2025 Legislative Preview: From Lawmakers to Legislation, 114th Tennessee General Assembly Promises to be a Copy of its Predecessor

Back in the spring, we pointed out that much of what we saw in 2024 looked very similar to what happened the year before.

From partisanship reaching an all-time high on multiple fronts, to working families once again getting pushed aside in favor of big business and corporate special interest groups, it often felt like we were fighting the same uphill battles in one of the most toxic environments imaginable.

Unfortunately, we could say the same thing once again as the 114th Tennessee General Assembly prepares to convene next month.

Between Republicans trying to prove who was more extreme in several highly-contested primaries, to the latest version of Governor Bill Lee's school voucher scheme being filed immediately after the election, we expect that the supermajority will return to its usual antics as soon as lawmakers are gaveled into session.

With lawmakers preparing to get to work on Tuesday, January 14th at 12:00 p.m. CT, we anticipate that another difficult legislative session is likely on the horizon.

In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if lawmakers come after working families with a vengeance over the next few months.

Embarrassed after their scare tactics failed and workers at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga overwhelmingly voted to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) in the closing days of session, the supermajority will probably be keen to prove how "tough" and pro-business it is. 

Because 2024 was an election year, lawmakers will have a two-week reorganization period in January so that they can move offices and handle other administrative tasks. That means that the bill-filing deadline in both chambers will push into February. 

As of right now, our weekly legislative updates will likely start in late January or early February. This timeline has the potential to be altered to accommodate any early calls to action that may need to be issued. We'll also share important dates like bill-filing deadlines and a potential adjournment timeline once they're available. 

When it comes to numbers, the makeup of the Tennessee General Assembly remains exactly the same as it did before the General Election (75 Republicans and 24 Democrats in the House, 27 Republicans and six Democrats in the Senate) with the Republicans holding a supermajority in both chambers.

In terms of leadership, Cameron Sexton is still Speaker of the House. Representative William Lamberth is the House Majority Leader and Representative Jeremy Faison is the Caucus Chairman. The Democrats are led by Representative Karen Camper and Representative John Ray Clemmons. In the upper chamber, Senator Randy McNally will continue serving as the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate. Following his recent arrest for driving under the influence and facing several other charges, Senator Ken Yager will still keep his position as the Republican Caucus Chairman for the time being.

Now for a quick recap of what happened last year and what we expect to see in the coming weeks. For a full summary of where things left off in the spring, click here. You can also access any of our updates from 2024 by clicking on the "Legislative Updates" section of our website. 

Below are some of the bills or issues we expect to see during this legislative session. Please keep in mind that this is by no means a full or complete list, just a summary of some of the major issues that we anticipate facing over the coming months. As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. We look forward to working with all of you to ensure that Tennessee's labor movement has a strong voice during this legislative session.

Filed & Potentially Soon-to-be-Filed Legislation

These are some of the issues/bills that we've either dealt with or anticipate encountering. Given Republicans' continued dominance in both chambers, we expect to see a handful of bad legislation aimed at workers, the labor movement, local control, etc. 

-Expanding school vouchers statewide. Given that the latest version of Governor Bill Lee's school voucher scheme was filed immediately after the election, it's guaranteed that we'll see legislation dealing with this topic. In fact, we expect once again (at this point) that it will be the most significant issue this session. Remember, the bottom line is this: public dollars should go towards public schools. Period.

-Legislation banning automatic payroll dues deduction for public employees. After successfully eliminating automatic payroll dues deduction for professional educators' organizations (like the Tennessee Education Association) and creating an unnecessary financial burden for the group in 2023, lawmakers will likely feel emboldened to finally do the same for all public employees. This is an issue that would have a significant impact on many of our members. We'll be watching caption bills very closely in the event lawmakers try to introduce this quietly.

-Dueling proposals targeting the state's grocery tax. After the supermajority used some legislative maneuvering to block a bill sponsored by Representative Aftyn Behn that would have eliminated the state's grocery tax, Republicans have filed their own legislation on the topic for the upcoming session. However, Representative Behn has also refiled her bill from this past session in a second attempt to get it passed.

-General anti-union/labor legislation. This pro-business legislature will take any opportunity that it's given to go after Tennessee's labor movement and working families while catering to corporate special interest groups. 

-Legislation dealing with equal pay for equal work, paid leave policies, and pre-empting the decisions of local governments. We repeat these concepts at the start of each session, but there's a good reason for it. These are some of the issues that we see discussed nearly every year, so we'll be watching for any bills on these topics.