Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee HB2143: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 25 and Title 58, Chapter 3, relative to veterans services.
Status: Chaptered, May 4, 2026
Fiscal Summary STATE GOVERNMENTEXPENDITURESGeneral FundFY26-27$2,471,600FY27-28 & Subsequent Years$2,437,400Total Positions Required: 4 LOCAL GOVERNMENTREVENUEMandatoryFY26-27 & Subsequent Years$1,874,000 EXPENDITURESMandatoryFY26-27 & Subsequent Years$1,874,000 Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that: no law of general application shall impose increased expenditure requirements on cities or counties unless the General Assembly shall provide that the state share in the cost. OTHER FISCAL IMPACT Due to multiple unknown variables, any increase in local expenditures to increase staffing and provide additional office space and administrative support for various LVSOs, cannot be determined with reasonable certainty, but could be significant. Bill Summary Present law authorizes the county legislative bodies of the several counties and the governing bodies of each municipal corporation, jointly or severally, to establish service offices for the purpose of advising veterans of the United States armed forces, and their dependents, of all rights, privileges, immunities and benefits to which they may be entitled under any law, state or federal, and which may be made available to them by private institutions, organizations or individuals and of assisting them in every way possible in obtaining such rights, immunities and benefits. These service offices are required to be staffed by accredited veterans' service officers. This bill requires the county legislative bodies and municipal governing bodies creating local veterans service offices to choose the persons hired to provide veterans services, subject to guidance provided by the department of veterans services. Employees of a local veterans service office who served in the armed forces are known as "county veterans service officers (CVSOs)," and those who d
What the bill says
From the amended text:
House State & Local Government 1 Amendment No. 1 to HB2143 Crawford Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 2483 House Bill No. 2143* by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 58, Chapter 3, is amended by adding the following as a new section: (a) The department of veterans services shall conduct a study within the existing resources of the department that includes: (1) An evaluation of county veterans service office resources, (B) Accreditation status of office personnel; (C) The hours of operation of such offices; and (D) CVSO office budget levels and funding sources; (2) The identification of underserved areas, (B) A comparison of veteran population numbers based on accredited CVSOs; and (C) The identification of counties or regions without a full-time CVSO; (3) Operational capacity, including a review and compilation of countylevel workload productivity metrics; (4) Local outreach efforts, community outreach events, partnerships, and other entities providing, or sources of, assistance for veterans at the local level; and HA1090 (5) The identification of potential funding mechanisms to support local veterans service offices. (b) The department shall compile a report of the study conducted pursuant to subsection (a) and submit the report to the governor and the speakers of the senate and house of representatives no later …