---
type: "Bill"
title: "Education - As enacted, deletes several obsolete provisions and makes various substantive changes to education laws; establishes parameters for the teaching of certain concepts related to race and sex. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49."
description: "Education - As enacted, deletes several obsolete provisions and makes various substantive changes to education laws; establishes parameters for the teaching of certain concepts related to race and sex. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 623"
citation: "Tennessee SB 623 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Education"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Ragan"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 63
vote_count: 18
first_action: "2021-02-05"
last_action: "2021-06-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/355c7c76-0b46-485b-8c1d-9613457591f5"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0623&GA=112"
source_hash: "11557d7c05049bc445e560217b105e6e88f9b1a40933044201f39c86b5ebab87"
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 623 (112) — Education - As enacted, deletes several obsolete provisions and makes various substantive changes to education laws; establishes parameters for the teaching of certain concepts related to race and sex. - Amends TCA Title 4 and Title 49.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0332** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0332.pdf)
2. **Amendment HA0441** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0441.pdf)
3. **Amendment SA0144** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0144.pdf)
4. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0623.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PREVIOUS QUESTION AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/4/2021 Passed — **67–26** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/28/2021 4/22/2021 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee 4/14/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: LAY ON THE TABLE MOTION TO ADOPT MINORITY REPORT 5/5/2021 Passed — **67–20** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Table Minority Report Motion to Substitute Conference Committee Report 5/5/2021 Passed — **26–7** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt Conference Committee Report 5/5/2021 Passed — **25–7** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Previous Question Motion to Adopt Conference Committee Report 5/5/2021 Passed — **25–5** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/19/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/4/2021 Passed (1) — **69–23** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 5/3/2021 Passed — **12–3** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 4/1/2021 Passed (1) — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: PREVIOUS QUESTION MOTION TO ADOPT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT 5/5/2021 Passed — **65–21** (pass) · lower
- K-12 SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration 3/30/2021 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: LAY ON THE TABLE MOTION TO ADOPT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT 5/5/2021 Failed — **21–66** (fail) · lower
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 7, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/24/2021 Passed — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR LAY ON THE TABLE MOTION AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 5/4/2021 Passed — **67–25** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021 5/3/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: MOTION TO ADOPT CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORT 5/5/2021 Passed — **69–20** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Ragan — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-05** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-08** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-02-09** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.
- **2021-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee
- **2021-03-08** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-10** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/17/2021
- **2021-03-17** Action deferred in Senate Education Committee to 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-17** Assigned to s/c K-12 Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-17** Ref. to Education Administration -- Government Operations for Review `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-18** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-24** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 7, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2021-03-24** Placed on s/c cal K-12 Subcommittee for 3/30/2021
- **2021-03-30** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/1/2021
- **2021-03-30** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Education Administration `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-31** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 4/7/2021
- **2021-04-01** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-04-01** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-01** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0144)
- **2021-04-05** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-07** Action def. in Education Administration to 4/14/2021
- **2021-04-14** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Government Operations Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-15** Placed on cal. Government Operations Committee for 4/19/2021
- **2021-04-19** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-21** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/22/2021
- **2021-04-22** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/28/2021
- **2021-04-27** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-28** Re-ref. Education Administration
- **2021-04-29** Placed on cal. Education Administration for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-03** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 5/4/2021
- **2021-05-03** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 5/3/2021
- **2021-05-03** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-04** H. refused to recede from its non-concurrence
- **2021-05-04** H. Placed on Message Calendar #2 for 5/4/21
- **2021-05-04** Senate refused to concur in amendment `amendment-failure`
- **2021-05-04** Placed on Senate Message Calendar 2 for 5/4/2021
- **2021-05-04** Passed H., as am., Ayes 69, Nays 23, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-05-04** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0332) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-05-04** H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA0441) `amendment-passage`
- **2021-05-04** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-05-04** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-05-04** Sponsor(s) withdrawn.
- **2021-05-04** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-05-05** Conf. comm. report adopted, Ayes 69, Nays 20, PNV 0
- **2021-05-05** Conference Committee report adopted, 25 ayes, 7 nays, PNV 1
- **2021-05-05** Conf. comm. appointed Reps. Ragan, Cepicky, White, and Hakeem.
- **2021-05-05** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 5/5/21
- **2021-05-05** Conference Committee appointed. (Roberts, Kelsey, Bell, Gilmore, Johnson)
- **2021-05-05** Senate refused to recede from its non-concurrence.
- **2021-05-05** Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 5/5/2021
- **2021-05-05** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-05-06** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-05-12** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-05-13** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-05-13** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-05-17** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-05-25** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-01** Effective date(s) 05/25/2021
- **2021-06-01** Pub. Ch. 493
- **2021-06-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 493

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/355c7c76-0b46-485b-8c1d-9613457591f5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).