Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 9 R cosponsors

SB 1587 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 50, relative to unlawful presence in the United States.

Last action — Effective date(s) 07/01/2026

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

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 12, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 30, 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 82% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 9 sponsors

    1 primary, 8 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (9 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 4 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 establishes offenses for unlawfully present individuals operating commercial vehicles in Tennessee.

This bill creates offenses for people unlawfully present in the U.S. who drive commercial vehicles in Tennessee. It also requires law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities when such individuals are arrested and allows for civil actions for injuries caused by their operation of commercial vehicles.

What this means for you
  • Workers: This means stricter regulations and potential legal repercussions for workers unlawfully present in the U.S. working in commercial driving.
  • Consumers: Consumers may experience an impact on the availability of commercial driving services, depending on enforcement of this legislation.
  • Small Business: Small businesses employing drivers may face legal challenges if they employ individuals unlawfully present in the country.

Summary

Immigration - As enacted, creates certain offenses for a person who is unlawfully present in the United States to operate a commercial motor vehicle in this state and a direct employer of such person; requires the law enforcement agency of an officer who arrests a person who is unlawfully present in the United States to operate a commercial motor vehicle in this state to ensure that federal immigration authorities are notified; creates related civil actions for persons injured by an unlawfully present person's operation of a commercial motor vehicle. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 50.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Sponsor(s) Added.

  3. Intro., P1C.

  4. Sponsor(s) Added.

  5. P2C, ref. to Transportation Committee

  6. Assigned to s/c Transportation Subcommittee

  7. Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 2/17/2026

  8. Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee

  9. Placed on cal. Transportation Committee for 3/3/2026

  10. Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

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

  12. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  13. Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  14. Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  15. Placed behind the budget

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

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

  18. Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

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

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

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

  22. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  23. Comp. SB subst.

  24. Sponsor(s) Added.

  25. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 1070

  26. Filed for introduction

  27. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

  29. Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/3/2026

  30. Sponsor(s) Added.

  31. Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 7, Nays 2 PNV 0

  32. Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  33. Action deferred in Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee to 3/24/2026

  34. Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  35. Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 2 PNV 0

  36. Sponsor(s) Added.

  37. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/2/2026

  38. Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 2 - SA0836)

  39. Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0565)

  40. Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 26, Nays 6

  41. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  42. Sponsor(s) Added.

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

  44. Subst. for comp. HB.

  45. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0583)

  46. Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 20, PNV 0

  47. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  48. Signed by Senate Speaker

  49. Signed by H. Speaker

  50. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  51. Signed by Governor.

  52. Pub. Ch. 1070

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

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 8 co-sponsors · 124 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (8)

Not signed on (124)

124 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 124 →

"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

immigration
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 SB 1587 do?
Immigration - As enacted, creates certain offenses for a person who is unlawfully present in the United States to operate a commercial motor vehicle in this state and a direct employer of such person; requires the law enforcement agency of an officer who arrests a person who is unlawfully present in the United States to operate a commercial motor vehicle in this state to ensure that federal immigration authorities are notified; creates related civil actions for persons injured by an unlawfully present person's operation of a commercial motor vehicle. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 50.
Who sponsors SB 1587?
SB 1587 is sponsored by Johnson, Jack (Republican), McNally, Randy (Republican), Stevens, John (Republican), Bowling, Janice (Republican), Crowe, Rusty (Republican), Hensley, Joey (Republican), Rose, Paul (Republican), Seal, Jessie (Republican), and Yager, Ken (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 1587?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 12, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 1587?
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