---
type: "Bill"
title: "Governor - As enacted, establishes a governor's office of faith-based and community initiatives. - Amends TCA Title 4."
description: "Governor - As enacted, establishes a governor's office of faith-based and community initiatives. - Amends TCA Title 4."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "111"
identifier: "SB 961"
citation: "Tennessee SB 961 (111)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Governor"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Johnson", "Lamberth"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 34
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-02-06"
last_action: "2019-05-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b37b0628-403e-4840-b406-182ec7ba3eec"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0961&GA=111"
source_hash: "0c1587e60baa408ecb6c4a19b5ea84d536c0c93e772302db07e50bda4e58f9e9"
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 961 (111) — Governor - As enacted, establishes a governor's office of faith-based and community initiatives. - Amends TCA Title 4.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0176** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/HA0176.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0251** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Amend/SA0251.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/111/Bill/SB0961.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 4/11/2019 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE STATE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/26/2019 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Committee 3/20/2019 (3) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/4/2019 Passed (1) — **97–0** (pass) · lower
- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 4/9/2019 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/4/2019 3/28/2019 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Johnson — primary (person)
- Lamberth — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2019-02-06** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Intro. `introduction`
- **2019-02-06** Filed for introduction `reading-1, introduction`
- **2019-02-07** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-02-07** P1C.
- **2019-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2019-02-11** P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.
- **2019-03-12** Assigned to s/c Departments & Agencies Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-12** Ref. to State Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-13** Placed on s/c cal Departments & Agencies Subcommittee for 3/20/2019
- **2019-03-20** Placed on cal. State Committee for 3/26/2019
- **2019-03-20** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to State Committee `referral-committee`
- **2019-03-26** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-03-27** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/28/2019
- **2019-03-28** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/4/2019
- **2019-04-02** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 4/9/2019
- **2019-04-04** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2019-04-04** Passed H., as am., Ayes 97, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-04** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0176) `amendment-passage`
- **2019-04-08** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2019-04-09** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 4/11/2019
- **2019-04-09** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2019-04-11** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2019-04-11** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2019-04-11** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0251)
- **2019-04-11** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2019-04-12** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2019-04-15** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2019-04-16** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2019-04-16** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2019-04-25** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2019-05-01** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 218
- **2019-05-01** Pub. Ch. 218
- **2019-05-01** Effective date(s) 07/01/2019

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b37b0628-403e-4840-b406-182ec7ba3eec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).