Tennessee House Bill HB1173

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Refer: 2/12/25
• Refer: 2/26/25
• Refer: 3/19/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 12, Chapter 3, relative to public purchases.

Summary

HB1173 amends Tennessee’s public purchasing laws for local governments. The bill broadens the definition of “goods” in Title 12, Chapter 3 to include improvements to real property, such as buildings, structures, equipment, fixtures, and other items permanently attached to real estate, while still excluding the real property itself. The bill also revises the authority of local governments to buy goods and services through federal purchasing arrangements. To the extent allowed by federal law, local governments may purchase certain goods and services directly from vendors under federal General Services Administration (GSA) contracts or other applicable federal open purchase contracts, either through the state or directly, without bids or quotations, so long as the price does not exceed the applicable contract price. For GSA schedule purchases, local governments may use their own terms and conditions instead of the federal terms if agreeable to the vendor.

Impact

The bill would expand and clarify procurement options for counties, cities, and other local governments by allowing more direct access to federal contract pricing and by treating certain real-property-related improvements as “goods” under state purchasing law. This could reduce bidding requirements for some purchases, streamline procurement, and potentially lower costs or speed up acquisition of equipment, fixtures, and other improvements attached to real property. It amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 12, Chapter 3, particularly sections governing local government purchasing authority.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong support and no recorded opposition in committee, with unanimous favorable recommendations in both the House Cities & Counties Subcommittee and the House State & Local Government Committee. No committee transcript is available, but the bill’s progress suggests it was viewed as a practical procurement measure rather than a controversial policy change.

Contention

No specific objections are reflected in the provided materials. The main policy issue implicit in the bill is whether local governments should be allowed to bypass traditional competitive bidding for purchases made under federal GSA or other open purchase contracts, and whether expanding the definition of “goods” to include improvements to real property could affect procurement oversight. However, the recorded votes indicate no visible contention in committee.