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HB2089 • 2026

Education

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 15; Title 49, Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 6, relative to victims of communism.

Education
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Powers, Yager
Last action
2026-04-07
Official status
Transmitted to Governor for his action.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Victims of Communism Day in Tennessee Schools

This act requires schools in Tennessee to recognize November 7 as Victims of Communism Day and provide high school students with at least 45 minutes of instruction on the suffering caused by communist regimes.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools to observe November 7 each year as 'Victims of Communism Day'.
  • Requires LEAs and public charter schools to provide high school students enrolled in world history and geography courses with at least 45 minutes of instruction on the suffering caused by communist regimes, including through poverty, starvation, migration, systemized lethal violence, and suppression of speech.
  • Specifies that if Victims of Communism Day falls on a weekend or holiday, the required instruction must be given on the next school day.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools in Tennessee.
  • High school students enrolled in world history and geography courses.

Terms To Know

Local Education Agencies (LEAs)
School districts or other local government bodies responsible for providing education services to a specific area.
Victims of Communism Day
A day designated by the Tennessee legislature to honor those who suffered under communist regimes, observed on November 7 each year.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a school fails to comply with these requirements.
  • It is unclear how this instruction will be integrated into existing world history and geography curricula.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB2089

Plain English: The amendment changes when schools must teach about victims of communism to ensure it happens on Victims of Communism Day or the nearest school day if that day is not a regular class day.

  • Schools are required to teach about victims of communism specifically on Victims of Communism Day, which is now defined in the amendment.
  • The exact date and details of Victims of Communism Day are not provided in the amendment text, so more context would be needed to fully understand its implications.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-07 Tennessee General Assembly

    Transmitted to Governor for his action.

  2. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by Senate Speaker

  3. 2026-04-01 Tennessee General Assembly

    Signed by H. Speaker

  4. 2026-03-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.

  5. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed Senate, Ayes 25, Nays 5

  6. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.

  7. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  8. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Companion House Bill substituted

  9. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/26/2026

  10. 2026-03-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 3/26/2026

  11. 2026-03-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/23/2026

  12. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee

  13. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  14. 2026-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/18/2026

  15. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/18/2026

  16. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  17. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  18. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 72, Nays 17, PNV 1

  19. 2026-03-09 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0587)

  20. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/9/2026

  21. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/11/2026

  22. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/5/2026

  23. 2026-03-03 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  24. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/3/2026

  25. 2026-02-17 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  26. 2026-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  27. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Education Instruction Subcommittee for 2/17/2026

  28. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Education Instruction Subcommittee

  29. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  30. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee

  31. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  32. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  33. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  34. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Effective for the 2026-2027 school year and subsequent school years, this bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) and public charter schools to recognize November 7 each year as "Victims of Communism Day" to honor victims of communist regimes. If
an LEA or public charter school provides a world history and geography course to enrolled high school students, then the LEA or public charter school must provide the students enrolled in the course with at least 45 minutes of instruction on how victims s
uf
fered under communist regimes, including through poverty, starvation, migration, systemized lethal violence, and suppression of speech, in conjunction with any of the following topics:



Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution


Joseph Stalin and the Soviet System


Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution


Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge


Nicolás Maduro and the Chavismo movement

This bill provides that if Victims of Communism Day is on a day that a high school student who is enrolled in a world history and geography course does not receive instruction for the course, then the student must receive the instruction required by this
bill on the next day that the student receives instruction for the course.

ON MARCH 9, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2089, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 r
evises this bill's provision concerning the date that the instruction required by this bill must be provided. This amendment requires that the
instruction be taught on Victims of Communism Day
; provided, however, that i
f Victims of Communism Day falls on a weekend or any day for which students enrolled in a world history and geography course will not receive instruction for the course, then the instruction must be taught on the next school day for which such students wi
ll receive instruction
in the course.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 2168
By Yager

HOUSE BILL 2089
By Powers
HB2089
010623
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 15;
Title 49, Chapter 1 and Title 49, Chapter 6, relative
to victims of communism.

WHEREAS, over 100 years have passed since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and
the formation of the first communist government under Vladimir Lenin, which led to decades of
oppression and violence under communist regimes throughout the world; and
WHEREAS, based on the economic philosophies of Karl Marx, communism has proven
incompatible with the ideals of liberty, prosperity, and dignity of human life; and
WHEREAS, communism has given rise to infamous totalitarian dictators, including
Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot; and
WHEREAS, communist regimes worldwide have killed more than 100 million people and
subjected countless others to exploitation and unspeakable atrocities, with victims representing
many different ethnicities, creeds, and backgrounds; and
WHEREAS, communist regimes have systematically robbed their own citizens of the
rights of freedom of worship, freedom of speech, and freedom of association through false
promises of equality and liberation or through coercion, brutality, and fear; and
WHEREAS, regimes persecuted those who spoke out in opposition and held many
victims of communism as political prisoners, while others were killed in genocidal, state-
sponsored purges of undesirable groups; and
WHEREAS, in addition to violating basic human rights, communist regimes have
suppressed intellectual freedom, cultural life, and self-determination movements in more than
forty nations; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

- 2 - 010623

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 10, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) November 7 of each year, LEAs and public charter schools shall recognize
the day as "Victims of Communism Day" to honor victims of communist regimes.
(b) If an LEA or public charter school provides a world history and geography
course to high school students enrolled in an LEA or public charter school, then the LEA
or public charter school shall provide the students enrolled in the course with at least
forty-five (45) minutes of instruction on how victims suffered under communist regimes,
including through poverty, starvation, migration, systemized lethal violence, and
suppression of speech, in conjunction with any of the following topics:
(1) Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution;
(2) Joseph Stalin and the Soviet System;
(3) Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution;
(4) Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; or
(5) Nicolás Maduro and the Chavismo movement.
(c) If Victims of Communism Day is on a day that a high school student who is
enrolled in a world history and geography course does not receive instruction for the
course, then the student must receive the instruction required by this section on the next
day that the student receives instruction for the course.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it,
and applies to the 2026-2027 school year and subsequent school years.