Each year 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. Below are our budget and legislative priorities for the 2025 legislative session.
Governor Bill Lee’s Proposed 2025-26 Budget
Governor Bill Lee’s budget address presented Monday, February 10, was, we’re pretty sure, the first ever Governor’s State-of-the-State featuring child care! We are THRILLED and while the child care budget items aren’t huge, they represent a really important step forward for state government. Here are the budget items we’re excited about (note we’re still unpacking the budget and may add more. ):
Child Care
“Today, infant care in Tennessee carries virtually the same price tag as in-state tuition at a four-year public college,” Lee said in his address. “That is an insurmountable cost for the vast majority of moms and dads who want to be in the workforce.”
- $5.9 million to cover childcare for more working families through an expansion of the Smart Steps Child Care Program and 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 greater education
Public Education Funding
- $198.4M to provide Tennessee teachers with a $2,000 bonus
- $244M in the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA),
including teacher pay raises - $27.3M for summer learning programs
Bills Filed by Legislators: Our Bills “Hotlist“
The deadline for bill filing for the Tennessee General Assembly was Thursday, February 6th. After reviewing over 1,583 bills and tracking nearly 200 pieces of legislation across our core three domains, we have identified the following high-priority bills that we will support this session. Additionally, 30 “caption” (placeholder) bills are on our radar that might be amended to be of interest – so the list below could grow.
Early Learning
Early Care and Education Funding
- SB802 / HB841 (Senator Massey / Representative Haston) – Establishes the Promising Futures Early Learning Fund, using excess lottery revenues to provide last-dollar scholarships to working families for high-quality early learning programs. NOTE! We are thrilled Governor Lee has included in his budget funding for learning scholarships for middle income families. A great start on what this bill is designed to accomplish.
- SB840 / HB966 (Senator Walley / Representative Hawk) – Creates two special accounts for K-12 and early learning programs, funding capital projects and supporting early childhood education with grants.
- SB679 / HB401 (Senator White / Representative White) – Expands funding for special education pre-kindergarten students and their peer models by including them in the TISA funding model.
- SB580 / HB631 (Senator Akbari / Representative Clemmons) – Establishes a grant program through the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to support and fund nonprofit and faith-based child care providers.
- 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 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.
- SB902 / HB992 (Senator Oliver / Representative Love) – The Child Care Workforce Improvement Act creates a program for longevity payments to child care workers and provides child care assistance for certain early childhood educators.
Regulations and Governance
- SB36 / HB156 (Senator Campbell / Representative Clemmons) – Exempts child care agencies from business taxes.
- SB1013 / HB1069 (Senator Oliver / Representative Glynn) – Prevents homeowners’ associations from blocking family child care homes.
- SB1014 / HB698 (Senator Oliver / Representative Camper) – Grants child care operators the ability to purchase or lease vacant property from LEAs.
- 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, including zoning and building codes; permits a host-school’s fire inspections and facilities to be sufficient for a child care agency’s provisional license under the department of human services.
- SB1378 / HB1238 (Senator Watson / Representative Haston) – Creates the Division of Early Childhood Care and Education and appoints a committee to plan for transitioning to a unified system with a focus on reducing regulatory burdens and simplifying processes.
- SB1169 / HB1215 (Senator Akbari / Representative Johnson) – Exempts child care agencies from the registration requirements for charitable organizations.
Early Grades Tutoring and Literacy Supports
- SB506 / HB503 (Senator Powers / Representative White) – Conditions the requirements for LEAs and charter schools to provide tutors through TALLC and participate in the learning loss remediation and student acceleration program on whether the state has appropriated sufficient funds for the programs.
Early Grades Expulsion
- SB1161 / HB1005 (Senator Akbari / Representative Hakeem) – Prohibits LEAs and public charter schools from suspending or expelling students enrolled in grades pre-kindergarten through second grade.
Early Childhood Health, Mental Health, and Development
Maternal Health
- SB44 / HB295 (Senator Lamar / Representative Love) – Expands TennCare coverage to include doula services.
- SB205 / HB70 (Senator Massey / Representative Helton-Haynes) – Requires TennCare to cover biomarker testing for preeclampsia in pregnant women.
- SB435 / HB484 (Senator Reeves / Representative Martin) – Requires health plans and TennCare to cover biomarker testing.
- SB1283 / HB111 (Senator Johnson / Representative Lamberth) – Expands pregnancy-related testing to include additional screenings.
- SB898 / HB867 (Senator Massey / Representative T. Hicks) – Instructs TennCare to create and administer a pilot program to improve maternal health care through remote patient monitoring.
Supported Families
Paid Family Leave
- SB314 / HB1150 (Senator Yarbro / Representative Miller) – Extends paid family leave to public employees adopting a minor child.
- SB705 / HB676 (Senator Massey / Representative Stinnett) – Extends paid family leave benefits to employees of the state’s special school districts.
- SB938 / HB957 (Senator Rose / Representative Slater) – Grants state employees paid leave for fostering a child.
Free Breakfast and Lunch Programs
- SB142 / HB12 (Senator Kyle / Representative Clemmons) – Requires local school boards to establish programs for providing free breakfast and lunch to all enrolled students.
- SB740 / HB1153 (Senator Harshbarger / Representative Lynn) – Requires local boards of education to establish a program to provide free school breakfast and lunch to all students.
Community Schools
- SB364 / HB225 (Senator Briggs / Representative Haston) – Encourages local boards of education to form full-service community schools and creates a grant program to support their establishment and sustainability.
Tax Relief
- SB872 / HB784 (Senator Haile / Representative Martin) – Exempts infant formula, diapers, and wipes from sales tax.
We urge the Tennessee General Assembly to enact these bills and budget priorities!
