Packed committee agendas made for long days this week at the state legislature, which saw most of its festivities on Tuesday, when lawmakers celebrated Ag Day on the Hill — complete with farm animals and a cross-cut sawing contest.
Farmers, foresters and dozens of FFA and 4-H members joined state lawmakers on Beth Harwell Plaza on a cold Tuesday morning for the 2026 Agric…
As prison reform and health care measures advanced in committees, legislation regarding immigration and education policy were debated on the House and Senate floors as the two chambers work to align their bills before the session’s end.
Here’s what happened at the Tennessee General Assembly this week.
Senate Delays Vote on Student Immigration Data Bill
The Senate rescheduled a floor vote on a bill that would require Tennessee students to prove their citizenship or legal status and could see tuition charged for undocumented students. Senate Bill 836 sponsor Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson) requested the bill be heard on March 26.
Democrats have pushed back against the bill since it was first introduced in 2025. The Senate version, which initially passed a floor vote in April 2025, would require documentation showing that a student is a U.S. citizen or has some level of legal immigration status, and would permit schools to charge tuition if a student can’t prove their legal status. The current amended House version of the bill requires schools only to track and report students’ immigration status.
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (left) and state Sen. Bo Watson appear on the Senate floor, March 19, 2026
“I wanted [Senate] members to have time to digest [the changes in the House version], and we're still evaluating what that really means,” Watson told reporters Thursday. “Whether we want to move forward with the House version or stick with the Senate version, and between now and next Thursday [that] gives me an opportunity to have more conversation with my members.”
Both versions of the bill aim to challenge Plyler v. Doe, the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing that schools can't deny education to children based on their immigration status. The legislation has drawn objections from educators, including — as reported by Tennessee Lookout — more than 100 educators from Watson’s district in Hamilton County. The criticism doesn’t concern Watson.
Legislation would track student immigration status, require governments to verify employee citizenship, criminalize illegal U.S. residency
“Even with the original legislation, we said this would be a local decision,” Watson said. “So that doesn't disturb me at all. The bill was designed to give the local government, local LEA, the ability to make a decision about the things that were contained in the bill.”
A bill to require state and local governments to verify citizenship or work status of potential employees also passed in the House, as did legislation making it a crime to be an undocumented person in Tennessee.
Ten Commandments in Schools Advances
The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would require Tennessee public schools to display the Ten Commandments — along with the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and both the Tennessee and U.S. constitutions — in school buildings.
A House version of the bill that passed in February allowed schools to display the Ten Commandments but did not make it a requirement. The two chambers must now come to an agreement on the dueling bills if they want it to pass this year. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) and Rep. Michael Hale (R-Smithville), has been strongly opposed by Democrats who say displaying the document would favor Christianity over other religions and would likely lead to a lawsuit that will come at a cost to taxpayers.
The Senate also passed the “Charlie Kirk American Heritage Act,” which allows K-12 public schools and higher education institutions to “provide instruction on the positive impacts of religion on American history whenever instruction in American history is being provided.”
Voucher Expansion Advances, Accountability Bills Die
Plans to grow Education Freedom Scholarship program clear legislative hurdles while facing opposition from both sides of the aisle
Republican lawmakers are moving forward with efforts to double the amount of school vouchers, known as Education Freedom Scholarships, provided by the state. The bill, which would increase the total number of vouchers to 40,000, advanced in committee on Tuesday but not without opposition from Democrats and Republicans alike. Similarly, both parties introduced legislation to hold the voucher program accountable — bills that ultimately died in committee.
Bill Prohibiting Doctors From Asking Gender-Related Questions Heads to Governor’s Desk
The Senate passed a bill that would prohibit health care providers from asking gender-related questions to a minor without parental approval. The question would also have to be “directly related to the diagnosis or treatment of a specific medical or psychological condition.” The Senate adopted the House version of the bill, which passed the House on Monday.
A redundant bill that would prohibit TennCare from providing coverage or reimbursement for gender-affirming surgeries or treatment is making its way through the legislature, having passed the House last week. TennCare already doesn’t cover such treatment, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently stopped offering gender-affirming surgeries. Gender-affirming care for minors is banned in Tennessee, though it is still legal for adults.
‘Homes Not Hedge Funds Act’ Briefly Resurrected, Quickly Killed
House Democratic infighting boils over in wake of ‘Homes Not Hedge Funds Act’ demise
Fallout from Rep. Bo Mitchell (D-Nashville) killing a Democratic housing bill last week took a turn when Mitchell signed over one of his bills to fellow Democrat Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), replacing the language of the bill with that of Behn’s “Homes Not Hedge Funds Act.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) introduced a bill that also adopted the language of the bill, originally sponsored by Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville). The legislation quickly passed the Senate State and Local Government Committee 8-1.
But on Wednesday, the bill once again effectively died in the House after it was rolled to January. The 114th General Assembly wraps up this year, and the 115th will convene in January 2027 for its two-year term, when new bills will be introduced.
State trooper Brandon Wehrle and K-9 Choco, a 2-year-old chocolate lab trained to sniff for explosives, on the steps of the state Capitol, March 19, 2026
The bill was presented in the House Cities and Counties Subcommittee by House Minority Leader Karen Camper (D-Memphis), who said she was expecting someone to testify on the bill before it was rolled.
“A nice way of killing the bill - the 2nd time - w/o voting on it,” Oliver posted on social media. “Oscar worthy performance.”
Prison Reform Moves Forward
Legislation that would create a state family advisory board for those with loved ones who are incarcerated advanced with bipartisan support in the Senate State and Local Government Committee on Tuesday. The bill has received an outpouring of support from family members of incarcerated people who cite lack of communication from the Tennessee Department of Correction as well as concerns of violence and inhumane conditions in prisons across the state. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Hatcher (R-Maryville), said on Tuesday that 35 people have died in state prisons in 2026 alone.
The committee also approved a bill that could equip correctional officers at the notoriously dangerous Trousdale Turner Correctional Center with body cameras, despite the measure facing opposition from TDOC officials earlier this year.
