Tennessee Senate Bill SB2410

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 7, Chapter 53; Title 13; Title 48, Chapter 101, Part 3; Title 56 and Title 67, relative to housing.

Summary

SB2410 creates a new community workforce housing innovation pilot program within the state housing agency to expand affordable rental and homeownership opportunities for workers in essential services occupations. The bill defines “workforce housing” as housing affordable to households earning up to 150% of area median income, and it defines “essential services personnel” through local housing plans developed by counties and municipalities in consultation with the labor commissioner. The program is designed to support construction or rehabilitation of housing through loans, using a mix of state and local funds, private capital, and local public-private partnerships. The bill directs the agency to establish an application, review, and funding process, with applications due by March 31, 2027. It prioritizes projects in areas with the largest gaps between incomes and home prices and the fastest population growth, while also requiring geographic distribution by awarding at least one project in each grand division of the state. Projects receive priority if local governments adopt regulatory or financial incentives such as expedited permitting, flexible zoning, employer-assisted housing, tax increment financing, or land contributions. The bill also allows interest forgiveness in certain long-term affordability cases and requires a program review and report to the legislature by January 1, 2029.

Impact

The bill would add a new section to Tennessee housing law and expand the authority of the state housing agency to administer loans and incentives for workforce housing projects. It also authorizes local governments to use available state affordable housing funds for households up to 150% of area median income and encourages local regulatory and financial tools to support development. The measure would affect counties, municipalities, public-private development partners, and housing applicants seeking state-backed financing for new construction or rehabilitation projects.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong support for the bill in committee, with unanimous or near-unanimous recommendations for passage and no recorded opposition in the two committee votes provided. That suggests the proposal was viewed favorably as a housing supply and affordability measure, particularly for workers in essential occupations. No committee transcript is available here, so the broader discussion record is limited, but the vote pattern indicates general bipartisan or at least broad committee agreement.

Contention

The main policy questions embedded in the bill concern how to define and target “essential services personnel,” how much local governments should be expected to contribute through zoning, land use changes, or financial incentives, and whether state funds should be concentrated in the highest-cost, fastest-growing areas. Another likely point of debate is the bill’s reliance on public-private partnerships and whether the 150% of area median income threshold is the right cutoff for workforce housing. The bill also imposes detailed project requirements, including minimum unit set-asides and matching contributions, which could be seen as either necessary safeguards or as barriers to participation depending on the stakeholder.