Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0675 Compare Versions

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

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2	2	<BillNo> <Sponsor>
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4	4	SENATE BILL 675
5	5	By Taylor
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8	8	SB0675
9	9	002182
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12	12	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4;
13	13	Title 8 and Title 67, relative to political
14	14	subdivisions.
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16	16	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
17	17	SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 6, Part 4, is amended by
18	18	adding the following as a new section:
19	19	(a) As used in this section, "political subdivision" means a county, city, town,
20	20	municipality, or metropolitan government.
21	21	(b) At the request of a member of the general assembly, the attorney general
22	22	and reporter shall investigate an ordinance, regulation, order, or other official action
23	23	adopted or taken by the chief executive officer or governing body of a political
24	24	subdivision or any written policy, written rule, or written regulation adopted by any
25	25	agency, department, or other entity of the political subdivision that the member alleges
26	26	violates, or that would violate if enacted or enforced, state law or the Constitution of
27	27	Tennessee.
28	28	(c)
29	29	(1) The attorney general and reporter shall make a written report of
30	30	findings and conclusions as a result of the investigation within thirty (30) days
31	31	after receipt of the request and shall provide a copy of the report to the governor,
32	32	the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the
33	33	member or members of the general assembly making the original request, and
34	34	the secretary of state.
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39	39	(2) If the attorney general and reporter concludes that the ordinance,
40	40	regulation, order, written policy, written rule, or other action under investigation:
41	41	(A) Violates, or would violate if enacted or enforced, a provision of
42	42	state law or the Constitution of Tennessee, the attorney general and
43	43	reporter shall provide notice to the political subdivision, by certified mail,
44	44	of the violation and shall indicate that the political subdivision has thirty
45	45	(30) days to resolve the violation;
46	46	(B) May violate, or may violate if enacted or enforced, a provision
47	47	of state law or the Constitution of Tennessee, the attorney general and
48	48	reporter shall file a special action in the supreme court to resolve the
49	49	issue, and the supreme court shall give the action precedence over all
50	50	other cases; or
51	51	(C) Does not violate any provision of state law or the Constitution
52	52	of Tennessee, the attorney general and reporter shall take no further
53	53	action pursuant to this section.
54	54	(d) If the attorney general and reporter determines that the local government has
55	55	failed to resolve the violation within thirty (30) days of the notification pursuant to
56	56	subdivision (c)(2)(A), or within thirty (30) days of the supreme court determining that the
57	57	ordinance, regulation, order, written policy, written rule, or other action violates, or would
58	58	violate if enacted or enforced, a provision of state law or the Constitution of Tennessee
59	59	pursuant to subdivision (c)(2)(B), then the attorney general and reporter shall:
60	60	(1) Certify that the violation has not been resolved to the commissioner of
61	61	revenue, who shall withhold local option sales and use tax revenues from the
62	62	political subdivision pursuant to § 67-6-712(g); and
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67	67	(2) Continue to monitor the response of the local government, and when
68	68	the offending ordinance, regulation, order, written policy, written rule, or other
69	69	action is repealed or the violation is otherwise resolved, the attorney general and
70	70	reporter shall notify:
71	71	(A) The governor, the speaker of the senate, the speaker of the
72	72	house of representatives, and the member or members of the general
73	73	assembly making the original request that the violation has been
74	74	resolved; and
75	75	(B) Certify that the violation has been resolved to the
76	76	commissioner of revenue, who shall restore the distribution of local option
77	77	sales and use tax revenues to the political subdivision pursuant to § 67-6-
78	78	712(g).
79	79	(e) Before a member of the legislature may request an investigation by the
80	80	attorney general and reporter of a written policy, written rule, or written regulation
81	81	adopted by an agency, department, or other entity of a political subdivision pursuant to
82	82	subsection (b), the member of the general assembly shall first provide a written
83	83	notification of the alleged violation of state law or the Constitution of Tennessee to the
84	84	chief executive officer and governing body of the political subdivision. If the political
85	85	subdivision does not repeal or otherwise resolve the violation within sixty (60) days after
86	86	receiving the notification, the member of the general assembly may request an
87	87	investigation by the attorney general and reporter pursuant to this section.
88	88	(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (d)(1), this section does not authorize the
89	89	withholding of funds allocated to a local government that would violate contracts to which
90	90	the state is a party, the requirements of federal law imposed on the state, judgments of a
91	91	court binding on the state, or obligations of the state under the Tennessee Constitution.
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96	96	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 67-6-712, is amended by adding the
97	97	following as a new subsection:
98	98	(g) Notwithstanding the allocations provided for in subsection (a) or this part,
99	99	upon certification from the attorney general pursuant to SECTION 1 that an ordinance,
100	100	regulation, order, written policy, written rule, or other action adopted or enforced by a
101	101	county, city, town, municipality, or metropolitan government violates state law or the
102	102	Constitution of Tennessee, the commissioner shall withhold the distribution of proceeds
103	103	from a tax levied by a county, city, town, municipality, or metropolitan government under
104	104	this part from such political subdivision, as applicable, and must continue to withhold
105	105	such proceeds until the attorney general certifies to the commissioner that the violation
106	106	has been resolved.
107	107	SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.