---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tort Liability and Reform - As enacted, prohibits governmental entities or local boards of education from extending immunity granted to independent school bus contractors rather than independent school bus owners and operators for providing school-related transportation services; requires liability insurance coverage in a contract or agreement between a local board of education and an independent school bus contractor for such services to be in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable law; permits evidence of such coverage to include a certificate of insurance from an insurance provider that lists the local board of education as an additional insured. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 20."
description: "Tort Liability and Reform - As enacted, prohibits governmental entities or local boards of education from extending immunity granted to independent school bus contractors rather than independent school bus owners and operators for providing school-related transportation services; requires liability insurance coverage in a contract or agreement between a local board of education and an independent school bus contractor for such services to be in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable law; permits evidence of such coverage to include a certificate of insurance from an insurance provider that lists the local board of education as an additional insured. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 20."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "114"
identifier: "SB 408"
citation: "Tennessee SB 408 (114)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Tort Liability and Reform"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bailey"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 20
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-01-28"
last_action: "2025-05-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a8a8df37-aa45-489d-9f8e-0cbb0c36f955"
source_url: "https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB0408&ga=114"
source_hash: "7fb8a06befb6484a45ff4cb859a23152086547df46ab8d50d6126ffcd22efb35"
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 408 (114) — Tort Liability and Reform - As enacted, prohibits governmental entities or local boards of education from extending immunity granted to independent school bus contractors rather than independent school bus owners and operators for providing school-related transportation services; requires liability insurance coverage in a contract or agreement between a local board of education and an independent school bus contractor for such services to be in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable law; permits evidence of such coverage to include a certificate of insurance from an insurance provider that lists the local board of education as an additional insured. - Amends TCA Title 29, Chapter 20.

## Version chain

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

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0408.pdf)

## Votes

- TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 2/26/2025 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/3/2025 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Bailey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-01-28** Filed for introduction `filing`
- **2025-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2025-02-12** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee `referral-committee`
- **2025-02-18** Refer to Senate Transportation & Safety Committee
- **2025-02-18** Recalled from Senate Judiciary Committee
- **2025-02-19** Placed on Senate Transportation and Safety Committee calendar for 2/26/2025
- **2025-02-26** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2025-02-27** Placed on Senate Consent Calendar 2 for 3/3/2025
- **2025-03-03** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House `receipt`
- **2025-03-03** Passed Senate, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2025-03-06** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2025-04-16** Passed H., Ayes 96, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2025-04-16** Subst. for comp. HB. `substitution`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by H. Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by Senate Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Enrolled and ready for signatures `enrolled`
- **2025-04-23** Transmitted to Governor for action. `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-01** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Effective date(s) 05/01/2025
- **2025-05-13** Pub. Ch. 299

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a8a8df37-aa45-489d-9f8e-0cbb0c36f955`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).