Tennessee Senate Advances Legislation on Child Protections, Women’s Safety, and Healthcare Oversight

The Tennessee Senate continued advancing a range of legislation aimed at protecting communities, strengthening election integrity, defending parental rights, and improving oversight of state programs. Lawmakers also focused on safeguarding children featured in monetized social media content, protecting women’s privacy in single-sex spaces, and monitoring spending on psychotropic medications.

Senate Bill 1469 establishes legal protections for minors appearing in monetized online content. Children under age 14 are prohibited from compensated content creation, while minors ages 14 to 17 must have a portion of their earnings placed in a protected trust account. The bill also ensures that minors creating their own content receive all earnings and allows children 14 and older to request deletion of content featuring their likeness. The legislation now heads to the Senate floor for final consideration.

To strengthen safety and privacy in female-only spaces, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Bill 468, the Women’s Safety and Protection Act. The bill mandates sex-designated restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping quarters in certain public facilities, including schools, shelters, and correctional institutions, and provides legal remedies for violations. This measure also advances to the Senate floor.

The Senate also passed legislation requiring annual reports on psychotropic medication spending through TennCare and CoverKids. Senate Bill 2255 will provide detailed data on prescribing patterns, age and county demographics, and overall costs for both the general TennCare population and children in foster care, allowing lawmakers to make more informed policy decisions.

Other legislation advancing includes Senate Bill 1464, which protects law enforcement officers’ personal information from public disclosure; Senate Bill 2153, which authorizes an early childhood mental health home visiting program to provide in-home, evidence-based services for children from birth to age five; and Senate Bill 1805, which increases reimbursement rates for rural ambulance services to help offset financial losses.

All bills now move to the Senate floor or relevant committees for further review. Senator Page Walley encourages constituents to reach out via sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov or 615-741-2368 for more information.