Tennessee House Bill HB1375

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Refer: 2/12/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33; Title 49; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to mental health.

Summary

HB1375 creates the “Tennessee Mental Health Volunteer Alliance Act,” directing the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services to establish and manage a statewide volunteer database of qualified mental health professionals. The database is intended to connect schools and public facilities with volunteer mental health providers who can deliver on-site or virtual services immediately after a gun violence incident, significant traumatic event, or disaster affecting students, educators, or staff. The department would verify licensure, administer requests for volunteers, track service hours and rates, and promulgate rules to implement the program. The bill also establishes a separate school safety fund in the Department of Education. That fund would receive any unspent money from the volunteer alliance program, along with legislative appropriations and gifts or grants, and would be used solely to purchase school safety technology and equipment. The Department of Education would administer the fund, distribute money to schools under criteria it sets, and report annually to the legislature on expenditures. The act takes effect immediately for rulemaking purposes and otherwise on July 1, 2025.

Impact

The bill would add new provisions to Tennessee Code Annotated Titles 33 and 49, creating a new state-administered volunteer mental health response system and a dedicated school safety fund. It would authorize the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services and the Department of Education to adopt rules, require licensure verification and reporting, and establish a recurring $250,000 funding mechanism for administrative costs, travel, lodging, and virtual counseling software. It also changes how unused funds are handled by directing them away from the general fund and into the school safety fund for restricted use.

Sentiment

The bill’s structure suggests broad support for expanding mental health response capacity in schools and public facilities after traumatic events, while also tying unused program funds to school safety investments. Because there are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, there is no direct evidence of opposition or debate in the available record. On its face, the measure appears to blend mental health services with school safety priorities, which are generally politically salient and likely intended to appeal across multiple policy concerns.

Contention

The main potential points of contention are likely to be the scope and administration of the volunteer database, the use of state funds for travel, lodging, and software, and the decision to route unspent mental health program money into a school safety equipment fund rather than returning it to the general fund. Another possible issue is whether the Department of Education should set distribution criteria for the safety fund and whether the program’s reliance on volunteer or pro bono services is sufficient to meet post-crisis mental health needs. No specific objections or supporters are identified in the provided materials.