Tennessee House Bill HB1824

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/26
• Refer: 2/2/26
• Refer: 3/3/26
• Refer: 3/10/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 3; Title 54 and Title 68, Chapter 120, relative to family restrooms in safety rest areas.

Summary

HB1824 requires Tennessee safety rest areas that provide public restrooms to include access to at least one family restroom, as that term is defined elsewhere in state law. The bill applies to rest areas under the Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction and directs the department to use existing resources to construct and maintain the required facilities. The measure also creates reporting and implementation deadlines. By July 1, 2026, TDOT must submit a detailed construction schedule to the relevant House and Senate transportation committees showing when each family restroom will be completed and when all safety rest areas will be in compliance. By July 1, 2028, TDOT must have completed, or at least begun construction of, one family restroom at a safety rest stop.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee law governing highway safety rest areas by imposing a new facility requirement on public restrooms at those locations. It affects the Department of Transportation, which would be responsible for planning, constructing, and maintaining family restrooms using existing departmental resources, and it creates a legislative oversight process through required progress reporting to transportation committees. The practical impact is to expand restroom accessibility and family-friendly accommodations at state rest areas while potentially requiring capital and maintenance adjustments within TDOT operations.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad support for the bill at the committee level, with unanimous or near-unanimous favorable recommendations in both the House Transportation Subcommittee and the House Transportation Committee. No committee transcript is available, so there is no recorded debate to indicate significant opposition. Overall, the bill appears to have been received positively as a transportation and public-accommodation measure.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is fiscal and operational: the bill states that TDOT should pay for construction and maintenance from existing resources, which could raise concerns about budget capacity, prioritization, and implementation timelines. Another possible issue is the mandate itself, since it requires a specific amenity at all qualifying safety rest areas and sets deadlines for reporting and construction. However, the recorded votes show no visible committee opposition, so any disagreement appears limited or not captured in the available materials.