SB 1272 - HB 1308
FISCAL NOTE
Fiscal Review Committee
Tennessee General Assembly
February 22, 2025
Fiscal Analyst: Alan Hampton | Email: alan.hampton@capitol.tn.gov | Phone: 615-741-2564
SB 1272 - HB 1308
SUMMARY OF BILL: Revises the definition of an “eligible employee” for paid parental
leave and clarifies when and how paid leave can be taken. Clarifies that individuals with emergency
teaching credentials are eligible for paid leave.
Excludes virtual students in the calculation of a local education agency’s (LEA’s) Tennessee
Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) allocation for purposes of the safety net provision.
Adds “deafness” as an eligible disability category for the Individualized Education Account (IEA)
Program and clarifies how funds are allocated to students with an IEA within TISA.
Makes various changes to reporting requirements, school and district accountability, the
accumulation of excess instructional time, remote instruction, the immunization status of students in
state custody, public virtual school enrollment, tutoring support to students, and certain course
access program requirements imposed on the Department of Education (DOE).
FISCAL IMPACT:
NOT SIGNIFICANT
Assumptions:
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-50-814(a)(2), an employee is eligible to receive paid family
leave for the birth, adoption, or stillbirth of an employee’s child who holds a valid license of
qualification for employment in the public schools of this state and who has been employed
full time with an LEA or public charter school for at least 12 consecutive months.
• The proposed legislation requires such consecutive employment to have been with the same
LEA or public charter school and allows an employee who holds an emergency credential
to also become eligible for paid leave. It further requires that an employee is required to
hold the valid license of qualification or an emergency credential issued by the DOE for the
entire 12 consecutive months of employment.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-50-814(d)(2) the six work weeks of paid leave do not
need to be consecutively taken if used within twelve 12 months of the birth, adoption, or
stillbirth of the employee's child.
• The proposed legislation requires that the six weeks of paid leave taken by an employee be
in increments of no less than one week.
• It is assumed that potentially fewer employees qualifying for paid family leave due to
narrowing the eligibility requirement to 12 consecutive months of employment with the
same LEA would be offset by a potential increase in employees qualifying for paid family
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leave by expanding eligibility to include employees who hold emergency credentials;
therefore, the net local impact is estimated to be not significant.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-3-108(c), an LEA’s allocated education funding is
prohibited from decreasing more than five percent from one year to the next year. For an
LEA experiencing a decrease of more than five percent, the DOE is required to allocate
additional funds so that the decrease is only five percent.
• The proposed legislation establishes that the DOE may only determine whether an LEA is
eligible for funds based on funds generated by students in non-virtual schools beginning in
the 2025-26 school year.
• For some LEAs, students enrolled in a virtual school are counted in the LEA's enrollment
numbers for TISA funding. If those students are no longer counted and a resulting decrease
in TISA funding of more than five percent occurs, the DOE would then allocate additional
funding so that the decrease is only five percent.
• Excluding virtual students from counting toward an LEA’s TISA allocation is consistent
with other TISA calculations for fast-growth stipends and infrastructure stipends. Any state
or local fiscal impact is estimated to be not significant.
• Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-10-1405, the DOE is required to remit funds to a
participating student's IEA on at least a quarterly basis and the maximum annual amount to
which an eligible student is entitled is equal to the amount representing the base funding
allocation that the student generates under the TISA.
• The proposed legislation requires the average special education funds generated by students
with disabilities under the TISA to be included with the amount a student generates under
the TISA when determining the maximum annual amount to which an eligible IEA student
is entitled to receive. This clarifies the TISA amount to be transferred which is already
accounted for in the state budget through the TISA; therefore, any fiscal impact is estimated
to be not significant.
• The proposed legislation adds “deafness” to the list of disabilities that would make a
student eligible to receive an IEA.
• Students with an IEA generate state dollars through the base funding and weighted
allocations of the TISA funding formula. LEAs are required to contribute local matching
funds and most LEAs contribute funds in excess of what is minimally required.
• Only a few students with deafness have historically attempted to apply for an IEA. It is
estimated that the small number of deaf students who may qualify for an IEA will not
significantly impact state or local expenditures.
• The DOE and local education agencies will be able to update their policies and comply with
the various proposed changes within existing resources such that any state or local fiscal
impact is estimated to be not significant.
• No impact to the TISA funding formula.
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CERTIFICATION:
The information contained herein is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
Bojan Savic, Executive Director