Tennessee 114th General Assembly Status: Passed Senate 1 R cosponsors

SB 2538 — AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36 and Title 37, relative to children.

Last action — Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  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 February 02, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

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

Stalled 28% · moderate confidence

  • Passed Senate

    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).

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Children - As introduced, establishes that children have equal protection under the law and possess fundamental rights to safety, protection from harm, and consideration of their best interests as the paramount concern in all legal proceedings, governmental actions, and policy decisions affecting their welfare. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Filed for introduction

  2. Intro., P1C.

  3. P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  4. Assigned to s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee

  5. Placed on s/c cal Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee for 3/10/2026

  6. Taken off notice for cal in s/c Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee of Judiciary Committee

  7. Filed for introduction

  8. Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

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

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

Subjects

civil-rights
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 2538 do?
Children - As introduced, establishes that children have equal protection under the law and possess fundamental rights to safety, protection from harm, and consideration of their best interests as the paramount concern in all legal proceedings, governmental actions, and policy decisions affecting their welfare. - Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.
Who sponsors SB 2538?
SB 2538 is sponsored by Hatcher, Tom (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 2538?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced February 02, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 2538?
Track SB 2538 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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