Tennessee House Bill HB0780

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/6/25
• Refer: 4/17/25
• Engrossed: 4/21/25
• Enrolled: 4/24/25
• Passed: 5/21/25
• Chaptered: 5/27/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 3; Title 4, Chapter 49; Section 9-16-101; Title 54, Chapter 4; Title 55, Chapter 4; Title 57, Chapter 5, Part 2; Title 57, Chapter 3, Part 3; Title 67, Chapter 3, Part 9; Title 67, Chapter 4, Part 9 and Title 67, relative to allocations to counties and municipalities.

Summary

HB0780 revises how Tennessee determines population figures used to allocate and distribute state moneys to counties and municipalities. The bill directs the Department of Economic and Community Development to annually revise and certify county, municipal, and statewide population estimates before July 1 during the years between decennial federal censuses, using estimates generated by the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee through the Tennessee State Data Center. Those certified estimates would then be provided to the Department of Revenue and the Department of Finance and Administration for use in population-based funding formulas. The bill also adds conforming provisions across multiple titles of the Tennessee Code so that population-based distributions under various revenue and allocation statutes must use the annually certified estimates, unless a jurisdiction has a special census or the state is using the regular decennial census. It takes effect January 1, 2026, and is intended to create a more current and equitable basis for distributing funds to local governments between federal census years.

Impact

HB0780 changes Tennessee law governing population-based allocations by requiring annual interim population certifications for counties and municipalities and by tying several funding statutes to those updated figures. It affects statutes in Titles 4, 54, 55, 57, and 67, and it centralizes the population-estimation process in the Department of Economic and Community Development with technical support from the University of Tennessee. Counties and municipalities may see changes in the amount of state money they receive depending on updated population estimates, while special census results and decennial census figures remain controlling when applicable.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee and Committee unanimously, and it cleared the House floor overwhelmingly, with one recorded floor vote showing 92 yeas and 2 nays. The available voting history suggests legislators generally viewed the measure as a practical update to improve the fairness and accuracy of local funding distributions.

Contention

No committee transcript is available, and the voting record shows little visible opposition, so there are no clearly documented points of contention in the provided materials. Any potential concern would likely center on the policy choice to rely on annual state-certified estimates rather than waiting for the decennial census, which could affect how much money individual counties or municipalities receive. However, the record provided does not identify any specific lawmakers, local governments, or interest groups opposing that approach.