Each year upon the convening of the Tennessee General Assembly, TQEE reviews the Governor’s budget and 1500+ bills filed by legislators. We determine which items are both aligned to our policy blueprint and can have a meaningful impact.
On Tuesday, April 22, the 114th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned for the first year of the two-year session, and below is a summary of the budget and legislative wins we’re celebrating
First: The 2025-26 Budget
Child Care
We are THRILLED that new state dollars have been prioritized for child care – with the Governor stating what we know is all too true:
Today, infant care in Tennessee carries virtually the same price tag as in-state tuition at a four-year public college. That is an insurmountable cost for the vast majority of moms and dads who want to be in the workforce.
While this investment is a drop in the bucket in the state’s $59 billion budget, it’s a start – a step in the right direction – and we applaud it!
- $5.9 million to cover childcare for more working families through an expansion of the Smart Steps Child Care Program and to ease the benefits cliff
- $7.2 million to expand the WAGE$ Program and reduce turnover in Tennessee’s childcare workforce by increasing pay and rewarding further education
Public Education Funding
- $198.4M to provide Tennessee teachers with a $2,000 bonus
- $244M added to the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) funding for public schools,
including teacher pay raises - $27.3M for summer learning programs
Child and Family Health and Mental Health
- $24 million to continue a Department of Health pilot program to address unmet dental service needs and increase the number of dentists in Tennessee
- $10 million for mental health infrastructure grants to children’s hospitals
- $4.4 million in scholarships to increase the number of behavioral health clinicians
- $4 million to to enhance behavioral treatment in schools
- $1 million to expand the school-based behavioral health liaison program
Legislation enacted from Our “Hotlist“
Legislative wins from our “hotlist” of 30+ bills included:
Early Learning Settings Birth-to-3rd Grade
Early Care and Education Funding
- SB1286 / HB105 (Senator Johnson / Representative Lamberth) – Expands eligibility for the $45 million Child Care Improvement Pilot Grants by removing the nonprofit-only requirement, allowing more child care providers to access funding.
Early Care and Education Instruction
- SB246/HB410 (Senator Gardenhire / Representative White) — requires the department of education to convene a working group to study and develop best practices, strategies, and programming for English language learner (EL) educators in this state to utilize in educating EL students enrolled in a public school in this state in any of the grades kindergarten through 12.
Early Educator Workforce
- SB682 / HB504 (Senator White / Representative White) – Updates the Tennessee Future Teacher Scholarship Act to include Educator Preparation Program (EPP) students in their junior or senior years who are working toward an initial educator license.
- SB729 / HB759 (Senator Lowe / Representative Marsh) – Allows local education agencies (LEAs) to implement merit-based pay structures for educators, rewarding high performance with additional compensation.
Regulations and Governance
- SB1379 / HB1175 (Senator Watson / Representative Williams) – Allows child care agencies to lease or purchase underutilized property from LEAs; classifies a child care family home as residential property for certain purposes, including zoning and building codes; permits a host-school’s fire inspection and facilities to be sufficient for a child care agency’s provisional license under the department of human services.
Early Childhood Health, Mental Health, and Development
- SB1283 / HB111 (Senator Johnson / Representative Lamberth) – Expands pregnancy-related testing to include additional screenings.
- SB321/HB498 (Senator Massey / Representative Hale) — creates an advisory taskforce on state reimbursement rates to make recommendations about salaries, benefits, and administrative costs for agencies as well as causes and solutions for the healthcare frontline workforce shortage.
- SB1342 / HB1169 (Senator Campbell / Representative Hemmer) — requires the council on children’s mental health care to submit a report to certain officials regarding the status of the statewide system of care for children’s mental health and the service delivery system and the status of children’s mental health in this state.
Supported and Supportive Families
- SB314 / HB1150 (Senator Yarbro / Representative Miller) – Extends the state’s paid family leave benefit to public employees during the legal process for adopting a minor child.
- SB705 / HB676 (Senator Massey / Representative Stinnett) – Extends the state’s 6-week paid family leave benefits to employees of the state’s special school districts.
With big kudos to the many, many advocates who were Loud Voices for Little Kids this legislative session – many of you showed up for days on the hill, or wrote or called your legislators. Thanks to all of you. Your voices matter for young children and families.
What’s ahead
As we look toward January 2026 when the Tennessee General Assembly reconvenes, together we’ll continue to fight for state policies and investments that better ensure all children have the strong foundation they need for a bright future.
