---
type: "Bill"
title: "Boats, Boating - As enacted, adds provisions regarding regulation of non-motorized vessels; deletes provision that exempts renters of watercraft who have completed a safety orientation from the requirement that any person born after January 1, 1989, who operates any vessel must successfully complete a boating safety examination and receive a certificate from the Tennessee wildlife resources agency or be accompanied on the vessel by a person who was born on or before January 1, 1989, or is 18 years of age or older and is certified to operate a vessel. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 11, Chapter 3; Title 39; Title 47; Title 56; Title 67; Title 68; Title 69 and Title 70."
description: "Boats, Boating - As enacted, adds provisions regarding regulation of non-motorized vessels; deletes provision that exempts renters of watercraft who have completed a safety orientation from the requirement that any person born after January 1, 1989, who operates any vessel must successfully complete a boating safety examination and receive a certificate from the Tennessee wildlife resources agency or be accompanied on the vessel by a person who was born on or before January 1, 1989, or is 18 years of age or older and is certified to operate a vessel. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 11, Chapter 3; Title 39; Title 47; Title 56; Title 67; Title 68; Title 69 and Title 70."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "110"
identifier: "HB 785"
citation: "Tennessee HB 785 (110)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Boats", "Boating"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bailey", "Littleton"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 72
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2017-02-08"
last_action: "2018-05-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a6c0bb5b-43e0-46a9-918a-0814b13c8f50"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB0785&GA=110"
source_hash: "104c81f2fdf9706ea1361a44c4d6507fd3ddd513e77c6de37d9c9b5620362b3d"
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 HB 785 (110) — Boats, Boating - As enacted, adds provisions regarding regulation of non-motorized vessels; deletes provision that exempts renters of watercraft who have completed a safety orientation from the requirement that any person born after January 1, 1989, who operates any vessel must successfully complete a boating safety examination and receive a certificate from the Tennessee wildlife resources agency or be accompanied on the vessel by a person who was born on or before January 1, 1989, or is 18 years of age or older and is certified to operate a vessel. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 11, Chapter 3; Title 39; Title 47; Title 56; Title 67; Title 68; Title 69 and Title 70.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/110/Bill/HB0785.pdf)

## Votes

- AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee 3/21/2017 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee 3/15/2017 (4) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FINANCE, WAYS & MEANS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee 3/21/2018 — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FINANCE, WAYS & MEANS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/9/2018 (1) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- STUDY SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE, WAYS & MEANS: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee 5/1/2017 (2) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/17/2018 4/16/2018 — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bailey — primary (person)
- Littleton — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-08** Filed for intro. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-09** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2017-02-09** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2017-02-13** P2C, ref. to Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-02-13** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee
- **2017-02-14** Assigned to s/c Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-01** Placed on s/c cal Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/8/2017
- **2017-03-07** Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/13/2017
- **2017-03-08** Placed on s/c cal Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee for 3/15/2017
- **2017-03-08** Action Def. in s/c Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee to 3/15/2017
- **2017-03-10** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2017-03-13** Action deferred in Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee to 3/20/2017
- **2017-03-14** Placed on Senate Energy, Ag., and Nat. Resources Committee calendar for 3/20/2017
- **2017-03-15** Placed on cal. Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee for 3/21/2017
- **2017-03-15** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-20** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 5, Nays 3 PNV 0
- **2017-03-21** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-03-21** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar calendar for 3/23/2017
- **2017-03-22** Assigned to s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2017-03-23** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2017-03-23** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 28, Nays 2, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2017-03-23** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0141)
- **2017-03-27** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2017-03-29** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/5/2017
- **2017-04-05** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 4/12/2017
- **2017-04-05** Taken off notice for cal in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee of Finance, Ways & Means Committee
- **2017-04-12** Def. to Study Subcommittee of Finance, Ways & Means Committee
- **2017-04-27** Placed on s/c cal Study Subcommittee of Finance, Ways & Means for 5/1/2017
- **2017-05-01** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 5/2/2017
- **2017-05-01** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-03** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 5/8/2017
- **2017-05-08** Taken off notice for cal in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee of Finance, Ways & Means Committee
- **2018-01-31** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-14** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 2/21/2018
- **2018-02-20** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2018-02-21** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 2/28/2018
- **2018-02-21** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 2/28/2018
- **2018-02-28** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to Study Subcommittee
- **2018-03-01** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/7/2018
- **2018-03-07** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-07** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 3/14/2018
- **2018-03-14** Placed on s/c cal Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee for 3/21/2018
- **2018-03-14** Action Def. in s/c Finance, Ways & Means Subcommittee to 3/21/2018
- **2018-03-21** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 3/27/2018
- **2018-03-21** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Finance, Ways & Means Committee `referral-committee`
- **2018-03-27** Action def. in Finance, Ways & Means Committee to 4/3/2018
- **2018-03-28** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 4/3/2018
- **2018-04-03** Action def. in Finance, Ways & Means Committee to Next Calendar
- **2018-04-04** Placed on cal. Finance, Ways & Means Committee for 4/9/2018
- **2018-04-09** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-04-10** Action def. in Calendar & Rules Committee to 4/12/2018
- **2018-04-10** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/10/2018
- **2018-04-11** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/12/2018
- **2018-04-12** Taken off notice for cal. in Calendar & Rules Committee
- **2018-04-16** H. Placed on Regular Calendar #2 for 4/17/2018
- **2018-04-16** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/16/2018
- **2018-04-19** Comp. SB subst.
- **2018-04-19** Placed on Senate Message Calendar calendar for 4/23/2018
- **2018-04-19** Passed H., as am., Ayes 86, Nays 4, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2018-04-19** H. adopted am. (Amendment 2 - HA1160) `amendment-passage`
- **2018-04-19** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0128) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2018-04-19** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2018-04-23** Concurred, Ayes 32, Nays 0 (Amendment 2 - HA1160) `passage`
- **2018-04-25** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2018-04-25** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2018-04-25** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2018-05-07** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2018-05-16** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2018-05-18** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 969
- **2018-05-18** Pub. Ch. 969
- **2018-05-18** Effective date(s) 07/01/2018

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a6c0bb5b-43e0-46a9-918a-0814b13c8f50`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).