TCSA Capitol Update: April 24, 2026

Tennessee County Voice – Capitol Update | April 24, 2026

✍️: https://tncounties.org/tcsa-capitol-update-week-of-april-20-2026/

In this episode of Tennessee County Voice, we break down a chaotic final week of the 2026 Tennessee General Assembly, which adjourned Thursday night after suspended rules, frayed tempers, and a last-minute rush of legislation. TCSA staff were at the Capitol tracking fast-moving developments and pushing back on proposals that posed serious concerns for county governments.

We take a closer look at late attempts to expand Tennessee’s school voucher programs beyond the legislature’s approved limits, including a proposal that would have shifted students into the older ESA program and extended vouchers into Knox County—potentially redirecting both state and local education dollars away from public schools. You’ll also hear how Senate concerns and behind-the-scenes negotiations ultimately derailed those efforts. 

For more details on these issues—and other end-of-session legislation affecting county budgets, education funding, and property taxes—visit the TCSA Capitol Update blog at www.tncounties.org. 

©️ 2026 Tennessee County Services Association

For more information, visit www.tncounties.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the TCSA Capital Update on this Friday, April 24, 2026. After a tumultuous final few days, the General Assembly adjourned around 8 p.m. Thursday this week. With rules suspended, frayed nerves, and a flood of bills trying to make it across the finish line before adjournment, several attempts were made to drastically change bills to include more controversial measures. TCSA was on hand to monitor these developments and raise concerns about proposals that were harmful to counties. Even after the General Assembly voted to expand Governor Lee's Education Freedom Scholarship or EFS program by 15,000 additional scholarships, pro-school choice groups attempted to get legislatures to circumvent the CAP using a bill, House Bill 1881 and Senate Bill 1585 that reduces the testing requirements for private school students who accept a voucher. An amendment offered in the House Finance Committee would have provided that once the full allotment of 35,000 EFS scholarships is awarded, additional applicants could automatically be moved into the older Education Savings Account or ESA program currently operating in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties. The amendment also attempted to add Knox County into this original voucher program. Unlike the newer EFS program, the ESA program has income limits and allows students currently enrolled in public school to leave and go to private school. Because of those limitations, it has never been fully utilized. The other significant distinction between the two programs is that EFS scholarships are paid for strictly using state dollars and funded outside the TISA formula. The ESA program that this amendment attempted to expand awards both state and local TISA funding associated with a student to that student for use toward the costs of private education. These differences were not discussed when the bill was rushed through committees in the House early this week. When Senator Jack Johnson presented the bill on the floor, including only the language relative to testing requirements, senators raised concerns about what they had heard the House was considering. There was fear that the bill might pass the Senate, only to be amended in the House to include the voucher expansion in an attempt to force a conference committee. Because of these concerns, the bill fell one vote shy of passing on Wednesday and was returned to the calendar committee. It is reported that Senator Johnson pledged to his colleagues the next morning that he had no intention to go along with what the House was considering. On Thursday, the bill was brought back to the floor and passed the Senate only related to the testing requirements. When it was presented in the House a little later, the amendments to alter the voucher programs were withdrawn and the bill narrowly passed the House in the same form as the Senate. After the House passed legislation, House Bill 2319, last week to prohibit county employees from serving on the County Commission, the bill ran into problems in the Senate, Senate Bill 2591. A new amendment was proposed to say that employees of the county school system would not be considered county employees for the purposes of these prohibitions. That would have meant that teachers in the county school system could have continued to run for and serve on the county commission, but deputy sheriffs, employees of the highway department, and other county employees couldn't. Some senators objected to creating two classes of county employees and moved to table that amendment. Others talked about the challenges of finding good candidates willing to serve on the commission in smaller rural counties. Senators also simply argued that they felt the voters should have a right to decide who they want serving in local offices. After extensive debate, the bill failed 9 to 23 votes. Details on other bills considered and voted on this week, including maintenance of effort provisions for the county mayor's budget and property taxes on low-income housing projects in Tennessee, can be found on the TCSA Capital Update blog at www.tncounties.org. Comptroller Jason Mumpower often uses the quote: If you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu. The validity of that aphorism was on full display over the last couple of weeks. Legislators, lobbyists, and special interest groups are willing to use every trick in the book to gain an advantage in the chaos that is the end of a Tennessee General Assembly session. Organizations that do not have a presence in the halls of the legislature are at risk of experiencing significant harm at the stroke of a pen. By monitoring committees, reviewing amendments and calendars, and analyzing legislation, TCSA was able to identify multiple new threats to county government funding and operations that arose over the last couple of weeks and raised concerns with legislators. While some of these attempts are nefarious, others were simply mistakes or omissions. In the fast pace of the legislative session, senators and representatives rely on and expect organizations like ours to protect the interests we represent and identify threats and concerns. We hope you continue to support the association with your membership, your engagement, and your presence. Thanks for all the many ways you reached out to legislators and advocated for county government this year. We hope to see many of you soon in Gatlinburg at the TCSA Legislative Conference. We will provide much more information about what did and did not pass this year at that conference. Registration and lodging are now open for that conference on the TCSA website as well. Thanks again and see you soon.