Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB0178 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2		-	SENATE BILL 471
3		-	By Bowling
	2	+	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
4	3
5	4		HOUSE BILL 178
6	5		By Bulso
7	6
8	7
9	8		HB0178
10	9		001271
11	10		- 1 -
12	11
13	12		AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
14	13		Chapter 6, Part 13, relative to the Success
15	14		Sequence Act.
16	15
17	16		WHEREAS, couples who have children within marriage have higher family incomes and
18	17		lower poverty rates than their unmarried counterparts; and
19	18		WHEREAS, over the past forty-five years, the number of children living with married
20	19		parents has declined by twelve percent; and
21	20		WHEREAS, approximately twenty-five percent of all children today do not have married
22	21		parents; and
23	22		WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are more likely to flourish compared to
24	23		children raised in single-parent families; and
25	24		WHEREAS, children raised in stable, married-parent families are more likely to excel in
26	25		school, and generally earn higher grade point averages than children who are not; and
27	26		WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are about twice as likely to graduate from
28	27		college than children who are not; and
29	28		WHEREAS, children not raised in a home with married parents are twice as likely to end
30	29		up in jail or prison before reaching thirty years of age; and
31	30		WHEREAS, children raised by a single parent are more than three times as likely to live
32	31		in poverty than children raised by married parents; and
33	32		WHEREAS, the strongest negative community predictor of children from low-income
34	33		families realizing the American dream, which includes going from poverty as children to
35	34		affluence as adults, is the share of single parents in a community; and
36	35
37	36
38	37		- 2 - 001271
39	38
40	39		WHEREAS, among millennials who finished high school, entered the workforce, and
41	40		were married before having children, ninety-seven percent did not live in poverty when they
42	41		reached adulthood; now, therefore,
43	42		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
44	43		SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Success Sequence Act."
45	44		SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1301, is amended by adding
46	45		the following as a new subdivision:
47	46		"Success sequence" means a method by which a person completes the following
48	47		in the following sequence:
49	48		(A) Obtains a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential;
50	49		(B) Enters into the workforce or pursues a postsecondary degree or
51	50		credential;
52	51		(C) Enters into marriage; and
53	52		(D) Has children;
54	53		SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1304(a), is amended by adding
55	54		the following as a new subdivision:
56	55		(15) Provide instruction and evidence regarding the positive personal and
57	56		societal outcomes associated with the success sequence.
58	57		SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
59	58		applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.