---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education, Dept. of - As enacted, makes various changes to the state's special education laws; transfers, from the state board of education to the department of education, control over the state's special schools. - Amends TCA Section 4-5-322; Title 49, Chapter 10 and Title 49, Chapter 50."
description: "Education, Dept. of - As enacted, makes various changes to the state's special education laws; transfers, from the state board of education to the department of education, control over the state's special schools. - Amends TCA Section 4-5-322; Title 49, Chapter 10 and Title 49, Chapter 50."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 790"
citation: "Tennessee SB 790 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "Dept. of"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Johnson", "Lamberth"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 42
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-02-05"
last_action: "2019-04-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d97cb1dc-4545-4eaa-b740-c0f1a89d7c82"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0790&GA=111"
source_hash: "1895694a385d08552baa90d9caa24b98a125ffb78547d617cde50b5ed4d5dadb"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 790 (111) — Education, Dept. of - As enacted, makes various changes to the state's special education laws; transfers, from the state board of education to the department of education, control over the state's special schools. - Amends TCA Section 4-5-322; Title 49, Chapter 10 and Title 49, Chapter 50.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Amendment HA0113** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0113.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0029** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0029.pdf)
3. **Amendment SA0034** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0034.pdf)
4. **Amendment SA0070** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0070.pdf)
5. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB0790.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CURRICULUM, TESTING, & INNOVATION SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education 2/26/2019 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee 3/20/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/1/2019 3/28/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/25/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/1/2019 Passed (1) — **93–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/7/2019 Passed (1) — **29–0** (pass) · upper
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/20/2019 Passed (2) — **8–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Johnson — primary (person)
- Lamberth — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-05** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2019-02-07** P2C, ref. to Education-- Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-11** Assigned to s/c Curriculum, Testing, & Innovation Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-13** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 2/20/2019
- **2019-02-20** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2019-02-20** Placed on s/c cal Curriculum, Testing, & Innovation Subcommittee for 2/26/2019
- **2019-02-21** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 2/25/2019
- **2019-02-25** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/7/2019
- **2019-02-26** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-27** Placed on cal. Education for 3/6/2019
- **2019-03-05** Placed on Senate Floor Session calendar for 3/7/2019
- **2019-03-06** Placed on cal. Education for 3/13/2019
- **2019-03-06** Action def. in Education to 3/13/2019
- **2019-03-07** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 29, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-03-07** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 2 - SA0034)
- **2019-03-07** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0029)
- **2019-03-07** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 3 - SA0070)
- **2019-03-08** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2019-03-13** Placed on cal. Education for 3/20/2019
- **2019-03-13** No Action Taken
- **2019-03-14** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2019-03-20** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/25/2019
- **2019-03-20** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-25** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-27** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/28/2019
- **2019-03-28** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/1/2019
- **2019-04-01** Passed H., Ayes 93, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-01** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0113) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2019-04-01** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2019-04-01** Comp. SB subst.
- **2019-04-02** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-02** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2019-04-03** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2019-04-03** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-11** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-04-15** Pub. Ch. 107
- **2019-04-15** Effective date(s) 04/11/2019
- **2019-04-15** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 107

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d97cb1dc-4545-4eaa-b740-c0f1a89d7c82`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).