---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, prohibits a medical review officer from considering prescriptions issued more than six months prior to a positive confirmed drug result for purposes of determining a valid prescription and immunity from actions authorized for employers to take against employees and job applicants following such a result under drug-free workplace program. - Amends TCA Title 8 and Title 50."
description: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, prohibits a medical review officer from considering prescriptions issued more than six months prior to a positive confirmed drug result for purposes of determining a valid prescription and immunity from actions authorized for employers to take against employees and job applicants following such a result under drug-free workplace program. - Amends TCA Title 8 and Title 50."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 312"
citation: "Tennessee SB 312 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Employees", "Employers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Helton", "Watson"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 38
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2019-01-30"
last_action: "2019-05-15"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/17478fc6-cd5c-43cd-a435-26b24c582d2f"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0312&GA=111"
source_hash: "5f5ccb6964ce8bb9afcbeb65a03663bc68379900a36cecd52109825ee2f0a957"
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 312 (111) — Employees, Employers - As enacted, prohibits a medical review officer from considering prescriptions issued more than six months prior to a positive confirmed drug result for purposes of determining a valid prescription and immunity from actions authorized for employers to take against employees and job applicants following such a result under drug-free workplace program. - Amends TCA Title 8 and Title 50.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0145** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0145.pdf)
2. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB0312.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE EMPLOYEE AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee 3/19/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Concur House Amendment # 1 5/1/2019 Passed — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CONSUMER AND HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/25/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/22/2019 4/17/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- SENATE COMMERCE AND LABOR COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/12/2019 Passed (2) — **8–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/30/2019 Passed (1) — **96–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/18/2019 Passed (1) — **33–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Helton — primary (person)
- Watson — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-01-30** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-01-31** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-01-31** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-04** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee
- **2019-02-04** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Assigned to s/c Employee Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-02-06** P2C, ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-05** Placed on Senate Commerce and Labor Committee calendar for 3/12/2019
- **2019-03-12** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2019-03-13** Placed on s/c cal Employee Affairs Subcommittee for 3/19/2019
- **2019-03-15** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/18/2019
- **2019-03-18** Passed Senate, Ayes 33, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-03-19** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2019-03-19** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Consumer and Human Resources Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-20** Placed on cal. Consumer and Human Resources Committee for 3/25/2019
- **2019-03-21** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2019-03-25** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-04-10** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/11/2019
- **2019-04-11** Action def. in Calendar & Rules Committee to 4/18/2019
- **2019-04-16** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/17/2019
- **2019-04-17** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/22/2019
- **2019-04-22** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/23/19
- **2019-04-22** Reset on next avail. cal.
- **2019-04-23** Reset on cal. for 4/30/2019
- **2019-04-30** Passed H., as am., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-30** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0145) `amendment-passage`
- **2019-04-30** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2019-04-30** Comp. SB subst.
- **2019-05-01** Concurred, Ayes 33, Nays 0 (Amendment 1 - HA0145) `passage`
- **2019-05-01** Placed on Senate Message Calendar 2 for 5/1/2019
- **2019-05-02** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-05-02** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-05-02** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2019-05-03** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2019-05-10** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-15** Pub. Ch. 373
- **2019-05-15** Effective date(s) 05/10/2019
- **2019-05-15** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 373

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/17478fc6-cd5c-43cd-a435-26b24c582d2f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).