---
type: "Bill"
title: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, generally requires, beginning July 1, 2026, all state and local governmental employers to verify the work authorization status of each prospective employee through the federal E-Verify program prior to employment; authorizes the attorney general to enforce compliance with the requirement against local governments and subjects a noncompliant local government to the withholding of all funds of this state allocated to the local government via grant, contract, or statute, including, but not limited to, state-shared taxes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and Title 50."
description: "Employees, Employers - As enacted, generally requires, beginning July 1, 2026, all state and local governmental employers to verify the work authorization status of each prospective employee through the federal E-Verify program prior to employment; authorizes the attorney general to enforce compliance with the requirement against local governments and subjects a noncompliant local government to the withholding of all funds of this state allocated to the local government via grant, contract, or statute, including, but not limited to, state-shared taxes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and Title 50."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "HB 1705"
citation: "Tennessee HB 1705 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Employees", "Employers"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rudd"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2026-01-15"
last_action: "2026-04-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/59ff1b96-e05b-44e0-87d6-297222834e2c"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=HB1705&ga=114"
source_hash: "940d5b84424589689c165a53cdd3c882c65a483740c3570cc9b389d12b521aee"
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 1705 (114) — Employees, Employers - As enacted, generally requires, beginning July 1, 2026, all state and local governmental employers to verify the work authorization status of each prospective employee through the federal E-Verify program prior to employment; authorizes the attorney general to enforce compliance with the requirement against local governments and subjects a noncompliant local government to the withholding of all funds of this state allocated to the local government via grant, contract, or statute, including, but not limited to, state-shared taxes. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 12 and Title 50.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment SA0749** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Amend/SA0749.pdf)
2. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/HB1705.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: MESSAGE CALENDAR CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENT # 1 4/6/2026 Passed — **76–14** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/30/2026 Passed (1) — **27–5** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/16/2026 3/12/2026 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/11/2026 Passed — **14–4** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/16/2026 Passed (1) — **73–21** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE BANKING AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Commerce Committee 2/18/2026 Passed (3) — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Rudd — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-01-15** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2026-01-21** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-01-21** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2026-01-22** Assigned to s/c Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-22** P2C, ref. to Commerce Committee `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-02** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-02-11** Placed on s/c cal Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee for 2/18/2026
- **2026-02-12** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-02-13** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-02-18** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Commerce Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-25** Placed on cal. Commerce Committee for 3/4/2026
- **2026-03-04** Placed on cal. Commerce Committee for 3/11/2026
- **2026-03-04** No Action Taken
- **2026-03-11** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/12/2026
- **2026-03-11** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-12** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/16/2026
- **2026-03-16** Sponsor(s) Added. `sponsorship`
- **2026-03-16** Passed H., Ayes 73, Nays 21, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2026-03-17** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen. `receipt`
- **2026-03-19** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2026-03-30** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 27, Nays 5 `passage`
- **2026-03-30** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0749)
- **2026-03-30** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill. `substitution`
- **2026-04-02** H. Placed on Message Calendar for 4/6/2026
- **2026-04-06** H. concurred in S. am. no. 1 Ayes 76, Nays 14 PNV 0 HB1705
- **2026-04-07** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker. `enrolled`
- **2026-04-08** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-08** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2026-04-09** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2026-04-21** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2026-04-27** Effective date(s) 07/01/2026
- **2026-04-27** Pub. Ch. 772

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/59ff1b96-e05b-44e0-87d6-297222834e2c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).