March 15, 2024

Discrimination and Higher Education Bill Fails

HB1660/SB2351, as introduced, prohibits higher education institutions from defining discriminatory practices in their anti-discrimination policies in a manner inconsistent with state law. The current language of the bill may be interpreted to include TICUA member institutions.

TICUA communicated with House sponsor Rep. John Ragan indicating our opposition to the bill as drafted. Ragan did not accept TICUA’s compromise language, therefore we remained opposed to the measure. TICUA communicated our opposition to the members of the House Higher Education Committee. On Monday, the Subcommittee met where the measure failed on a voice vote.

Out-of-State Access to Promise Bill Taken Off Notice

HB1809/SB1752, extends eligibility for the Tennessee Promise scholarship to students who are enrolled full-time in a private, for-profit trade school. The school must be approved by the Tennessee State Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners.  This provision specifically addresses the Knoxville location of AVEDA Institutes. This is a national for-profit chain headquartered in Minnesota.

TICUA opposes the inclusion of any educational program into lottery scholarship funds which is not domiciled in Tennessee. TICUA’s concerns were communicated to members of the Senate Education Committee and to bill sponsor, Sen. Becky Massey. Massey decided to not have the bill heard due to the growing opposition to the measure. As Massey put it, “There’s a cool breeze blowing” concerning the bill’s favorability, so she referred it to the General Subcommittee which essentially kills the measure.

Data Bill Moving in the House

SB461/HB902, seeks to create a Future Workforce Commission to govern the utilization of the P20-TN statewide data system. TICUA is currently a contributing agency to the data system and expressed concern about the proposal during the previous legislative session. The bill, brought by SCORE, seeks to make aggregated data sets more readily available to the public and develop public-facing dashboards. The bill also seeks to codify the governing committee, the Office of Evidence Impact (OEI), and establish a series of required annual reports.

A new amendment has been drafted with the intent of moving it forward. OEI remains concerned about the amendment’s language and is monitoring the bill’s movement closely. This week the bill was voted out of the House Administration Committee and sent to the House Government Operations Committee for consideration. The Senate version remains in the Finance Committee.

NC-SARA Fee Bill

HB2393/SB2826, as drafted, de-couples the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s fees from the  NC-SARA fee structure. It allows THEC to not increase the state share of participating in NC-SARA when the national fees increase. Today, THEC’s fee is directly tied to the NC-SARA structure which has only increased over time.

When the decision was made for THEC to serve as Tennessee’s NC-SARA portal, it was agreed that the state fees would be tied to the direct operating expenses of the portal. TICUA is supportive of this proposal which will reduce the burden on campuses.

House Higher Education Subcommittee Publishes Final Calendar

The House Higher Education Subcommittee published their final calendar for the year. The calendar combines remaining bills to be considered along with the student aid/lottery bills. In all, there are 21 bills to be considered but several of those have been set aside in the Senate. Bills voted on favorably will be sent to the House Administration Committee for consideration.