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HB0348 • 2026

Education

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-314, relative to education finance.

Budget Education Elections
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Hurt, Hensley
Last action
2026-04-09
Official status
Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Education Finance Act

This bill requires local governments in Tennessee to prioritize education funding before increasing funds for other departments and mandates that any shortfall must be addressed in the following fiscal year.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires local governments to first allocate any unfunded portion of the budget intended for education before increasing funds for other departments such as the county mayor's office, sheriff's office, highway department, or election commission.
  • Specifies that if a local government fails to fully fund education in one year, it must make up the difference in the following fiscal year.
  • Changes how maintenance of funding effort is calculated when a local government does not allocate enough funds for education; it will be based on what was budgeted instead of what was actually allocated.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local governments in Tennessee
  • Education agencies (LEAs) receiving state and local funding

Terms To Know

Maintenance of Funding Effort
A requirement for local governments to maintain a certain level of spending on education from year to year.
LEA (Local Education Agency)
An agency responsible for providing public education in a specific area, such as a school district.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The exact financial impact of the bill cannot be determined with certainty due to variations in local revenue collections and required funding levels.
  • Future increases in local expenditures are uncertain beyond fiscal year 2026-27.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to HB0348

Plain English: The amendment requires local governments to prioritize funding for schools before increasing budgets for other departments if they fail to fully fund education as required by law.

  • Local governments must first allocate any underfunded school budget amounts before raising funds for the county mayor's office, sheriff's office, highway department, or election commission.
  • If a local government fails to fully fund schools in one year, it cannot increase its funding effort for other departments until the shortfall is corrected and considered as nonrecurring expenditure.
  • The amendment only applies to fiscal years starting from 2025-2026.
  • It's unclear how this will affect local governments that already meet or exceed funding requirements for schools.
Amendment 1-0 to SB0614

Plain English: The amendment requires local governments to prioritize funding for schools before increasing budgets for other departments if they fail to fully fund education as required.

  • Local governments must first allocate any underfunded school budget amounts before raising funds for the county mayor's office, sheriff's office, highway department, or election commission.
  • If a local government fails to fully fund schools in one year, it cannot increase its funding effort for other departments until the shortfall is corrected and considered as nonrecurring expenditure.
  • The exact impact on local budgets and school funding levels is unclear without additional context.
  • Details about enforcement mechanisms or penalties are not provided in the amendment text.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2026

  2. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  3. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/11/2026

  4. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee to 3/11/2026

  5. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  6. 2025-04-15 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.

  7. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  8. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 23, Nays 5, PNV 2

  9. 2025-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0280)

  10. 2025-04-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/14/2025

  11. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/14/2025

  12. 2025-04-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed behind the budget

  13. 2025-04-08 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  14. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee for 4/9/2025

  15. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee

  16. 2025-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

  17. 2025-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 4/8/2025

  18. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 4/1/2025

  19. 2025-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  20. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 4/1/2025

  21. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/25/2025

  22. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/26/2025

  23. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/26/2025

  24. 2025-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Committee

  25. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/18/2025

  26. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/19/2025

  27. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/19/2025

  28. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/12/2025

  29. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  30. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  31. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee

  32. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  33. 2025-01-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  34. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  35. 2025-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON A
PRIL 14, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 614, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:



Requires the local government to first
appropriate and allocate the unfunded portion to the LEA before it may increase its maintenance of funding effort for any of the following
: (i) t
he county mayor's office, (ii)
t
he sheriff's office, (iii) the highway department,
or
(iv) the election commission.



Revises the provision addressing how the maintenance of local funding is determined when a local government fails to so appropriate or allocate to, instead, provide that t
he maintenance of local funding effort required for a fiscal year following a year in which the local government failed to appropriate or allocate the full budgeted amount to the LEA is determined based on the amount budgeted for the previous fiscal year, rather than the amount actually appropriated or allocated.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 614
By Hensley

HOUSE BILL 348
By Hurt

HB0348
001003
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section
49-3-314, relative to education finance.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-3-314(c), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(5)
(A) Notwithstanding a law to the contrary, for fiscal year 2025-2026 and
any subsequent fiscal year, if a local government adopts a budget that includes
the maintenance of local funding effort required under this section but fails to
appropriate or allocate the full amount budgeted to the LEA, then the local
government shall appropriate and allocate the unfunded portion to the LEA in the
following fiscal year.
(B) Funds appropriated under subdivision (c)(5)(A) to correct a local
funding shortfall must be considered a nonrecurring expenditure under
subdivision (c)(4). The maintenance of local funding effort required for a fiscal
year following a fiscal year in which the local government failed to appropriate or
allocate the full amount budgeted to the LEA must be determined based on the
amount budgeted to the LEA for the previous fiscal year instead of the amount
actually appropriated or allocated to the LEA by the local government.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.