Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Enacted 1 R cosponsors

SB 1981 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 50, Chapter 6, relative to workers' compensation.

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 22, 2026. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Bill Lee (Republican) on April 16, 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 72% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 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.

Summary

Workers Compensation - As enacted, adds a requirement that an award of attorneys' fees and costs incurred when an employer unreasonably denies a workers' compensation claim or unreasonably fails to timely initiate any of the benefits associated with the claim must be based on a finding by the workers' compensation judge that the employer's conduct was unreasonable; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 6.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, ref. to Commerce Committee

  4. Assigned to s/c Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee

  5. Placed on s/c cal Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  6. Sponsor(s) Added.

  7. Action Def. in s/c Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee to 3/18/2026

  8. Placed on s/c cal Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee for 3/18/2026

  9. Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Commerce Committee

  10. Placed on cal. Commerce Committee for 3/25/2026

  11. Action def. in Commerce Committee to 4/1/2026

  12. Placed on cal. Commerce Committee for 4/1/2026

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

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

  15. H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/7/2026

  16. Comp. SB subst.

  17. Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. Comp. became Pub. Ch. 845

  19. Filed for introduction

  20. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  21. Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

  22. Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/3/2026

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

  24. Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/12/2026

  25. Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0581)

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

  27. Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

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

  29. Subst. for comp. HB.

  30. Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0961)

  31. H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA0962)

  32. Passed H., as am., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0

  33. Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/13/2026

  34. Concurred, Ayes 32, Nays 0 (Amendment 2 - HA0962)

  35. Enrolled and ready for signatures

  36. Signed by Senate Speaker

  37. Signed by H. Speaker

  38. Transmitted to Governor for action.

  39. Signed by Governor.

  40. Pub. Ch. 845

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

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 132 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (132)

132 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 132 →

"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
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 1981 do?
Workers Compensation - As enacted, adds a requirement that an award of attorneys' fees and costs incurred when an employer unreasonably denies a workers' compensation claim or unreasonably fails to timely initiate any of the benefits associated with the claim must be based on a finding by the workers' compensation judge that the employer's conduct was unreasonable; makes related changes. - Amends TCA Title 50, Chapter 6.
Who sponsors SB 1981?
SB 1981 is sponsored by Briggs, Richard (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 1981?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 22, 2026. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 1981?
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