Tennessee Senate Bill SB0289

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/24/25
• Chaptered: 5/27/25
• Passed: 5/27/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7, Chapter 51 and Title 50, Chapter 6, relative to post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders.

Summary

This bill expands Tennessee’s existing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) protections for first responders. Under current law, the statute focused on firefighters; this act adds law enforcement officers and emergency medical responders to the same framework. It also defines “emergency medical responder” to include emergency medical technicians, EMT-paramedics, and paramedics, and defines “law enforcement officer” for purposes of the statute. The bill revises the definition of “employer” to include municipalities, counties, metropolitan governments, and other political subdivisions that employ firefighters, law enforcement officers, or emergency medical responders, as well as the state or a state agency when it employs a law enforcement officer. It also updates multiple references in the PTSD statute so that the rights and procedures previously limited to firefighters now apply to the newly covered first responder groups. The act takes effect July 1, 2025.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7, Chapter 51, Section 7-51-206, broadening the scope of the state’s PTSD-related provisions for first responders. In practical terms, it extends statutory coverage and related employer obligations from firefighters to include law enforcement officers and emergency medical responders, affecting local governments and state agencies that employ those workers. The measure does not create a new standalone program, but it expands who may invoke the existing law and who is treated as an employer under it.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong, unanimous support in committee, with the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee voting 8-0 and the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee voting 10-0 to recommend passage. The bill’s title and amendments suggest it was viewed as a worker-support measure for first responders, and there is no recorded opposition in the provided materials. Overall, the sentiment appears favorable and broadly bipartisan.

Contention

No committee transcript or recorded floor debate is provided, and the votes shown were unanimous, so there is no documented substantive opposition in the available record. The main policy issue implicit in the bill is the expansion of PTSD-related protections and employer responsibilities beyond firefighters to include police officers and EMS personnel, which could raise questions about scope, implementation, and potential liability for public employers. However, no specific points of contention are identified in the materials supplied.