Tennessee House Bill HB0104

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/13/25
• Refer: 1/16/25
• Refer: 2/18/25
• Refer: 2/25/25
• Engrossed: 3/3/25
• Enrolled: 3/4/25
• Passed: 3/26/25
• Chaptered: 3/31/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 12; Title 33; Title 34; Title 36; Title 39; Title 49; Title 52; Title 68; Title 71 and Chapter 688 of the Public Acts of 2024, relative to the department of disability and aging.

Summary

HB0104 is a Tennessee government reorganization and conforming-changes bill centered on the creation and naming of the Department of Disability and Aging. It updates numerous provisions across the Tennessee Code to replace references to the former Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities with the new department name, and it makes related terminology changes in statutes touching courts, education, health, and public administration. The bill also removes some outdated references to “intellectual disability” and “developmental disability” in certain sections, and it updates cross-references so that other laws point to the correct title and chapter structure. Beyond name changes, the bill revises recordkeeping and confidentiality rules for departmental services and supports. It sets retention periods for service and support records, including longer preservation for minors and shorter retention for other departmental and contractor records, and it clarifies who may disclose confidential information on behalf of a supported person, including an emancipated minor or a conservator with healthcare decision-making authority. The bill also amends certificate-of-need provisions for intermediate care facility/intellectual disability non-facility beds, exempting certain public beds established under federal litigation settlements or orders from CON review while keeping private beds subject to those requirements.

Impact

The bill primarily amends Tennessee Code provisions to reflect the Department of Disability and Aging and to align related statutes with that organizational change. It affects administrative, health, guardianship, education, criminal, and public welfare statutes by updating agency names, correcting cross-references, and revising confidentiality and records-retention rules under Title 52. It also changes certificate-of-need treatment for certain public ICF/IID non-facility beds, creating an exemption from CON processes for beds tied to specified federal settlement or court orders while preserving CON oversight for private beds.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been broadly noncontroversial and received unanimous support at each recorded stage. It passed the Population Health Subcommittee 7-0, the House Health Committee 20-0, and the House floor 89-0 on consent calendar passage. The voting pattern suggests general agreement that the measure was a technical and administrative update rather than a substantive policy dispute.

Contention

There is little evidence of major contention in the available record. The only potentially sensitive policy issue is the certificate-of-need exemption for certain public ICF/IID non-facility beds, which preserves CON requirements for private beds but removes them for beds established under specific federal litigation settlements or orders. Another possible point of interest is the clarification of who can authorize disclosure of confidential information for supported persons, especially the role of conservators with healthcare authority. However, the unanimous votes indicate these issues did not generate visible opposition in committee or on the floor.