---
type: "Bill"
title: "State Employees - As enacted, prohibits a state agency from requiring a baccalaureate degree as a condition of state employment unless the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position can only reasonably be obtained through a course of study culminating in a baccalaureate degree. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 50."
description: "State Employees - As enacted, prohibits a state agency from requiring a baccalaureate degree as a condition of state employment unless the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position can only reasonably be obtained through a course of study culminating in a baccalaureate degree. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 50."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "HB 1916"
citation: "Tennessee HB 1916 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["State Employees"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Eldridge", "Southerland"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 40
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2022-01-18"
last_action: "2022-04-25"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d94a8041-b771-410a-a95e-c0262d7cd3d7"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=HB1916&GA=112"
source_hash: "bd7be61d05c5c1352a96958deca79e3e36d48154599165d1bacdf61fdf94d05b"
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 1916 (112) — State Employees - As enacted, prohibits a state agency from requiring a baccalaureate degree as a condition of state employment unless the knowledge, skills, or abilities required for the position can only reasonably be obtained through a course of study culminating in a baccalaureate degree. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 8; Title 49 and Title 50.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0763** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0763.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0734** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0734.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/HB1916.pdf)

## Votes

- SENATE STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/22/2022 Passed (2) — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/28/2022 Passed (1) — **81–9** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE STATE GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/22/2022 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/28/2022 3/24/2022 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- HOUSE PUBLIC SERVICE SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State Government Committee 3/9/2022 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/30/2022 Passed (1) — **30–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Eldridge — primary (person)
- Southerland — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-18** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-19** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-01-20** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate State and Local Government Committee
- **2022-01-24** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2022-01-26** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2022-01-27** P2C, ref. to State Government Committee `referral-committee`
- **2022-01-28** Assigned to s/c Public Service Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-01** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/8/2022
- **2022-03-02** Placed on s/c cal Public Service Subcommittee for 3/9/2022
- **2022-03-08** Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/15/2022
- **2022-03-09** Placed on cal. State Government Committee for 3/15/2022
- **2022-03-09** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to State Government Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-09** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/15/2022
- **2022-03-15** Action def. in State Government Committee to 3/22/2022
- **2022-03-15** Action deferred in Senate State and Local Government Committee to 3/22/2022
- **2022-03-16** Placed on cal. State Government Committee for 3/22/2022
- **2022-03-16** Placed on Senate State and Local Government Committee calendar for 3/22/2022
- **2022-03-22** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-22** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2022-03-22** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-23** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/24/2022
- **2022-03-24** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 3/28/2022
- **2022-03-28** Passed H., as am., Ayes 81, Nays 9, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2022-03-28** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2022-03-28** H. adopted am. (Amendment 1 - HA0763) `amendment-passage`
- **2022-03-28** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/30/2022
- **2022-03-29** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2022-03-30** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2022-03-30** Passed Senate, Ayes 30, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2022-03-30** Amendment withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - SA0734)
- **2022-03-30** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2022-03-30** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2022-03-30** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2022-04-04** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2022-04-05** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2022-04-06** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2022-04-14** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-25** Effective date(s) 07/01/2022
- **2022-04-25** Pub. Ch. 823
- **2022-04-25** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 823

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d94a8041-b771-410a-a95e-c0262d7cd3d7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).