Commerce and Labor

SB 2227 removes a reporting requirement for Tennessee's Department of Health regarding remote access to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program. Specifically, it deletes subsection (b) of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 68-1-144, which had mandated a report due December 15, 2022, about remote use of the WIC program. The bill does not change WIC program operations or eligibility; it only eliminates an outdated administrative reporting obligation. This is a procedural change affecting the Department of Health's record-keeping, not the program's service delivery.

This bill removes a requirement that unemployed workers' new jobs must pay at least certain percentages of their previous highest-earning quarter wages to be considered "suitable" for unemployment benefits. It amends Tennessee Code Annotated §50-7-303 by deleting specific wage threshold rules (subdivisions i-iv) from the eligibility criteria. The change directly affects workers applying for unemployment benefits who might have been denied claims under the old rules due to wage calculation requirements. The bill simplifies the process by eliminating these percentage calculations from the definition of suitable work.

SB 2557 shortens the deadline for health insurance companies to provide fee schedules to healthcare providers from 10 to 9 business days after receiving a written request. The bill requires that fee schedules be delivered free of charge, in a standard digital format (like Microsoft Excel), and can be provided as either a partial or full version as requested by the provider. This change directly affects all health insurance carriers in Tennessee and healthcare providers who need timely access to billing information for administrative and billing purposes. The bill amends multiple sections of Tennessee's health insurance code to implement this time reduction.

SB 2166 would require licensed money transmitters in Tennessee (like Western Union or similar services) to pay sales tax on money sent from Tennessee to locations outside the U.S. or its territories. The tax revenue would be split equally: 25% to the state general fund, 25% to counties for infrastructure projects based on population, 25% to a new fund for K-12 teacher salary increases, and 25% to a law enforcement training supplement fund. The tax would apply to transactions starting January 1, 2027, if the bill becomes law. This directly affects businesses that handle cross-border money transfers within Tennessee.

SB 1700, the "Curbing Harmful AI Technology (CHAT) Act," regulates companion chatbots that interact with minors under 18 in Tennessee. It requires operators to prevent chatbots from encouraging self-harm, violence, illegal activity, or secrecy, and mandates clear disclaimers that the user is not interacting with a human (at login, every 30 minutes, and when seeking regulated advice). Developers must also include mental health crisis referrals for users expressing suicidal ideation. The law directly affects companies developing or deploying companion chatbots targeting minors, excluding those used for customer service, internal business, or clinical settings under professional supervision.