The Tennessee House of Representatives began its floor session with ceremonial recognitions, then moved into legislative business, advancing a series of bills and resolutions.

Representative Ron Travis introduced a resolution commemorating the centennial of the 1925 Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee, saying the trial “placed faith and science at the center of the public mind and conversation” and invited constituents and visitors to the courthouse centennial events in Dayton. Ashley Howe, executive director of the Tennessee State Museum, told the chamber the State Museum will present a companion exhibition, Scopes at 100, this summer. Several Ray County officials and representatives of local historical groups attended in the gallery and were recognized from the well.

Later in the morning Representative Garret honored Raleigh (Riley) Gaines of Sumner County with a resolution recognizing her athletic achievements and public advocacy. Gaines, who addressed the chamber, said it was “an honor to be here, as a lifelong and very proud Tennessean,” and urged continued legislative attention to issues she described as affecting women’s sports.

After the presentations the House handled a steady flow of bills. Sponsors and committee chairs described the measures briefly on the floor before votes. Among measures taken up were:

- Senate Bill 1388 (substituted for a House bill): a measure to expand opportunities for vocational rehabilitation customers and blind vendors to operate vending facilities on public properties. The sponsor described it as increasing “accountability measures for vendors” and expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

- Senate Bill 547 (substituted for a House bill): a public-safety–related bill that the sponsor and supporters said establishes a parity fee option for district attorneys and public defenders to fund expert witnesses, computer upgrades and travel related to investigations.

- Senate Bill 1114 (substituted for a House bill): a bill to remove a sunset provision related to public-records requests targeting requests made with “intent to disrupt government operations.” Sponsors said the measure clarifies when requests may be treated as disruptive.

- Senate Bill 1274 (substituted for a House bill): legislation to modernize fee structures and create a state-level coal combustion residual (CCR) landfill permit program within the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Chairman Todd said the measure will “authorize cost recovery for activities related to coal combustion residual disposal units” and permit state regulation of certain CCR disposal units.

- Senate Bill 111 (substituted for a House bill): a narrow change for alcoholic beverage law allowing an owner of both a winery and a distillery on a single property to use one shared tasting room for both operations.

- Senate Bill 263 (substituted for a House bill): a measure stating that policies of certain international organizations have no jurisdiction in Tennessee unless adopted by Congress or the General Assembly.

- House Bill 622 (as amended on the floor): a bill on hiring practices for governmental entities that produced extended debate and an amendment fight over provisions affecting diversity, equity and inclusion policies (see separate article).

Several bills were passed or set for further action that day; the House clerk announced outcomes on the floor. For a number of bills the clerk’s roll-call tallies and the precise counts were recorded in the minute-by-minute transcript; where the vote totals were not clearly stated on the floor transcript, those counts are noted below as not specified.

Votes at a glance (action and outcome as recorded on the House floor):

- S.B. 1388 (vocational services/vendors on public properties) — Passed (voice/roll-call recorded on the floor; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- S.B. 547 (public-safety funding parity/fees) — Passed (floor announcement; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- S.B. 1114 (public-records intent-to-disrupt provision; remove sunset) — Passed (floor announcement; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- S.B. 1274 (environmental regulatory/coal combustion residuals permitting) — Passed; sponsors described it as creating a state CCR permit program for submission to EPA (floor announcement; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- S.B. 111 (alcoholic beverage tasting rooms for co-located winery/distillery) — Passed (floor announcement; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- S.B. 263 (declaratory language on international organizations’ jurisdiction) — Passed (floor announcement; vote tallies not specified in the floor record excerpt).
- H.B. 622 (hiring by governmental entities, as amended) — Passed (roll-call recorded on the floor; final tally reported by the clerk).

Why it matters: the ceremonial recognitions underscored local historical tourism and state pride around Dayton’s Scopes trial centennial and highlighted a high-profile commentator on women’s sports; the legislative actions advance policy changes affecting vocational services and vendor access on public property, public-records enforcement, environmental regulation of coal ash, and state policies on hiring and government DEI-related practices.

What’s next: a number of constitutional amendment resolutions that were read to the House (including measures on property-tax authority, victims’ rights and bail) were set for later third readings or for submission to voters; other passed bills will proceed per the Legislature’s calendar and interchamber process.

Votes and formal actions are summarized from the House floor transcript; tallies and roll-call details are reported where they were explicitly read into the record. If a count was not clearly read in the transcript excerpt, that count is marked as not specified in this summary.