Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) has joined a coalition of organizations pushing for state legislators in the Tennessee General Assembly to pass the Regulatory Freedom Act.
The bill, filed in the General Assembly as Senate Bill 2199 / House Bill 1913, would significantly increase oversight and transparency of Tennessee state agency rules by requiring detailed fiscal impact analysis and greater legislative involvement for costly regulations.
Under the bill, agencies would be required to publicly post proposed rules, notify affected trade groups in advance, and prepare formal fiscal impact statements for rules expected to negatively affect businesses.
The bill would also impose new reporting requirements, tighten procedures for emergency rules, and establish a structured process for repealing rules, all aimed at limiting regulatory costs and increasing legislative control over agency rulemaking.
Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) is carrying the bill in the Senate while Representative Clark Boyd (R-Lebanon) is sponsoring the measure in the House of Representatives.
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Blackburn, who sponsored the REINS Act, a federal effort to establish congressional review of agency rulemaking, joins Americans for Prosperity (AFP), Beacon Impact, the Tennessee Farm Bureau, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce in supporting the bill.
“Tennessee is a well-governed, well-led state, but we can make our great state even better by improving the regulatory process,” Blackburn, a candidate in the 2026 governor’s race, said in a statement.
“It ought to be difficult to add onerous, expensive regulations to the books and easier to remove outdated ones. The Regulatory Freedom Act takes a tremendous step towards that goal and will accelerate the good work our state’s pro-business legislature and Governor Bill Lee have done to that end,” she added.
The bill is currently waiting to be heard in the House and Senate Government Operations Committees.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Sen. Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn.
