Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 2 R cosponsors

SB 1612 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and Title 8, relative to state employees.

Last action — Pub. Ch. 826

  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 13, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 15, 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

The bill allows full-time state employees to take multiple academic courses tuition-free.

This legislation removes the limitation that state employees could only use tuition waivers for one course at a time. It enables them to enroll in multiple courses without having to pay fees.

What this means for you
  • Workers: This means state employees can pursue more education at once without incurring additional costs.

Summary

State Employees - As enacted, removes the requirement for waivers to be used only one course at a time for academic courses that full-time state employees are eligible to take without paying tuition charges, maintenance fees, student activity fees, registration fees, or online course fees; authorizes the waiver to be used for more than one course at a time. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 8.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.

  4. Ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  5. Assigned to s/c Public Service Subcommittee

  6. Placed on s/c cal Public Service Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  7. Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  8. Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/11/2026

  9. Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/18/2026

  10. Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/18/2026

  11. Action def. in State & Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  12. Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/24/2026

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

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

  15. Action def. in Calendar & Rules Committee to 4/9/2026

  16. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/9/2026

  17. Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/13/2026

  19. Comp. SB subst.

  20. Sponsor(s) Added.

  21. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 826

  22. Filed for introduction

  23. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  24. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  25. Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  26. Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  27. Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  28. Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/25/2026

  29. Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  30. Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

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

  32. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  33. Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0887)

  34. Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 33, Nays 0

  35. Sponsor(s) Added.

  36. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

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

  38. Subst. for comp. HB.

  39. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0883)

  40. Passed H., Ayes 91, Nays 0, PNV 0

  41. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  42. Signed by Senate Speaker

  43. Signed by H. Speaker

  44. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  45. Signed by Governor.

  46. Effective date(s) 04/27/2026

  47. Re-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. 826

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

labor 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 SB 1612 do?
State Employees - As enacted, removes the requirement for waivers to be used only one course at a time for academic courses that full-time state employees are eligible to take without paying tuition charges, maintenance fees, student activity fees, registration fees, or online course fees; authorizes the waiver to be used for more than one course at a time. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 8.
Who sponsors SB 1612?
SB 1612 is sponsored by Bailey, Paul (Republican) and Seal, Jessie (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 1612?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 13, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 1612?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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