State Law, Legislation and Regulations: Bill Text & History

New policies are introduced by members in the House or Senate. Bills draft new laws, or amend or repeal existing laws.

• Bills - Current
  Search bills under "Legislation" at the Tennessee General Assembly site. Provides:
  Bill summary, text, amendments, a chronological bill history of the bill’s status through the legislative process, fiscal notes, and status reports for the current session. Vote summary is given in text of bill.

Advanced Search
Search the bills or resolutions index by keyword. To find the text of codification or codes bills enter "codification" or "codes" in the search box if the bill numbers are unknown.

My Bills

A free, personalized bill tracking service and RSS notification system for Tennessee Legislation in the current session.
View the legislative status of your bills and see items with significant current action highlighted for you.
Log in to get daily updates.

How do I know if a bill has passed and when it goes into effect?

How can I follow the status of a bill?

• If status information is not available from the above site, contact LIS-Distribution for bill information or documents related to a particulat bill  at: 615-741-3511. For current bill status call 615-741-0927.
   
• Contact the Chief Clerk of the House (615-741-2901) or the Chief Clerk of the Senate (615-741- 2730) for the existence of a current bill or documents on a given subject.
   
• Contact the Legislator or Committee Chair responsible for the bill (if within three years of its introduction) to request background information and copies of related publications.

• Votes on bills are included with the information on the bill.
  Select "legislation" from the Tennessee General Assembly then search by bill number or keyword to find the bill. For bills from previous legislative sessions select "Archives"

• • Bills - Historical

Find bill text online from the 99th session, 1995/96- 
From the Tennessee General Assembly site, select "Legislation", then "Archives"

The State Library and Archives may have copies of bills back to 1955.

The UT Law Library may have copies of bills from earlier sessions.

• Bill Indexes and Abstracts
  Tennessee Legislative Record. (most recent version online) Weekly.
  Final versions from 1995- are available at TN General Assembly site.
  Print 1959-1961, 1967-2006. J87.T2d Hodges Stacks.
  Lists all bills and resolutions in order by number. Includes primary sponsor(s), brief description, companion bill (if any), and the most recent action.
   
  • • Unofficial Index to Legislation Introduced in the (no.) General Assembly (yr.)
      1961-1995. J87.T2d (Discontinued)

  Published at the end of each session. It lists bills and resolutions by subject and provides sponsors, status, and a cross-index to public chapter number. Includes veto messages.

• House and Senate journals [of the (no.) General Assembly]

  The Journals do not provide a verbatim record of proceedings.They include the texts of bills and resolutions as introduced, committee substitutions for original bills, rule changes, and votes. Voting records are included in the text as yeas and nays.

  House Journal - current session - House Journal - archives
  Senate Journal -current session - Senate Journal - archives
  Annual bound volumes. J87.T2 Stacks 1970-current
  Special Collections 1790-1899; Preservation 1900-1969; Microfilm 1794-1842, 1855/56

Calendars are published weekly when the General Assembly is in session. They list meeting schedules for the upcoming week and include bills and subject matter. For information regarding committee agendas see:
House
Senate
Joint

List includes members, responsibilities, committee schedule and calendar, and videos of floor discussions.Floor Debates

• Schedules and Calendars
• Standing Committees