Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 7 R cosponsors

SB 1957 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, relative to education.

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 21, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 01, 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.

  • 7 sponsors

    1 primary, 6 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (7 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.

Summary

Local Education Agencies - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Religious Freedom Act," which authorizes a local board of education to open a meeting of the board with a prayer led by a member of the board as long as the prayer does not require participation of any person in attendance at the meeting and no person is harassed or coerced to participate in the prayer. - 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 Education Administration Subcommittee

  5. Sponsor(s) Added.

  6. Placed on s/c cal Education Administration Subcommittee for 2/17/2026

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

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

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

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

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

  12. Sponsor(s) Added.

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

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

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

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

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

  18. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/30/2026

  19. Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. Comp. SB subst.

  21. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 710

  22. Filed for introduction

  23. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

  25. Sponsor(s) Added.

  26. Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/4/2026

  27. Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  28. Sponsor(s) Added.

  29. Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/9/2026

  30. Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0

  31. Sponsor(s) Added.

  32. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

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

  34. Subst. for comp. HB.

  35. Passed H., Ayes 86, Nays 0, PNV 7

  36. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  37. Signed by Senate Speaker

  38. Signed by H. Speaker

  39. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  40. Signed by Governor.

  41. Pub. Ch. 710

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

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 6 co-sponsors · 126 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (6)

Not signed on (126)

126 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 126 →

"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 1957 do?
Local Education Agencies - As enacted, enacts the "Tennessee Religious Freedom Act," which authorizes a local board of education to open a meeting of the board with a prayer led by a member of the board as long as the prayer does not require participation of any person in attendance at the meeting and no person is harassed or coerced to participate in the prayer. - Amends TCA Title 49.
Who sponsors SB 1957?
SB 1957 is sponsored by Pody, Mark (Republican), Seal, Jessie (Republican), Crowe, Rusty (Republican), Hensley, Joey (Republican), Reeves, Shane (Republican), Rose, Paul (Republican), and Stevens, John (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 1957?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 21, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 1957?
Track SB 1957 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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