Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 3 R cosponsors

HB 2263 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 2, relative to cruelty to animals.

Last action — Comp. became Pub. Ch. 974

  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 23, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 23, 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 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 (3 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 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

The bill addresses starvation of livestock animals as a form of animal cruelty.

This bill makes it a Class E felony to starve a livestock animal to death in a depraved manner. The bill specifically defines this act as aggravated cruelty when done without lawful purpose.

Summary

Animal Cruelty and Abuse - As enacted, adds starvation resulting in death of a livestock animal to the types of conduct that constitute the Class E felony of aggravated cruelty to a livestock animal, when done in a depraved and sadistic manner without justifiable or lawful purpose. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 2.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

  4. Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/16/2026

  6. Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/17/2026

  7. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  8. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  9. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/30/2026

  10. Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  11. Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

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

  14. Subst. for comp. HB.

  15. Passed H., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0

  16. Signed by Senate Speaker

  17. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  18. Signed by H. Speaker

  19. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  20. Signed by Governor.

  21. Pub. Ch. 974

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

  23. Filed for introduction

  24. Intro., P1C.

  25. P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  26. Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  27. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  28. Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  29. Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  30. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Judiciary Committee

  31. Sponsor(s) Added.

  32. Placed on cal. Judiciary Committee for 3/23/2026

  33. Rec. for pass; ref to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  34. Sponsor(s) Added.

  35. Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  36. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/1/2026

  37. Placed behind the budget

  38. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026

  39. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/15/2026

  40. Rec for adopt by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  41. Placed on cal. Finance, Ways, and Means Committee for 4/15/2026

  42. Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee

  43. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/16/2026

  44. H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/20/2026

  45. Comp. SB subst.

  46. Sponsor(s) Added.

  47. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 974

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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

Sponsors (1)

  • Martin G

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

public-safety
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 2263 do?
Animal Cruelty and Abuse - As enacted, adds starvation resulting in death of a livestock animal to the types of conduct that constitute the Class E felony of aggravated cruelty to a livestock animal, when done in a depraved and sadistic manner without justifiable or lawful purpose. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 2.
Who sponsors HB 2263?
HB 2263 is sponsored by Martin G, Jones R, Keisling, Kelly (Republican), Lamberth, William (Republican), and McCalmon, Jake (Republican).
What is the current status of HB 2263?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 23, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 2263?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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