Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
After nearly a year of debate and protest, it appears House Majority Leader Rep. William Lamberth will now pursue a heavily amended and stripped version of his bill which was initially intended to allow for the disenrollment of illegal alien students.
HB0793 was originally crafted with an intent to challenge the 1982 Supreme Court ruling Plyler v Doe which mandated that all children were entitled to a free education regardless of immigration status.
The bill’s initial format would have required public schools to verify a student’s legal status during enrollment, and if the status could not be verified through documentation, allow LEAs and public charter schools to charge tuition not less than the TISA-based funding amount for the year. If the parents of the illegal student failed to pay the tuition, enrollment could be denied, though an appeals process would have been in place for students who may have a lawful presence in the country.
After stalling in the House at the end of the 2025 legislative session over concerns the bill could jeopardize over $1 billion in federal funding, Lamberth finally placed the bill back on notice for consideration last week. But according to a statement from Lamberth’s office about a new amendment on the bill, it now looks significantly different from its original format.
“This amendment provides a measured approach to addressing challenges posed by illegal immigration on Tennessee’s public education system, without putting any federal education dollars at risk. It only requires local districts and public charter schools to verify the lawful presence of enrolling students while also protecting student privacy. By bringing greater transparency to this issue, we empower our state to make informed decisions that prioritize Tennessee taxpayers and students,” Lamberth told the Nashville Banner earlier this week.
Lamberth further elaborated on the new iteration during the House Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, March 4.
“When we began this journey, this bill was both a data bill and would give every single local jurisdiction, every school board, the authority to charge tuition to a student that is illegally present in the United States, and if that student’s family did not pay that tuition, then each school board had the opportunity to decide whether to disenroll that child,” he recapped.
“The second two aspects of that have now been removed from this bill, and the only part that is remaining in this amendment is literally a data portion, where every school will request that information as they do now, and when folks enroll they give their information, their residency, that type of thing and then report back to us, specifically the Department of Education, on how many students are in our schools that are illegally present in the United States. And then we can take whatever action down the road that this body would choose to take.”
In essence, schools may be required to confirm and report citizenship or legal status upon a child’s enrollment, without including the name or addresses of the students, but there are no longer any consequences or enforcement mechanisms in the legislation.
Lamberth highlighted his primary reason for asking the body to so severely amend the bill as being the reduction of the accompanying fiscal note. Under the revised language, the bill would now carry a fiscal note designated as “not significant”.
He also confirmed that he has had “good back and forth” with officials in the Trump administration over the past 10 months who helped offer clarification or answer questions regarding the federal funding portions, though they could ultimately give no definite answer about whether HB0793 in its original form would risk the $1.1 billion in funds as the bill is not yet passed.
Rep. Jason Zachary spoke in favor of the amended bill, saying “As legislators, we cannot make informed decisions without data. And right now, we simply do not know what the attendance is across the school systems in our state regarding children who are here illegally. And according to FAIR, it costs Tennessee $571 million a year, but that is just a guess. So, this is a commonsense approach, it is a measured approach based on where we started to where we’re going now and not risking those funds, so we will have data to be able to make better decisions.”
There were several clarifying questions from other subcommittee members, and testimony in opposition to the bill, despite its revised status, was offered by several citizens, immigration attorneys, and community activists who believe the basic reporting requirements are still too broad and discriminatory against immigrants with varying immigration statuses.
Ultimately, the new version of the bill passed the subcommittee 9-3 along party lines and will now proceed to the full House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee.
After the vote, the room erupted into boos and shouts of “shame”, forcing Subcommittee Chair Rep. Ryan Williams to call a brief recess and have the Sergeant at Arms clear the room.
As the Senate has already passed its form of the bill, which now differs even more significantly from the House companion, the chamber would have to revisit the topic and vote to amend its bill to match the House version should HB0793 eventually clear the House floor.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
