---
type: "Bill"
title: "Athens - Subject to local approval, changes the maximum amount of expenditures to the state-adopted maximum that the city, board of education, and public work or improvement may spend on a purchase unless bids are requested through advertisement; reduces the term length from two years to one year for the chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, and treasurer of the board of education. - Amends Chapter 455 of the Private Acts of 1953; as amended."
description: "Athens - Subject to local approval, changes the maximum amount of expenditures to the state-adopted maximum that the city, board of education, and public work or improvement may spend on a purchase unless bids are requested through advertisement; reduces the term length from two years to one year for the chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, and treasurer of the board of education. - Amends Chapter 455 of the Private Acts of 1953; as amended."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 1520"
citation: "Tennessee SB 1520 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Athens"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Cochran"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 24
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2019-03-12"
last_action: "2019-05-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f60ba9b6-2264-4af7-b7c4-089a7a3a541f"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1520&GA=111"
source_hash: "0ecdf4ec16db0ab12e102663a227806d752cf41ef826544add917c339fc94ab6"
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 1520 (111) — Athens - Subject to local approval, changes the maximum amount of expenditures to the state-adopted maximum that the city, board of education, and public work or improvement may spend on a purchase unless bids are requested through advertisement; reduces the term length from two years to one year for the chairperson, vice-chairperson, secretary, and treasurer of the board of education. - Amends Chapter 455 of the Private Acts of 1953; as amended.

## 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/111/Bill/SB1520.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/10/2019 4/4/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/15/2019 Passed (2) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 4/15/2019 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE NAMING, DESIGNATING, & PRIVATE ACTS COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 4/2/2019 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/10/2019 Passed (1) — **84–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Cochran — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-03-12** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-03-13** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-03-14** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-03-14** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-03-18** Passed on Second Consideration, held on desk. Local Bill
- **2019-03-18** P2C, ref. to Naming, Designating, & Private Acts Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-27** Placed on cal. Naming, Designating, & Private Acts Committee for 4/2/2019
- **2019-04-02** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-03** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/4/2019
- **2019-04-04** H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 4/10/2019
- **2019-04-10** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2019-04-10** Passed H., Ayes 84, Nays 0, PNV 3 `passage`
- **2019-04-11** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-04-12** Placed on Senate Local Calendar for 4/15/2019
- **2019-04-15** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2019-04-15** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-15** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2019-04-17** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2019-04-18** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-22** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-23** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-30** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-09** Comp. became Pr. Ch. 7
- **2019-05-09** Pr. Ch. 7

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f60ba9b6-2264-4af7-b7c4-089a7a3a541f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).