Sometimes abbreviations used for tracking bills on the Tennessee General Assembly (capitol.tn.gov) website can be confusing, so let’s first go through the most used bill abbreviations and what they mean, and then we will track a sample bill.
| Abbreviation | Interpretation |
|---|---|
| intro. | introduced |
| S. | Senate |
| H. | House |
| Revd. | received |
| P1C | passed on first consideration |
| P2C | passed on second consideration |
| def. | deferred |
| ref. | referred |
| rec. | recommended |
| am. | amendment |
| cal. | calendar |
| comm. | committee |
| pass. | passage |
| PNV | present and not voting |
| s/c | standing committee |
View the table below to see what the bill tracking process can look like for an example Senate bill from the first time it gets introduced (at the end of the table) to the most recent action taken (at the beginning of the table).
| Action | Date | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Revd. From S., held on H. desk | 3/18/2026 | Received from the Senate and held on the desk of the House Clerk to await action by the House. |
| Engrossed; ready for transmission to House | 3/14/2026 | This means the Senate Clerk has put all the amendments into the bill and it is ready to go to the House Clerk’s desk. |
| Passed S. as am., Ayes 22, Nays 4 | 3/14/2026 | Senate passed the bill, with an amendment. |
| S. adopted am. (Amendment 2 of 0 – SA0087) | 3/14/2026 | Senate adopted Amendment 2 that has a Senate Number (SA) of 0087. The “2” of “0” means that it was the second amendment to the bill, not an amendment to an amendment. For example, there could be a “1” of “1,” which means an amendment was offered to Amendment 1. |
| Placed on Senate Regular Calendar cal. for 3/14/2026 | 3/14/2026 | On March 14, the Senate Clerk actually set on the bill on the calendar to be heard/debated on March 14, 2017. |
| S. Reset on Cal. For 3/14/2017 | 3/12/2026 | On the 12th, the Senate Clerk actually set on the bill on the calendar to be heard/debated on March 14, 2017. |
| S. adopted am. (Amendment 1of 0 – SA0066) | 3/11/2026 | Senate adopted amendment 1 that has a Senate Number (SA) of 0066. |
| Placed on Senate Regular Calendar cal. for 3/11/2026 | 3/7/2026 | On March 11, the Senate had the bill on the calendar to be heard/debated and decided to move it to the calendar on the 14th. |
| S. adopted am. (Amendment 1of 0 – SA0066) | 3/11/2026 | Senate adopted amendment 1 that has a Senate Number (SA) of 0066. |
| Placed on Senate Regular Calendar cal. for 3/11/2026 | 3/7/2026 | On March 11, the Senate had the bill on the calendar to be heard/debated and decided to move it to the calendar on the 14th. |
| Placed on Senate Regular Calendar cal. for 3/11/2026 | 3/7/2026 | Bill is placed on the Senate Regular calendar for 3/11/26. |
| Rec. for pass. w/am., ref. to S. Cal. Comm. Ayes 7, Nays 2 PNV 0 | 3/6/2026 | The Senate Education Committee recommended the bill for passage to the Senate Calendar Committee, with an amendment, by vote of 7-2, with no one present and not voting (PNV). |
| Placed on S. Ed. Comm. cal. for 3/6/2026 | 2/28/2026 | On February 28, the bill was set to be heard on March 6 in the Senate Education Committee. |
| Action Def. in S. Ed. Comm. to 3/6/2026 | 2/27/2026 | On February 27, the Senate Education Committee decided to defer action until the meeting on March 6. |
| P2C, ref. to S. Ed. Comm. | 2/4/2026 | The bill passed on 2nd consideration and was referred by the Clerk to the Senate Education Committee for debate. |
| Intro., P1C. | 1/31/2026 | January 31 was the first day the Senate met after the bill was introduced and passed it on 1st consideration of the 3 required by the Constitution. |
