Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0471 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	HOUSE BILL 178
3	3	By Bulso
4	4
5	5	SENATE BILL 471
6	6	By Bowling
7	7
8	8
9	9	SB0471
10	10	001271
11	11	- 1 -
12	12
13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49,
14	14	Chapter 6, Part 13, relative to the Success
15	15	Sequence Act.
16	16
17	17	WHEREAS, couples who have children within marriage have higher family incomes and
18	18	lower poverty rates than their unmarried counterparts; and
19	19	WHEREAS, over the past forty-five years, the number of children living with married
20	20	parents has declined by twelve percent; and
21	21	WHEREAS, approximately twenty-five percent of all children today do not have married
22	22	parents; and
23	23	WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are more likely to flourish compared to
24	24	children raised in single-parent families; and
25	25	WHEREAS, children raised in stable, married-parent families are more likely to excel in
26	26	school, and generally earn higher grade point averages than children who are not; and
27	27	WHEREAS, children raised by married parents are about twice as likely to graduate from
28	28	college than children who are not; and
29	29	WHEREAS, children not raised in a home with married parents are twice as likely to end
30	30	up in jail or prison before reaching thirty years of age; and
31	31	WHEREAS, children raised by a single parent are more than three times as likely to live
32	32	in poverty than children raised by married parents; and
33	33	WHEREAS, the strongest negative community predictor of children from low-income
34	34	families realizing the American dream, which includes going from poverty as children to
35	35	affluence as adults, is the share of single parents in a community; and
36	36
37	37
38	38	- 2 - 001271
39	39
40	40	WHEREAS, among millennials who finished high school, entered the workforce, and
41	41	were married before having children, ninety-seven percent did not live in poverty when they
42	42	reached adulthood; now, therefore,
43	43	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
44	44	SECTION 1. This act is known and may be cited as the "Success Sequence Act."
45	45	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1301, is amended by adding
46	46	the following as a new subdivision:
47	47	"Success sequence" means a method by which a person completes the following
48	48	in the following sequence:
49	49	(A) Obtains a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential;
50	50	(B) Enters into the workforce or pursues a postsecondary degree or
51	51	credential;
52	52	(C) Enters into marriage; and
53	53	(D) Has children;
54	54	SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1304(a), is amended by adding
55	55	the following as a new subdivision:
56	56	(15) Provide instruction and evidence regarding the positive personal and
57	57	societal outcomes associated with the success sequence.
58	58	SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it, and
59	59	applies to the 2025-2026 school year and each school year thereafter.