---
type: "Bill"
title: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, generally increases the base salaries in the state salary schedule for teachers formulated by the commissioner of education; prohibits an LEA from deducting dues from the wages of the LEA's employees for a professional employees' organization. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2, Part 1 and Title 49, Chapter 3, Part 3."
description: "Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, generally increases the base salaries in the state salary schedule for teachers formulated by the commissioner of education; prohibits an LEA from deducting dues from the wages of the LEA's employees for a professional employees' organization. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2, Part 1 and Title 49, Chapter 3, Part 3."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "113"
identifier: "SB 281"
citation: "Tennessee SB 281 (113)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Principals and School Personnel", "Teachers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Johnson"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 34
vote_count: 12
first_action: "2023-01-19"
last_action: "2023-05-24"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6e9ad305-8f06-4eea-9b67-2ae851a364ab"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0281&GA=113"
source_hash: "77ac488d32dc8e9a0eeb7fdeb41ae9e6247b88d3655ba80f02d01359d0eb408c"
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 281 (113) — Teachers, Principals and School Personnel - As enacted, generally increases the base salaries in the state salary schedule for teachers formulated by the commissioner of education; prohibits an LEA from deducting dues from the wages of the LEA's employees for a professional employees' organization. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 2, Part 1 and Title 49, Chapter 3, Part 3.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0232** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0232.pdf)
2. **Amendment HA0421** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/HA0421.pdf)
3. **Amendment SA0145** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0145.pdf)
4. **Amendment SA0234** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0234.pdf)
5. **Amendment SA0270** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Amend/SA0270.pdf)
6. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/113/Bill/SB0281.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: Division 2 Division of Question Amend# 2 by Watson 3/30/2023 Passed — **19–12** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/30/2023 Passed — **25–6** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR MOTION TO ADOPT AMENDMENT # 2 BY BAUM PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/19/2023 Passed — **51–45** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Concur in House Amend# 2 4/20/2023 Passed — **32–1** (pass) · upper
- SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 8, Nays 1 PNV 0 3/8/2023 Passed — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR LAY ON THE TABLE MOTION TO ADOPT AMENDMENT # 1 BY WHITE PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/19/2023 Failed — **46–52** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR LAY ON THE TABLE MOTION TO ADOPT AMENDMENT # 2 BY BAUM PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/19/2023 Failed — **45–50** (fail) · lower
- SENATE FINANCE, WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 10, Nays 0 PNV 1 3/21/2023 Passed — **10–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Concur in House Amend# 1 4/20/2023 Passed — **23–10** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR MOTION TO ADOPT AMENDMENT # 1 BY WHITE PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/19/2023 Passed — **53–46** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/30/2023 Passed (1) — **25–6** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/19/2023 Passed (1) — **90–8** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Johnson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-19** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2023-01-20** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2023-01-21** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Education Committee `passage`
- **2023-02-28** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2023-03-01** Placed on Senate Education Committee calendar for 3/8/2023
- **2023-03-08** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 8, Nays 1 PNV 0
- **2023-03-14** Placed on Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee calendar for 3/21/2023
- **2023-03-20** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2023-03-21** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/23/2023
- **2023-03-21** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 10, Nays 0 PNV 1
- **2023-03-23** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2023-03-23** Senate Reset on calendar for 3/27/2023
- **2023-03-24** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/27/2023
- **2023-03-28** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/30/2023
- **2023-03-30** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2023-03-30** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 25, Nays 6 `passage`
- **2023-03-30** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0145)
- **2023-03-30** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 3 - SA0270)
- **2023-03-30** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 2 - SA0234)
- **2023-04-03** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2023-04-19** Passed H., as am., Ayes 90, Nays 8, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2023-04-19** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0232) `amendment-passage`
- **2023-04-19** H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA0421) `amendment-passage`
- **2023-04-19** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2023-04-20** Concurred, Ayes 22, Nays 12 (Amendment 1 - HA0232) `passage`
- **2023-04-20** Concurred, Ayes 32, Nays 1 (Amendment 2 - HA0421) `passage`
- **2023-04-20** Placed on Senate Message Calendar for 4/20/2023
- **2023-04-28** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2023-05-03** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-05** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2023-05-09** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2023-05-16** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-05-24** Effective date(s) 07/01/2023
- **2023-05-24** Pub. Ch. 437

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6e9ad305-8f06-4eea-9b67-2ae851a364ab`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).