---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education, State Board of - As enacted, revises various provisions regarding initial educator licensure, advancement, and renewal, including requiring the state board, when issuing an educator license to an out-of-state educator, to issue a license that is equivalent to the license the educator possesses in another state. - Amends TCA Title 49."
description: "Education, State Board of - As enacted, revises various provisions regarding initial educator licensure, advancement, and renewal, including requiring the state board, when issuing an educator license to an out-of-state educator, to issue a license that is equivalent to the license the educator possesses in another state. - Amends TCA Title 49."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 479"
citation: "Tennessee SB 479 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education", "State Board of"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Haile", "Weaver"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 43
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-02-04"
last_action: "2021-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/7f85755a-9db1-4cf9-878e-0bfba375a206"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0479&GA=112"
source_hash: "8178f02befea0dc91ee44f55a4b1365f03eaf16533747fa145130fe2dec30afb"
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 479 (112) — Education, State Board of - As enacted, revises various provisions regarding initial educator licensure, advancement, and renewal, including requiring the state board, when issuing an educator license to an out-of-state educator, to issue a license that is equivalent to the license the educator possesses in another state. - Amends TCA Title 49.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0047** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0047.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0055** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0055.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0479.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/15/2021 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/22/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee 3/10/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021 3/25/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/29/2021 Passed (1) — **86–2** (pass) · lower
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/10/2021 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- K-12 SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration 3/2/2021 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Haile — primary (person)
- Weaver — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-04** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-10** P2C, ref. to Education Administration -- Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2021-02-24** Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/2/2021
- **2021-02-24** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-01** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-02** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-03** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-03** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 3/10/2021
- **2021-03-03** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-10** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-10** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2021-03-10** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-10** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-11** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/15/2021
- **2021-03-15** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-15** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-03-15** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-15** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0055)
- **2021-03-17** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 3/22/2021
- **2021-03-18** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-03-18** Sponsor(s) withdrawn.
- **2021-03-22** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/25/2021
- **2021-03-25** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021
- **2021-03-29** Passed H., Ayes 86, Nays 2, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-29** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0047) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-03-29** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-03-29** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-03-29** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-31** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-04-01** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-05** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-06** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-04-13** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-04-21** Effective date(s) 04/13/2021; 07/01/2021
- **2021-04-21** Pub. Ch. 125
- **2021-04-21** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 125

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/7f85755a-9db1-4cf9-878e-0bfba375a206`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).