Tennessee House Bill HB0246

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/25
• Refer: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Chaptered: 3/21/25
• Passed: 3/21/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 58, Chapter 2, relative to the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.

Summary

HB0246 amends Tennessee’s statutory provisions governing the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), an interstate mutual aid agreement used for disaster response and emergency assistance. The bill removes EMAC from one of the state’s existing sunset-review listings and adds it to a new termination schedule under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 4, Chapter 29, Part 2. Under the bill, EMAC is set to terminate on June 30, 2033 unless it is continued, reestablished, or restructured through the normal statutory process. The measure also preserves the state’s ability to manage the compact through Tennessee’s general governmental-entity sunset framework. The act takes effect immediately upon becoming law.

Impact

The bill changes Tennessee Code Annotated sections in Title 4 and Title 58 by updating how the Emergency Management Assistance Compact is tracked under the state’s termination and review provisions. Practically, it places EMAC within the state’s broader sunset-review system and establishes a future termination date of June 30, 2033, while allowing the compact to be renewed or reauthorized before then. The affected parties are state agencies and emergency management officials who rely on EMAC for interstate disaster response coordination.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been noncontroversial and broadly supported. It passed the House Government Operations Committee 10-0 and later passed the House on the consent calendar by a vote of 89-0, indicating unanimous support and no recorded opposition in the available materials. The lack of committee transcripts or recorded debate suggests the measure was viewed as routine administrative legislation.

Contention

No notable points of contention are reflected in the available record. Because there are no committee transcripts and both recorded votes were unanimous, there is no evidence of disagreement over the bill’s policy direction, its sunset treatment of EMAC, or its effect on emergency management operations. The only substantive issue implied by the text is the administrative decision to place the compact under a future termination date, but no opposition is documented.