SB1025/HB708 by Sen. Richard Briggs and Rep. Jason Zachary, sought to expand the definition of eligible postsecondary institutions for TSAA’s nonprofit focused Ben Atchley Opportunity Grant to include for-profit colleges. The TSAA serves students from families with a combined family income of $40,000 or less.  In 2019/20, the program served 64,246 students with just over $102 million.  This is Tennessee’s need-based student aid program which serves to supplement the Federal Pell Grant to assist in making college affordable for low-income Tennesseans.  The Ben Atchley Opportunity Grant is a part of the TSAA and was designed by the Legislature to provide additional funds to qualified students attending a regionally accredited nonprofit college or university domiciled in Tennessee.

This bill specifically sought to allow South College, a for-profit college, to gain access to the Atchley supplement.  South College’s share of the TSAA program dramatically increased this past year.  In 2017/18, South received $670,694 from the TSAA program, in 2018/19 they received $699,377, and in 2019/20, the amount more than doubled to $1,788,081.  Inclusion in the nonprofit focused Atchley supplement grant will double that amount again.

The grant has been losing its purchasing power for students for more than a decade.  The priority of any additional funds appropriated to the program has been to expand the number of families served rather than to increase the grant amount.  Not long ago, there were insufficient funds to provide grants to all eligible students.  Just recently the program has been funded at a level which expands eligibility to students with a combined family income of $40,000.  Expanding to include South College in the Atchley supplement would have consumed one-half of Governor Bill Lee’s proposed increase of $4 million for the TSAA for FY21.  Ultimately the bill was removed from consideration in both the House and the Senate but may be brought back for consideration next year.

HB711/SB446 - would have modified the definition of eligible institution for the lottery scholarship program to include WGU – Tennessee. WGU-TN continues to seek access to the Hope Nontraditional Scholarship which serves those students over the age of 25 and with an annual gross income below $36,000.  TICUA has consistently opposed altering the eligible institution definition to include campuses which are headquartered outside of Tennessee.  WGU-TN has been seeking access to the student aid program even though during the first session of the 108th Tennessee General Assembly in 2013 they assured the General Assembly that they would not do so.

The legislative measure was rolled to the first calendar in January 2022 in both the House and Senate Education committees.  This defers the bill to next year allowing for reconsideration of the proposed bills soon after the start of the Second Session of the 112th General Assembly.  

There were two bills which sought to expand alternative teacher preparation programs.  Rep. Terry Weaver and Sen. Janice Bowling sponsored (HB1534/SB653) which allows Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to create their own teacher education preparation programs.  An amendment was adopted, however, to limit LEAs to creating district teacher training for the purpose of adding additional endorsements for those who have graduated from a university-based teacher preparation program and are currently employed by the LEA.  

The House also adopted language which would have provided a waiver from taking the Praxis in the new endorsement area if the district can verify that that teacher has the requisite content competency.  TICUA and the broader higher education community opposed the waiver language.  The Senate refused to remove the Praxis requirement from the companion bill.  Consequently, a compromise was struck which kept the Praxis requirement intact with the legislative intent to provide future funding for the Praxis exam fee for those utilizing this new pathway. 

HB1335/SB879 was sponsored by Rep. Charlie Baum and Sen. John Stevens.  Originally the bill would have allowed the out-of-state online teacher preparation program, American Board, to offer teacher preparation statewide.  The provider currently has a limited scope of service in middle Tennessee.  The company touts the ability for students to complete their program with no live classes, no graded assignments, and to progress at your own rate.  The bill was amended to rewrite the proposed legislation to align the out-of-state teacher preparation programs with the existing State Board of Education approval process.  In light of the amendment, TICUA no longer opposed the measure but the House and Senate Education committees took action to remove the measure from consideration. 

HB1353/SB1267, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Vaughn and Sen. Shane Reeves, allows students who have graduated from an accredited nursing program and is authorized to sit for the NCLEX-RN exam, to practice for up to 120 days prior to taking the exam.  

An amendment was adopted which provides for additional protection measures.  The amendment states that those participating in this provision will be under one-to-one supervision by a registered nurse, may not be deemed a qualified nurse, and must be identified as a “graduate nurse” in a clinical setting.  If the student fails the initial NCLEX-RN exam, the student will be given 45 days to pass the exam during the second sitting.  If the student fails the second exam, they will be expelled from the program.  The program is voluntary and is largely designed to use the 120 days to complete hospital orientation and expand clinical experience prior to passing the qualifying exam. The measure passed the legislature in April and was signed by Governor Lee on May 4, 2021.

Senator Shane Reeves and Rep. Clark Boyd sponsored legislation (SB1265/HB508) which codifies Governor Bill Lee's Executive Order allowing pre-licensed graduate students (i.e., counseling, speech pathology, etc.) to be engaged in remote patient contact under the supervision of a licensed professional.  These students are required to have a set number of patient contact hours to qualify for licensure and satisfy graduation requirements.

The recent telemedicine legislation included restrictive language which allowed only "licensed" professionals to be allowed to utilize remote patient engagement.  Consequently, pre-licensed graduate students were inadvertently left out of the enabling language of the bill.  Prior to COVID-19, students were able to satisfy their patient contact hours through face-to-face and remote supervised sessions. This measure reinstates students' ability to satisfy contact hours through supervised remote sessions.  As well, with the burgeoning practice of telemedicine, it is critical that the training of our graduate students include this important practice.

On February 26th Governor Bill Lee extended the suspension of the licensing requirement for graduate students with Executive Order 77 through to April 28, 2021.  Fortunately, the legislative initiative passed the General Assembly and was signed by Governor Lee on April 20th, prior to the expiration of the Executive Order.

On April 8, 2021, Governor Bill Lee signed into law SB765/HB786 which amends state statute regarding the possession of a handgun.  The bill has been engrossed as Public Chapter 108 and will become effective on July 1, 2021.  Essentially, the bill removes the requirement for a permit to be obtained to carry a handgun, whether openly or concealed.  

The basic requirements for possessing a handgun are that the person be at least twenty-one years of age; or at least eighteen years of age if the person is on active-duty status in the U.S. armed services, is a reservist, or has been honorably discharged.  As well, the person must be able to lawfully possess the weapon and be in a place for which they are lawfully permitted.  The law maintains handgun possession prohibitions for those convicted of a felony crime, a felony drug possession, stalking, driving under the influence, is considered to be mentally defective, or otherwise prohibited by 18 U.S.C. 922(g).

This new law does not appear to change the ability of a campus to prohibit weapons.  However, the “guns in trunks” provision remains.  Consequently, if a person enters a campus possessing a weapon, they must immediately place it, and its ammunition, in a secure place “kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, glove box, or interior of the person's motor vehicle or a container securely affixed to the motor vehicle if the person is not in the motor vehicle.”

TICUA recommends consulting your campus attorney to compare this, and other legislation, against standing campus policies.

Sen. Janice Bowling and Rep. Bud Hulsey sponsored HB0013/SB0187 which prohibits the Governor or any government agency from promulgating, adopting, or enforcing an ordinance or resolution, that requires a person to receive an immunization, vaccination, or injection for the COVID19 virus or its variants.  The policy applies to public higher education institutions except for those programs which carry a federal requirement for the vaccination or are in the health-related programs.  The prohibition does not apply to private businesses, including TICUA member institutions.  The bill passed both chambers in the final weeks of session and is expected to be signed by Governor Lee.