Tennessee House Bill HB2477

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/26
• Refer: 2/5/26
• Refer: 3/4/26
• Refer: 3/11/26
• Chaptered: 5/5/26
• Passed: 5/5/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 24; Title 7, Chapter 51, Part 2; Title 38, Chapter 8 and Title 68, Chapter 140, relative to compensation for emergency responder deaths in the line of duty.

Summary

HB2477 amends Tennessee law governing compensation for the deaths of certain emergency responders in the line of duty. The bill changes the deadline for filing a claim for an annuity under Tennessee Code Annotated § 7-51-210 so that a claim must be filed within three years after the later of the responder’s date of death or the date a final order or other official determination designates the death as line-of-duty. This change is intended to account for situations where the formal line-of-duty determination occurs after the death itself. The bill also creates a clearer appeal process for denied claims. If the estate of a law enforcement officer, firefighter, volunteer rescue squad worker, or emergency medical technician is denied benefits, the denial may be reviewed by the appropriate state body: the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission for law enforcement, the Commission on Firefighting Personnel Standards and Education for firefighters and volunteer rescue squad workers, and the Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board for EMTs. Each reviewing body may issue a binding final order or determination, and the Department of Finance and Administration must be notified. The act is retroactive to March 1, 2020, unless prohibited by the state or federal constitution.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated provisions in Title 7 and related sections to expand and clarify the claims and appeals process for line-of-duty death annuities. It affects the estates of deceased law enforcement officers, firefighters, volunteer rescue squad workers, and emergency medical technicians, as well as the Department of Finance and Administration and the relevant professional oversight boards and commissions. By making the filing deadline run from the later of death or the official line-of-duty determination, the bill may preserve eligibility for families whose claims were delayed by administrative or judicial findings.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad support and little opposition. The bill received unanimous or near-unanimous favorable recommendations in the House Cities & Counties Subcommittee and the House State & Local Government Committee, with no recorded dissenting votes in the provided history. The measure appears to have been viewed as a practical correction to ensure survivors can access benefits when line-of-duty determinations are not immediate.

Contention

There is little evidence of major controversy in the provided materials. The main policy issue is procedural: whether the filing deadline should be tied to the date of death or to the later official determination that the death was in the line of duty. Another potential point of concern is the retroactive effective date to March 1, 2020, which could affect previously denied or pending claims, but no opposition is shown in the committee votes provided. The bill also assigns binding review authority to different state boards and commissions, which may raise administrative questions, though none are reflected in the record here.