Tennessee House Bill HB0257

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/25
• Refer: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Engrossed: 2/20/25
• Enrolled: 2/25/25
• Passed: 3/14/25
• Chaptered: 3/24/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 68, Chapter 1, Part 8, relative to the perinatal advisory committee.

Summary

HB0257 makes a narrow administrative change to Tennessee law concerning the perinatal advisory committee. The bill removes the committee from one of the state’s statutory lists of entities subject to periodic review and sunset-style oversight under Title 4, Chapter 29, and then adds the committee to a different list that preserves the committee’s existence under Tennessee Code Annotated Title 68, Chapter 1, Part 8. In practical terms, the bill does not create a new program or change the committee’s duties, membership, or policy authority. Instead, it updates the state’s statutory references so the perinatal advisory committee remains recognized in law and is treated consistently within Tennessee’s committee-review framework.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 4-29-246 and 4-29-250 to delete the perinatal advisory committee from one statutory subdivision and add it to another. This affects how the committee is categorized under state law, likely preserving its continued operation by placing it in the list of entities exempted from automatic termination or otherwise maintained under the state’s organizational statutes. The affected parties are the committee itself and the state agencies and stakeholders that rely on its advisory role in maternal and infant health policy.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been noncontroversial and broadly supported. It passed the House Government Operations Committee unanimously, moved through the House on the consent calendar with no recorded opposition, and was approved in the Senate with a unanimous vote as well. The lack of debate or recorded dissent suggests general agreement that the measure was a routine technical update rather than a substantive policy change.

Contention

There is no evident substantive contention in the available record. Because the bill is limited to statutory housekeeping for the perinatal advisory committee, no opposing arguments, amendments, or disputed policy issues are reflected in the committee or floor history. Any concern would likely have been procedural or administrative rather than ideological, but none is documented in the provided materials.