Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee House Bill HB0800 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1	1
2		-	SENATE BILL 934
3		-	By Rose
	2	+	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
4	3
5	4		HOUSE BILL 800
6	5		By Grills
7	6
8	7
9	8		HB0800
10	9		002543
11	10		- 1 -
12	11
13	12		AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
14	13		relative to discrimination in educational institutions.
15	14
16	15		WHEREAS, a historic rise in antisemitic violence, harassment, and discrimination has
17	16		occurred at K-12 schools, colleges, and universities across the United States, targeting Jewish
18	17		students; and
19	18		WHEREAS, on April 2024, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that
20	19		the number of FBI investigations into antisemitic hate crimes tripled in the months after October
21	20		7, 2023; and
22	21		WHEREAS, according to a recent Gallup Poll, eighty-one percent of Americans now see
23	22		antisemitism as either a very or somewhat serious problem, up from fifty-seven percent two
24	23		decades ago; and
25	24		WHEREAS, acts of antisemitism on our campuses undermine the educational and social
26	25		fabric of our institutions; and
27	26		WHEREAS, promoting understanding, tolerance, and respect for all students and faculty
28	27		is imperative; now, therefore,
29	28		BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENN ESSEE:
30	29		SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 50, is amended by adding
31	30		the following as a new part:
32	31		49-50-1801.
33	32		(a) Discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability,
34	33		religion, or marital status against a student or an employee in a public institution of
35	34		education is prohibited. A person in this state must not, on the basis of race, ethnicity,
	35	+	national origin, gender, disability, religion, or marital status be excluded from
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37	37
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39	39
40		-	national origin, gender, disability, religion, or marital status be excluded from
41	40		participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
42	41		public education program or activity, or in any employment conditions or practices,
43	42		conducted by a public institution of education that receives or benefits from federal or
44	43		state financial assistance. As used in this part, "public institution of education" means
45	44		local education agencies, public charter schools, and public institutions of higher
46	45		education.
47	46		(b) The criteria for admission to a program or course must not have the effect of
48	47		restricting access by persons of a particular race, ethnicity, national origin, disability,
49	48		religion, or marital status.
50	49		(c) All public education classes must be available to students without regard to
51	50		the student's race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or marital status.
52	51		This subsection (c) is not intended to eliminate the provision of programs designed to
53	52		meet the needs of students with limited proficiency in English, gifted students, or
54	53		students with disabilities or programs tailored to students with specialized talents or
55	54		skills.
56	55		(d) Guidance services, counseling services, and financial assistance services in
57	56		the state public education system are available to all students equally and provided in
58	57		the same manner, regardless of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or
59	58		marital status.
60	59		(e) All education programs, activities, and opportunities offered by public
61	60		institutions of education must be made available without discrimination on the basis of
62	61		race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or marital status.
63	62		49-50-1802.
	63	+	(a) A public institution of education must treat harassment or discrimination
	64	+	against students or employees, or resulting from institutional policies or programs on
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68		-	(a) A public institution of education must treat harassment or discrimination
69		-	against students or employees, or resulting from institutional policies or programs on
70	69		their campuses, motivated by or including antisemitic intent in an identical manner to
71	70		discrimination motivated by race.
72	71		(b) As used in this section, "antisemitism" has the same meaning as defined by
73	72		the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) Working Definition of
74	73		Antisemitism, including its contemporary examples, as it was adopted on May 26, 2016.
75	74		(c) All public institutions of education shall integrate the definition of antisemitism
76	75		into their student, faculty, and employee codes of conduct. Additionally, prohibited
77	76		conduct as it relates specifically to antisemitism must be incorporated and include
78	77		harassment and discrimination against Jews in compliance with Title VI of the Civil
79	78		Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq.) antidiscrimination regulations provided by
80	79		the United States department of education and United States department of justice.
81	80		(d) All public institutions of education are encouraged to incorporate
82	81		antisemitism awareness training for all students, faculty, administrators, and campus
83	82		police, as well as to integrate Jewish American Heritage curricula for students that
84	83		incorporates Jewish experiences in America pre- and post-revolution, pre- and post-
85	84		WWII and the Holocaust, and in modern times.
86	85		49-50-1803.
87	86		(a) The department of education shall designate a "Title VI coordinator"
88	87		dedicated to monitoring antisemitic discrimination and harassment at public kindergarten
89	88		through grade twelve (K-12) schools. Each governing board of a public institution of
90	89		higher education shall designate a "Title VI coordinator" dedicated to monitoring
91	90		antisemitic discrimination and harassment at the public institution of higher education.
	91	+	All public institutions of education shall formally report incidents and complaints of
	92	+	antisemitic discrimination and harassment to their respective Title VI coordinator.
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93	94
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96		-	All public institutions of education shall formally report incidents and complaints of
97		-	antisemitic discrimination and harassment to their respective Title VI coordinator.
98	97		(b) The Title VI coordinator shall thoroughly investigate all complaints. If, after
99	98		reasonable investigation, the Title VI coordinator determines that the public institution of
100	99		education has engaged in, allowed, or not sufficiently prohibited antisemitic
101	100		discrimination, the respective agency shall give written notice to the institution to address
102	101		its concerns no later than thirty (30) days after the notice is received.
103	102		(c) If the Title VI coordinator determines the public institution of education has
104	103		not taken the necessary actions by the expiration of the thirty-day period, then the
105	104		respective agency shall report its findings to the United States department of education
106	105		and United States department of justice by making a complaint under Title VI of the Civil
107	106		Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq.).
108	107		(d) Each Title VI coordinator shall, no later than June 30 of each year, issue an
109	108		annual report on antisemitism to the general assembly.
110	109		49-50-1804.
111	110		(a) Criticism of Israel that is similar to criticism toward any other country is not
112	111		regarded as antisemitic.
113	112		(b) This act does not diminish or infringe upon any right protected under the First
114	113		Amendment to the United States Constitution or the Tennessee Constitution.
115	114		(c) This act must not conflict with federal or state discrimination laws.
116	115		SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.