HB 1053 - SB 1119
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
April 4, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Christine Drescher | Email: christine.drescher@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
HB 1053 - SB 1119
SUMMARY OF BILL: Authorizes an individual, who has previously had their ability to
apply for a voter registration card or their right to suffrage taken away due to unpaid child support,
to have those rights restored if they enter into a payment plan to become current on unpaid child
support. Requires a court to take away the individual’s voting rights again if they willfully fail to
adhere to payment terms. Requires that a court provide an individual with a court-appointed
attorney in order to prove the individual’s financial inability to pay.
FISCAL IMPACT:
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Assumptions:
• When individuals seek information on their status with regards to child support obligations
and how it relates to their voting rights, they typically reach out to the Department of
Human Services (DHS), with these calls increasing in periods before elections.
• However, it is assumed that the proposed legislation will not create a significant increase in
the volume of these calls to DHS or the manner with which they are handled, and can
therefore be managed within existing resources and without an increase in expenditures.
• Pursuant to the proposed legislation, an individual is entitled to a court-appointed attorney
in order to prove their financial inability to pay child support.
• Pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 13, court-appointed attorneys are to be made
available to indigent parties for certain court proceedings, and are to be paid through the
Indigent Defense Fund.
• According to information provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts, any increase
in caseloads that result from the proposed legislation is assumed to be managed by existing
court-appointed attorneys who will be paid through existing Indigent Defense Fund
resources; therefore, no significant fiscal increase in state expenditures to this fund.
CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director