Amends TCA Title 4, Chapter 49; Title 49, Chapter 4 and Title 49, Chapter 7.

SPORTS WAGERING PRIVILEGE TAX Under present law, it is a taxable privilege to offer sports wagering in this state under a license, and therefore, a licensee must pay a privilege tax on the total amount of gross wagers, less cancelled or voided wagers received by the licensee over a specified period of time ("gross handle"). Present law also provides that 80 percent of the privilege tax collected must be distributed by the sports wagering council to the state treasurer for deposit into the lottery for education account. This bill reduces the percentage of privilege tax collected that must be distributed for deposit, from 80 percent to 75 percent. This bill adds that 5 percent of the privilege tax collected pursuant to this bill must be distributed by the council to the state treasurer for deposit into the Tennessee Promise completion grant special account. PILOT PROGRAM TO AWARD GRANTS TO COLLEGE COACHING INITIATIVE STUDENTS Present law provides that the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) must establish a four-year pilot program to award completion grants to Tennessee Promise scholarship students who are eligible for and receiving services as part of the college coaching initiative delivered by Tennessee Promise partnering organizations, and who have an immediate financial need, or who are experiencing a financial hardship, that may prevent the student from completing a postsecondary degree or credential. This bill clarifies that THEC must establish, instead, a program for the purposes above, and not a four-year program, nor a pilot program. Present law also requires that the commission submit an annual report on the outcomes of the pilot program to the education committee of the senate and to the education committee of the house of representatives by no later than December 31, 2022, for the first year of the pilot program, and by no later than December 31 of each remaining year. This bill clarifies that the report must be submitted to the committees of the senate and the house by no later than December 31 of each subsequent year. Further, under present law, the pilot program is repealed January 1, 2026. This bill removes that repeal. TENNESSEE PROMISE COMPLETION GRANT SPECIAL ACCOUNT This bill also creates a special account in the state treasury, the Tennessee Promise completion grant special account ("account"), to be administered by the commission. In accordance with the privilege tax created by this bill, 5 percent of the privilege tax collected from licensees offering sports wagering in this state must be deposited into the account for purposes of awarding completion grants pursuant to this bill. This bill requires that moneys in the account must be used exclusively to award completion grants, and, that any balance remaining unexpended at the end of a fiscal year in the account does not revert to the general fund, but instead must be carried forward into the subsequent fiscal year. PROCEEDS, USE OF FUNDS Present law provides that, subject to appropriation in the general appropriations act, the commission may not (i) use net proceeds of the state lottery to fund completion grants awarded under the program, or (ii) award more than $250,000 in completion grants in the first year of the pilot program or in any subsequent year of the pilot program. Further, present law provides for additional restrictions that, among other things, limit the commission to using only funds available to it from the unexpended balance of the qualified work-based learning grant fund to award completion grants, requires that any funds that remain unexpended at the conclusion of the program to revert to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year, and more. This bill replaces the present prohibitions and guidelines for the commission's handling of proceeds under this program. This bill provides, subject to appropriation in the general appropriations act, that the commission (i) must not use net proceeds of the state lottery to fund completion grants, and (ii) may award completion grants pursuant to this bill using any funds available to the commission in the Tennessee Promise completion grant special account established pursuant to this bill, so long as the commission does not award completion grants from any funds available in the account until July 1, 2027, for the 2027-2028 academic year, and for each academic year thereafter. In addition, the commission may award completion grants using any funds available to the commission from the unexpended balance of the qualified work-based learning grant fund. Any funds available to the commission from the unexpended balance of the qualified work-based learning grant fund that remain unexpended at the end of a fiscal year do not revert to the general fund, but instead, must be carried forward into subsequent fiscal years. Under this bill, funds allocated to the commission from the qualified work-based learning grant fund for each fiscal year must provide the commission with sufficient funds to ensure that the minimum balance of funds available to the commission on July 1 of each fiscal year is not less than $250,000, including any funds that may have been carried forward from preceding fiscal years. The commission must not award more than $250,000 in completion grants from the funds allocated to the commission from the qualified work-based learning grant fund in any fiscal year. Further, beginning with the 2027-2028 fiscal year, the commission must ensure that each college coaching initiative student who is eligible for a completion grant under this bill, and who is eligible for financial aid received from the federal Pell grant, is assigned a coach through the program created in this section and has access to a completion grant amount of no more than $1,000 each semester.