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SB2634 • 2026

Election Laws

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2; Title 49, Chapter 11; Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49, Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9, relative to election day.

Education Elections
Active

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

Sponsor
Roberts, Barrett
Last action
2026-04-23
Official status
Re-refer to S. Cal Comm
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not explicitly state that it encourages civic engagement or student participation, although these may be implied goals.

Colby's Law: Academic Holiday for General Elections

This bill requires all public colleges and universities in Tennessee to observe an academic holiday on general election days.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires public institutions of higher education to have an academic holiday on general election day.
  • Allows these institutions to continue operating during the holiday, without closing or suspending operations.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Public colleges and universities in Tennessee

Terms To Know

academic holiday
A day when students do not have any academic obligations, such as classes or assignments.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a student misses an important deadline due to the election day holiday.
  • It is unclear how many institutions will choose to observe this holiday and implement measures to encourage voting among students.

Amendments

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

Amendment 1-0 to HB2167

Plain English: House Education 1 Amendment No.

  • House Education 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to HB2167 White Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2634 House Bill No.
  • 2167* HA0873 014878 - 1 - by deleting all language after the caption and substituting: WHEREAS, Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State in part due to its proud tradition of civic participation, community service, and volunteerism that reflects the values of its people; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is intended to further our State's proud history for generations to come by ensuring that all public institutions of higher learning across the State create meaningful opportunities for their students to embrace their duty of civic engagement through participation in the electoral process; and WHEREAS, removing academic barriers to student participation in general election day events has proven to increase student voter turnout and volunteerism in elections and campaign activities; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is also consistent with the value that academia places on volunteerism in that encouraging students to engage in their communities through dedicated student service hours on general election day would be beneficial to both the student and the community; now, therefore, BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: SECTION 1.
Amendment 1-0 to SB2634

Plain English: Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.

  • Senate State and Local Government 1 Amendment No.
  • 1 to SB2634 Briggs Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2634 House Bill No.
  • 2167* SA0880 014878 - 1 - by deleting all language after the caption and substituting: WHEREAS, Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State in part due to its proud tradition of civic participation, community service, and volunteerism that reflects the values of its people; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is intended to further our State's proud history for generations to come by ensuring that all public institutions of higher learning across the State create meaningful opportunities for their students to embrace their duty of civic engagement through participation in the electoral process; and WHEREAS, removing academic barriers to student participation in general election day events has proven to increase student voter turnout and volunteerism in elections and campaign activities; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is also consistent with the value that academia places on volunteerism in that encouraging students to engage in their communities through dedicated student service hours on general election day would be beneficial to both the student and the community; now, therefore, BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: SECTION 1.
Amendment 2-0 to SB2634

Plain English: Amendment No.

  • Amendment No.
  • 2 to SB2634 Roberts Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2634 House Bill No.
  • 2167* SA1047 017964 - 1 - by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1.
Amendment 3-0 to SB2634

Plain English: Amendment No.

  • Amendment No.
  • 3 to SB2634 Roberts Signature of Sponsor AMEND Senate Bill No.
  • 2634 House Bill No.
  • 2167* SA1059 018119 - 1 - by deleting all language after the caption and substituting: WHEREAS, Tennessee is known as the Volunteer State in part due to its proud tradition of civic participation, community service, and volunteerism that reflects the values of its people; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is intended to further our State's proud history for generations to come by ensuring that all public institutions of higher learning across the State create meaningful opportunities for their students to embrace their duty of civic engagement through participation in the electoral process; and WHEREAS, removing academic barriers to student participation in a regular November election day event has proven to increase student voter turnout and volunteerism in elections and campaign activities; and WHEREAS, Colby's Law is also consistent with the value that academia places on volunteerism in that encouraging students to engage in their communities through dedicated student service hours on a regular November election day would be beneficial to both the student and the community; now, therefore, BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: SECTION 1.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-23 Tennessee General Assembly

    Re-refer to S. Cal Comm

  2. 2026-04-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/23/2026

  3. 2026-04-21 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on Final calendar

  4. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/21/2026

  5. 2026-04-20 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/21/2026

  6. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  7. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  8. 2026-04-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/20/2026

  9. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  10. 2026-04-13 Tennessee General Assembly

    Senate Reset on calendar for 4/20/2026

  11. 2026-04-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/13/2026

  12. 2026-04-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Received from House, Passed on First Consideration

  13. 2026-03-31 Tennessee General Assembly

    Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.

  14. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  15. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed H., as am., Ayes 89, Nays 0, PNV 4

  16. 2026-03-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0873)

  17. 2026-03-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/30/2026

  18. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0

  19. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  20. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/26/2026

  21. 2026-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  22. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/25/2026

  23. 2026-03-24 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/25/2026

  24. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/24/2026

  25. 2026-03-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/24/2026

  26. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/24/2026

  27. 2026-03-17 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/24/2026

  28. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/17/2026

  29. 2026-03-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/17/2026

  30. 2026-03-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action def. in Education Committee to 3/17/2026

  31. 2026-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  32. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on cal. Education Committee for 3/10/2026

  33. 2026-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  34. 2026-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Higher Education Subcommittee for 3/4/2026

  35. 2026-02-18 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Higher Education Subcommittee to Next Available Calendar

  36. 2026-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Higher Education Subcommittee for 2/18/2026

  37. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

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

  38. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Higher Education Subcommittee

  39. 2026-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Education Committee

  40. 2026-02-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  41. 2026-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  42. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  43. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  44. 2026-02-02 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

ON MARCH 30, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED
AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2167, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to enact "Colby's Law", which requires each public institution of higher education to, on the date of a general election, implement reasonable measures to promote civic engagement and facilitate student participation in th
e election process.

This amendment authorizes institutions to observe an academic holiday on the date of a general election. An institution that elects to observe an academic holiday on the date of a general election is not required to close the institution or to suspend i
ts operations.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
HOUSE BILL 2167
By Barrett

SENATE BILL 2634
By Roberts
SB2634
012419
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2;
Title 49, Chapter 11; Title 49, Chapter 7; Title 49,
Chapter 8 and Title 49, Chapter 9, relative to
election day.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 2-1-106, is amended by adding the
following as a new subsection:
(e)
(1) Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, all public institutions of higher
education in this state shall observe an academic holiday on each general election day.
(2) As used in this subsection (e), "academic holiday" means a cessation of all
academic obligations, such as in-person classes, online classes, asynchronous classes,
exams, quizzes, assignments, or any type of task, duty, or chore that has an effect on a
student's grade or involvement in a class at a public institution of higher education.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.