The Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee met April 17 and voted to advance more than two dozen bills to the full Finance Committee, sending measures on transportation funding, wetlands permitting, criminal-justice procedures and program extensions for further consideration.

The committee moved a large consent calendar and then took up individual bills, approving each by recorded voice vote or roll call and forwarding the measures to full Finance. Several bills received brief floor descriptions from their sponsors; most were approved without extended debate.

Why it matters: the subcommittees approvals send the measures to the full Finance Committee, where fiscal impacts and final recommendations are reviewed ahead of floor consideration. Several measures would change state programs or funding streams if ultimately enacted.

Among the bills advanced:

House Bill 5 76 (Chairman Doggett): Creates a Board of Professional Bondsmen to be housed under the Department of Commerce and Insurance. The committee adopted an amendment (drafting code 7,254) and moved the bill to full finance by a recorded vote (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 12 78 (Chairman Hill): As amended, this bill allows certain loan charges (origination, application, appraisal fees and similar costs) to be included in requests to the hurricane interest payment fund so counties may include those costs in applications. The committee adopted a rewrite amendment (drafting code 7,424) and forwarded the bill (12 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 40 (Chairman Reedy): Establishes a task/study to evaluate state needs for juvenile detention capacity after local roundtable discussions; the committee advanced the bill (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 10 89 (Chairman Hicks): As amended, requires mental-health evaluations for people convicted of certain offenses as part of sentencing. The subcommittee adopted an amendment (drafting code 6,500) and advanced the bill (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 55 (Leader Lambert): A multi-part criminal-justice bill described by the sponsor as having minimal local fiscal impact (about $3,900). The bill moved to full finance (11 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 9 69 (Chairman Hawk): Creates a recurring transportation funding stream by dedicating sales tax on tires to the transportation fund; the committee adopted amendment drafting code 6,997 and advanced the bill (11 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 7 61 (Chair Lady Littleton): Removes the definition of "content harmful to minors" from the Protect Tennessee Minors Act; advanced to full finance (12 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 5 41 (Chairman Vaughn): Revises isolated-wetlands law, requires annual reporting on mitigation directed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), differentiates wetland quality and permitting levels, and updates mitigation presumptions for certain lower-value wetlands. The bill was described as a multi-year effort and advanced (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 13 26 (Chairman Vaughn): A permissive bill that (1) establishes vesting rights when an application is accepted and (2) allows local governments to permit conditional use permits administratively if the local body authorizes it. The committee advanced the bill (12 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 9 30 (Chairman White): Updates a revolving loan fund for low-income housing, making unused funds accessible; advanced to full finance (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 24 (Representative Hemmer): Modernizes wildlife penalties by increasing fines (up to $500 per violation) from prior limits; the committee adopted an amendment (drafting code 6,818) and advanced the bill (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 7 17 (as amended; Representative Jones / Chairman Hicks): Extends the termination date of the Alzheimers and dementia respite care pilot program from December 2025 to Dec. 31, 2026 (amendment drafting code 7,509); advanced to full finance (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 33 and House Bill 34 (Chairman Gillespie): Changes to bail and pretrial consideration: HB33 establishes a presumption against release on personal recognizance when a charge involves a firearm or results in serious bodily injury or death and requires a written finding from the judge; HB34 permits a five-year juvenile-record lookback for young adults in bail-setting. Both bills advanced (HB33: 12 ayes, 0 nos; HB34: 13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 11 81 and House Bill 6 53 (Chairman Hicks of Washington): HB11 81 moved with a timely-filed amendment (drafting code 7,417) and HB6 53 advanced with an untimely amendment (drafting code 7,757); both were sent to full finance (HB11 81: 13 ayes, 0 nos; HB6 53: 13 ayes, 0 nos). Sponsorship descriptions indicated these bills address election/financial registry efficiency and related transparency measures.

House Bill 1 32 (Deputy Speaker Zachary): Would allow the General Assembly to terminate a state of emergency at any time by joint resolution; advanced to full finance (13 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 12 32 (Leader Lambert): Creates a 30-day mandatory minimum for possession of fentanyl for state employees? (sponsor described it as a Fentanyl bill addressing mandatory minimums, treatment access and crime-scene preservation). The bill advanced to full finance (13 ayes, 0 nos). (Specific statutory cross-references and final fiscal impacts were not specified in the subcommittee discussion.)

House Bill 3 22 (Chairman Todd): Creates the crime of human smuggling to give law enforcement tools to prosecute smuggling (distinguished by organizers/large-scale transportation from trafficking); advanced on recorded vote (11 ayes, 2 nos).

House Bill 8 94 (Chairman Todd): Reconstitutes the board of groundwater management; advanced on recorded vote (11 ayes, 1 no).

House Bill 3 70 (Representative Scarborough): Clarifies the statutory term "communicate" to include contact in the physical presence of a person; advanced to full finance (11 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 9 15 (Representative Sparks): Adds family caregiving and end-of-life caregiving for specified relatives as qualifying reasons for existing six-week paid leave for state employees; the Department of Human Resources would set guidelines for implementation; the subcommittee adopted amendment drafting code 7,705 and advanced the bill (10 ayes, 0 nos reported at time of tally).

House Bill 11 63 (Representative Stevens): Makes the state portion of base student funding under TISA a direct allocation to charter schools rather than a pass-through from local education agencies; advanced to full finance (12 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 9 40 (Leader Camper): As amended, the bill updates watercraft operation and insurance requirements, sets an age requirement, and takes effect January 2026; the committee advanced the bill (12 ayes, 0 nos).

House Bill 9 19 (Chairman Sopicki): Adds two appointments (one by the Speaker of the House and one by the Lieutenant Governor) to the boards of the Tennessee Board of Regents, the University Board of Trustees and the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, with staggered terms and additional picks on rolls; advanced to full finance (12 ayes, 0 nos).

Votes at a glance: the committee generally advanced items on the consent calendar and then took up individual items. Where a roll call or tally was given, the clerk reported between 10 and 13 ayes on the measures described above; most measures were approved unanimously by those voting in committee. Several amendments (timely and untimely) were considered and added before final votes.

Meeting context and next steps: All measures advanced by this subcommittee now proceed to the full Finance Committee, which will review fiscal notes and consider whether to adopt the subcommittee recommendations before bills move to the floor. Where sponsors indicated further work (for example, on fiscal details or technical statutory language), those details will be resolved in subsequent committee stages.

Ending: The subcommittee recessed after completing its April 17 agenda; the record shows the items above were moved forward for further review by the full Finance Committee.