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HB2045 • 2026

Campaigns and Campaign Finance

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2, Chapter 10, relative to security.

Elections
Active

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

Sponsor
Marsh, Haile
Last action
2026-03-16
Official status
Sponsor(s) Added.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary text does not provide details about enforcement mechanisms or penalties for exceeding the spending cap.

Campaign Security Spending

This bill changes how Tennessee allows officeholders to spend campaign money on security for their personal residences.

What This Bill Does

  • Clarifies that expenditures of campaign funds for enhanced security are not deemed for personal use only for officeholders, rather than for both officeholders and candidates.
  • Limits the amount that can be spent from campaign funds on home security to $12,000 per year.
  • Specifies what counts as 'home security equipment' and requires it to be used only for the personal residence of an officeholder.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Officeholders who use campaign money for their own home security.

Terms To Know

Campaign funds
Money collected and spent by a candidate or political party during an election.
Expenditure
Spending money for something specific, like buying security equipment.

Limits and Unknowns

  • It's unclear how this will be enforced or checked by authorities.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB2045

Plain English: The amendment changes how campaign funds can be used for security at an officeholder's personal residence.

  • Campaign funds can now be used for home security without being considered a personal expense, but only up to $12,000 per year.
  • Specific types of security measures are allowed, such as consultation services, equipment installation, monitoring services, and hiring guards.
  • The officeholder must keep records about these expenditures and disclose them as 'residential security'.
  • Details on how the confidentiality during audits or investigations works are not fully explained.
Amendment 1-0 to SB2320

Plain English: The amendment changes Tennessee's campaign finance laws to clarify that security-related expenditures by candidates or officeholders are not considered personal use and must be reported as 'security'.

  • Adds a new subdivision (4) to Section 2-10-114(b) of the Tennessee Code Annotated, which states that campaign funds used for enhancing security for a candidate or officeholder will not be treated as personal use.
  • Requires candidates and officeholders to disclose these expenditures under the category 'security' and maintain all related documentation according to § 2-10-212(c).
  • Confidentiality is granted during audits or investigations, meaning information about security-related expenditures is protected from public inspection.
  • The amendment text does not specify what types of security expenses qualify under this new rule.
  • It's unclear how the confidentiality provision will be enforced and in which specific circumstances it applies.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Message Calendar for 4/15/2026

  2. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Conference Committee appointed. (Haile, Briggs, Hatcher, Watson)

  3. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate refused to recede from its non-concurrence.

  4. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/13/2026

  5. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. refused to recede from H. am. no. 1

  6. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Message Calendar for 4/2/2026

  7. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate refused to concur in amendment

  8. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 3/26/2026

  9. 2026-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 3/26/2026

  10. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 3/19/2026

  11. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  12. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Comp. SB subst.

  13. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 87, Nays 4, PNV 3

  14. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0613)

  15. 2026-03-16 Tennessee General Assembly

    Subst. for comp. HB.

  16. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/16/2026

  17. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  18. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/12/2026

  19. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to House

  20. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 1

  21. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0615)

  22. 2026-03-06 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/9/2026

  23. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee

  24. 2026-03-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 3/9/2026

  25. 2026-02-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/2/2026

  26. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. State & Local Government Committee for 3/4/2026

  27. 2026-02-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  28. 2026-02-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  29. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  30. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 2/24/2026

  31. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee for 2/17/2026

  32. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee

  33. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Elections & Campaign Finance Subcommittee

  34. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to State & Local Government Committee

  35. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  36. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  37. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  38. 2026-01-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 9, 2026, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2320.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:



Provides that general enhanced security for a candidate or officeholder is not deemed an expenditure for personal use, rather than only enhanced security for a candidate or officeholder's personal residence. Further, such authorized expenditures must be disclosed as "security" rather than as "residential security."



Eliminates the $12,000 spending cap for security expenditures.

ON MARCH 16, 2026, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 2320 FOR HOUSE BILL 2045, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 2320, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes:



Clarifies that expenditures of campaign funds for enhanced security are not deemed for personal use only for officeholders, rather than for both officeholders and candidates.


Clarifies that expenditures must not exceed $12,000, and must be used only for home security consultation, home security equipment, home security monitoring services, and the use of security guards at an officeholder's personal residence.


Clarifies that "home security equipment" means security software, entryway sensors, motion sensors, base stations, control panels, security cameras, video doorbells, floodlights, key fobs, panic buttons, glass break sensors, smoke and fire detectors, locks, and security doors.

ON MARCH 26, 2026, THE SENATE NON-CONCURRED IN HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.

ON APRIL 2, 2026, THE HOUSE REFUSED TO RECEDE IN ITS ACTIONS IN ADOPTING HOUSE AMENDMENT #1.

ON APRIL 13, 2026, THE SENATE REFUSED TO RECEDE FROM ITS NONCURRENCE IN HOUSE
AMENDMENT #1 AND APPOINTED A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 2320
By Haile

HOUSE BILL 2045
By Marsh
HB2045
010879
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2,
Chapter 10, relative to security.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-10-114(b), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision (4) and redesignating the existing subdivision (4) accordingly:
(4) Expenditures of campaign funds to enhance security for a candidate or
officeholder's personal residence are not deemed for personal use. Expenditures
authorized by this subdivision (b)(4) are limited to twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) per
calendar year and must be disclosed as "residential security." The candidate or
officeholder shall maintain all documentation pertaining to residential security
expenditures in accordance with § 2-10-212(c). In the event of an audit or investigation,
all information received by the registry concerning this subdivision (b)(4) is confidential
and not open to public inspection.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.