Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Passed Senate 4 R cosponsors

SB 1649 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to state university boards.

Last action — Sponsor(s) Added.

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

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 14, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 16, 2026.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Odds of enactment

Moderate chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a moderate 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

Advancing 54% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 4 sponsors

    1 primary, 3 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (4 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.

Summary

State Universities - As introduced, requires all gubernatorial appointments to a state university board to be confirmed by joint resolution of the senate and house of representatives prior to commencing a term of office; requires the terms of all state university board members to commence on February 1. - Amends TCA Title 49.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  4. Assigned to s/c Higher Education Subcommittee

  5. Placed on s/c cal Higher Education Subcommittee for 2/18/2026

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

  7. Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/3/2026

  8. Action def. in Education Committee to 3/10/2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  16. Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/26/2026

  17. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/2/2026

  18. Reset on next avail. cal.

  19. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/6/2026

  20. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA1038)

  21. H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA1042)

  22. Sponsor(s) Added.

  23. Passed H., as am., Ayes 80, Nays 10, PNV 2

  24. Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  25. Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  26. Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  27. Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0807)

  28. Passed Senate, Ayes 25, Nays 6

  29. Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  30. Signed by H. Speaker

  31. Signed by Senate Speaker

  32. Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  33. Vetoed by Governor.

  34. Filed for introduction

  35. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

  37. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/11/2026

  38. Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/18/2026

  39. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/18/2026

  40. Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0

  41. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/26/2026

  42. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/2/2026

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

  44. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/6/2026

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

  46. Senate Reset on calendar for 4/13/2026

  47. Sponsor(s) Added.

  48. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/13/2026

  49. Companion House Bill substituted

  50. Sponsor(s) Added.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 129 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (129)

129 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 129 →

"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 SB 1649 do?
State Universities - As introduced, requires all gubernatorial appointments to a state university board to be confirmed by joint resolution of the senate and house of representatives prior to commencing a term of office; requires the terms of all state university board members to commence on February 1. - Amends TCA Title 49.
Who sponsors SB 1649?
SB 1649 is sponsored by Lowe, Adam (Republican), Bowling, Janice (Republican), Rose, Paul (Republican), and Seal, Jessie (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 1649?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced January 14, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 1649?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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