Tennessee General Assembly Concludes 2025 Legislative Session

Tennessee state legislators moved to adjourn this year’s legislative session on Tuesday, marking the official end of the 2025 session of the 114th Tennessee General Assembly.

Tuesday’s end of this year’s legislative session comes days after the General Assembly fulfilled its only constitutional duty of passing a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The $59.5 billion budget proposed by Governor Bill Lee passed the Tennessee House of Representatives by a 79-16 vote and the Tennessee Senate by a 30-2 vote on April 16.

Lee applauded state lawmakers for passing the budget and adjourning this year’s legislative session, saying in a statement, “We’ve passed strategic legislative and budget measures to improve infrastructure, invest in education, strengthen our workforce, and solidify Tennessee’s position as a leader in next-generation nuclear energy.”

“I thank the General Assembly for its partnership and continued commitment to responsible fiscal stewardship and innovation to improve the lives of the people we serve,” the governor added.

Among the most notable pieces of legislation approved by the General Assembly this year includes the Education Freedom Act, which passed earlier this year during the special legislative session called by the governor.

The Education Freedom Act makes 20,000 Education Savings Accounts worth approximately $7,300 each available for Tennessee students beginning in the 2025-2026 school year.

State legislators also moved to pass a disaster relief package for victims of last year’s Hurricane Helene and future disasters in addition to a legislative package relating to immigration measures during the special session.

Throughout the regular legislative session, state lawmakers moved to pass many other key pieces of legislation on a multitude of issues.

One notable bill which passed the General Assembly invalidates out-of-state driver licenses issued exclusively to illegal aliens and makes it a misdemeanor offense to operate motor vehicles in the state with such licenses.

With regard to illegal aliens, the legislature also passed a bill to modify state law to make charities and nonprofits who knowingly provide housing to illegal aliens, who in turn go on to be convicted of crimes, liable to be sued in civil court by the victims of the illegal alien.

Other notable measures approved by lawmakers this year include a bill banning Tennessee counties from using the caucus system to select candidates for county level races and a bill reassigning the responsibility of handling key complaints from the Human Rights Commission to the Tennessee Attorney General.

State lawmakers also moved to pass resolutions this legislative session that will allow Tennesseans to vote on three constitutional amendments on the 2026 general election ballot regarding the right to bail for specific offenses, the rights of crime victims, and a permanent ban on any future state property tax.

Notable measures lawmakers did not successfully pass this year’s session include a bill which would have required school districts to verify students’ citizenship or legal residence status and provide for the option of charging tuition for those in the country illegally to attend taxpayer-funded schools and denying enrollment if such tuition is not paid.

The bill, which frequently drew protesters as it was debated by lawmakers and would have set up a challenge to the 1982 Plyler v. Doe decision by the Supreme Court, was stalled in committee as of Tuesday’s adjournment.

Another closely watched bill this year which would have prohibited the purchase of soft drinks and candy with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits was also not passed in time for Tuesday’s adjournment.

The 2026 session of the 114th Tennessee General Assembly is set to reconvene at 12:00 noon (CST) on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.