(The Center Square) – A controversial bill passed by the Tennessee Senate last year allowing school districts to check student immigration statuses was changed and approved by a House subcommittee on Tuesday.
Senate Bill 836, sponsored by Hixson Republican Bo Watson, would allow school districts to charge tuition to students not legally in the country. It passed the Senate 19-13 during the final days of the 2025 session.
The amended House version of the bill would only ask school personnel to report residency information to the Department of Education, said House Majority Leader William Lamberth.
“And then we can take whatever action down the road that this body would chose to take,” Lambert told the House Finance Ways and Means Subcommittee before a packed room of people protesting the bill.
Lawmakers changed the bill after the original fiscal note indicated the law could cause Tennessee to lose $1.1 billion in federal education funding if it is determined the bill violates a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court decision establishing the right to education for all students, regardless of immigration status.
“There’s no way I want to bring a bill forward that would endanger $1.1 billion while we are trying to add additional funds in K through 12 public education,” Lamberth said. “If you look at the new fiscal that is on the amendment,” fiscal impact “is not significant.”
Immigration attorney Johnny Epstein of Nashville disagreed with Lamberth about the bill, citing complications with immigration laws. For example, some Venezuelan students granted temporary protection status in 2021 had that status reversed when President Donald Trump took office, Epstein said. Trump’s executive order was reversed by a federal court, but it’s being appealed.
“You’re asking school staff to check this with a simple checklist, as if it’s a driver’s license,” Epstein said. “I don’t care how well designed this form is and how much thought you put into it, it’s not going to work. It’s going to give you bad data, horrible data that cannot be used to make any thoughtful decisions, and I wish y’all would abandon this as soon as possible.”
The committee advanced the bill to the full House Finance Ways and Means Committee to loud boos from the crowd. The subcommittee had to clear the room before continuing with its agenda.
