 1973?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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