SB 1316

This bill makes various changes to present law concerning regulatory boards and regulated groups as follows: (1) Makes technical clarifications by deleting anachronistic provisions; (2) Abolishes the board of court reporting and transfer's the board's duties to the commissioner of commerce and insurance, or the commissioner's designee; (3) In the event of a vacancy on TACIR, requires that the vacancy be filled for the period of the unexpired term rather than appointing a replacement to a full four-year term; (4) Increases the time within which a person who is appointed to the Tennessee education lottery corporation bo ard of directors while the general assembly is out of session must be confirmed from within 30 days of the reconvening of the general assembly to within 90 days of the reconvening; (5) Revises the process for governing bodies of a board, agency, or commi ssion of state government to participate in meetings by electronic means, as described in the full text of this bill; (6) Exempts from licensure requirements under the Mental Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and/or Treatment and Personal Support Services Licensure Law facilities that are operated for the provision of the Employment and Community First CHOICES program and services for comprehensive behavioral supports for employment and community living for adults with intellectual or development a l disabilities and severe behavioral or psychiatric conditions or any successor program, service, or a home and community-based services waiver approved by the centers for medicare and medicaid services pursuant to federal law; (7) Requires that, followi ng the expiration of terms for members appointed prior to July 1, 2025, the terms of office for appointees to the POST commission begin on July 1 and terminate on June 30 of the appropriate years; (8) Expands present law authorization for the department of disability and aging to license services and facilities operated for the provision of disability services and for personal support services by also authorizing the department to license services and facilities for the provision of the Employment and Co m munity First CHOICES program and services for comprehensive behavioral supports for employment and community living for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities and severe behavioral or psychiatric conditions or any successor program, servic e , or a home and community-based services waiver approved by the centers for medicare & medicaid services pursuant federal law; (9) Reduces from six to three years the terms of gubernatorial appointees to the commission on aging and disability for persons appointed on or after July 1, 2025; (10) Requires that three persons from each grand division, rather than one person from each congressional district, be appointed to the Tennessee motor vehicle commission; (11) Revises various requirements related t o obtaining a certificate as a certified public accountant, as identified and described in Sections 31 – 39 of this bill; (12) Replaces annual inspections of barber schools and colleges with authorization for the board of cosmetology and barber examiners to determine the frequency of the inspections, and allows issuance of a certificate of registration as a master barber without examination to a Tennessee resident under the same conditions as a nonresident may be issued such certificate without an examin a tion under present law; (13) Authorizes appointment to the board of cosmetology and barber examiners of a cosmetologist who practices manicuring, aesthetics, or natural hair styling, in lieu of a manicurist, aesthetician, or natural hair stylist, respect ively. This bill also replaces annual inspections of schools of cosmetology, cosmetology shops, manicure shops, skin care shops, natural hair styling shops, and eyelash services shops with authorization for the board to determine the frequency of the ins p ections; (14) Removes the requirement that appointees to the board of funeral directors and embalmers must sit out a term before being eligible for reappointment to the board; (15) Deletes requirements that the state board for licensing contractors and Tennessee real estate commission meet in each grand division at least once each year; (16) Extends the time that a person has to apply for a real estate broker's or affiliate broker's license following passage of the respective examination before being required to retest from six months to two years, and authorizes the commission to waive this requirement; (17) Authorizes an option to the requirement that a person who seeks reinstatement of a real estate license that lapsed due to nonpayment of a renew al fee during a period of temporary retirement complete all classroom hours that would have been required during the period of temporary retirement. Under this bill, a person could instead complete a commission-approved course consisting of 30 hours of c o ntinuing education. This bill caps the fee for reinstating a real estate license after failure to pay the renewal or retirement fee at $1,200. This bill authorizes a licensee in good standing with the commission, whose license has been expired for more t han two years but has not been temporarily retired, to reactivate the license upon payment of the $1,200 penalty completion of a commission-approved course consisting of 30 hours of continuing education; (18) Deletes the Soil Scientist Licensure Act of 2 009, which is presently administered by the commissioner of commerce and insurance; (19) Authorizes any board-run, commission-run, or commissioner-run program in the division of regulatory boards of the department of commerce and insurance that issues a license to enter into reciprocal agreements with appropriate officials in other jurisdictions to grant licenses to persons or entities licensed in the other jurisdictions who possess sufficient qualifications as established by the regulatory authority of t his state to operate across state lines under mutually acceptable terms; (20) Extends from three to five years the terms of members of the board of dentistry, effective July 1, 2025; (21) Replaces authorization for the following boards to appoint a member to fill a vacancy under various circumstances, thereby requiring that all vacancies be filled by gubernatorial appointments: the board of dentistry; the board of medical examiners; the board of optometry; the board of dispensing opticians; and the board of respiratory care; (22) Removes the requirement that appointees to a full four-year term on the Tennessee athletic commission must sit out a year before being eligible for reappointment to the board; and (23) Specifies that members serving on t he Tennessee fish and wildlife commission on February 28, 2026, continue to serve until June 30, 2026. ON APRIL 10, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1, #2, AND #3 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1330, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes the following revisions:  Clarifies that if a government body's meeting is conducted electronically, then members of the public must be able to participate through the electronic means of communication, if participation would normally be allowed at the meeting; and provide public comment by electronic means of communication, including providing written comment through the use of an internet-based platform, if public comment would normally be allowed at the meeting.  Adds that the governing body must not require members of the public to register their names in order to receive information necessary to access the meeting by electronic means of communication.  Authorizes a governing body to require members of the public to provide their names if the members plan to provide a public comment at such meeting held by electronic means of communication.  Clarifies that the bill does not require a governing body to alter its rules for public comment or public participation in a meeting.  Requires the governing body to post the meeting's recording no later than two business days after the meeting.  Requires the governing body to ensure that its members participating electronically are identifiable by name to the public for the duration of the meeting.  If more than two consecutive calendar years elapse without a governing body meeting with a quorum physically present, then requires the governing body to send a report detailing as much to the secretary of state.  Changes from two years to one year the amount of time an applicant who passes the real estate broker examination has to submit for appropriate license to the commission before the applicant must retake and pass the examination again in order to be eligible for a license. TAKE EFFECT JANUARY 1, 2026  Changes the effective date, from July 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026, for provisions that require 150 or 120 semester hours of college to be eligible for a certificate as a certified public accountant.  Changes the effective date, from July 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026, for provisions that require such applicants to show one or two years of experience, depending on the number or education hours above. AMENDMENT #2 makes technical clarifications and the following additions to the duties of the commissioner of commerce and insurance with regard to the licensure of court reporters: (1) Requires that the procedure for investigating complaints apply to complaints against persons practicing court reporting without a license as well as licensed court reporters; and (2) Reiterates that the commissioner is required to promulgate rules to implement the provisions of this bill concerning licensure of court reporters. AMENDMENT #3 deletes a provision of presen t law, which specifies that the Tennessee lottery corporation is not prohibited or restricted from making direct sales of lottery tickets or shares through any form of payment and in any amount. ON APRIL 17, 2025, THE SENATE SUBSTITUTED HOUSE BILL 1330 F OR SENATE BILL 1316, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #3, AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1330, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #3 removes House Amendment #3.