Lawmakers were just getting settled back in at the state Capitol as the second week of this year’s legislative session concludes. But a looming winter storm has led the Tennessee General Assembly to cancel most of next week’s floor sessions and committee meetings.
The Senate will reconvene on Feb. 2, just in time for that evening’s State of the State address from Gov. Bill Lee — the term-limited governor’s final State of the State. The House will continue with its business on Jan. 28, unless inclement weather causes further cancellations.
Here’s what’s happened on the hill since the session’s start.
State Sen. Ken Yager walks carefully past the state Capitol
Rural Health Care and TennCare Enrollment for Kids
In the first days of the legislative session, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means approved the Lee administration’s plan to participate in the federal Rural Health Transformation Program.
Tennessee is guaranteed to receive at least $100 million in new funding per year for five years — an attempt to offset the slashing of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act programs at the federal level. The state will qualify for more money if it eliminates certificate-of-need requirements and expands some scope of practice laws — topics on which legislation may arise this year. The state has already loosened certificate-of-need requirements in recent years, with local hospital giant HCA Healthcare taking advantage.
Rural hospitals depend on Medicaid reimbursements for a big chunk of their operating costs, and Tennessee has been hit harder than other states on hospital closures in the past decade — 24 Tennessee counties don’t have a hospital at all.
State Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) has revived a bill that she introduced in 2025 that would keep kids enrolled on TennCare on a rolling basis until they turn 18. Currently, they have to complete a redetermination of eligibility each year. Action was deferred in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee until Feb. 4.
Progressive Caucus Sponsors Bills to Limit ICE Powers
The Tennessee Progressive Caucus is pushing back against state Republicans’ immigration proposals with a slate of their own bills, declaring that “ICE is not welcome in Tennessee.”
As Republicans work with White House on immigration legislation, state Democrats push back
Those bills include House Bill 1442 — or the “Stop American Gestapo Act” — which would prohibit law enforcement agents from wearing a “mask, face covering, or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of the law enforcement officer's official duties.” Also among the Democrats’ legislation is HB 1482, which would bar immigration officers from using schools, churches and public parking lots and garages as a “staging area, processing location, or operations base for civil immigration enforcement activities.”
State Reps. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) and Jason Powell (D-Nashville) are also planning to introduce legislation to bar ICE from medical facilities and shelters, prevent state dollars from aiding ICE, protect data from immigration officials and protect employees from workplace exploitation.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Matt Perry
Tennessee Highway Patrol Addresses Sober DUI Arrests
At a Senate Transportation and Safety Committee meeting on Jan. 21, Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) questioned the head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Col. Matt Perry, over WSMV’s reports of hundreds of sober drivers being arrested for DUIs.
Perry denied that any of the arrests were unjustified and said experts in THP reviewed each arrest based on reports, body camera footage and other factors.
“[WSMV has] reported sober arrests — that's not the case,” Perry said. “There are evidence and indicators.” Perry said indicators include things like field sobriety tests, the smell of alcohol and drugs and slurred speech.
“We’ve not had one that they said, ‘Yeah this is somebody that probably shouldn’t have been arrested,’” Perry added. “If that was the case, then we would investigate our trooper and we would hold that trooper accountable.”
He also denied that the THP has quotas for DUI arrests and said they do not reward troopers for the arrests.
Senate Democrats Launch ‘Affordability Tour’
This week, some members of the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus kicked off what they’re calling a Tennessee Affordability Tour in Nashville.
Chair Sen. Lamar (D-Memphis), vice chairwoman Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) and Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) met at the Hartman Park Regional Recreational Center near Bordeaux. In an effort to highlight “everyday financial pressures” and call for action from the state government, several local organizations were on hand to share resources.
Those included: social services organization Metro Action Commission, the Office of Howard Gentry providing an expungement clinic, and AgeWell Middle Tennessee and Greater Nashville Regional Council, which serves older adults. Reproductive care organization A Step Ahead was also in attendance, along with TennCare Advocacy Program, which offers assistance enrolling in TennCare. The tour is set to reach Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis in the coming weeks.
Efforts to lower, or in some cases fully eliminate, the state’s grocery tax have also been revived this session by both Democrats and Republicans.
Bill Protecting Pesticide Companies Pulled From Consideration
On Jan. 21, HB 809 — which would protect pesticide manufacturers and sellers against civil lawsuits related to the labeling of pesticides, was taken off notice during a House Judiciary Committee — meaning it was removed from the body’s hearing calendars.
The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Rusty Grills (R-Newbern) and in the Senate by Sen. John Stevens (R-Huntingdon), could return later this session.
Transportation Department Gives Update
Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Will Reid gave a department update to the House Transportation Committee, speaking about future summer paving plans across the state, reopening the last closed road following Hurricane Helene in 2024, the role of autonomous technology with moving freight and the state’s progress on “choice lanes.”
“We are embarking on delivering the most ambitious program in the history of this state,” Reid said. “We have to look at transportation solutions differently, not to mention the fact that … the cost of goods and services continue to rise, and we have to figure out a way to meet that challenge.”
“To expect them to do more than what they’re doing now is just unreasonable until we find the money that they need, so that they can provide what the constituents of Tennessee want us to have,” said House Transportation Committee Chairman Dan Howell.
