Tennessee Senate Bill SB0393

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/28/25
• Chaptered: 3/24/25
• Passed: 3/24/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29 and Title 63, Chapter 11, relative to the professional music therapy advisory committee of the board of examiners in psychology.

Summary

SB0393 makes a narrow administrative change to Tennessee law concerning the professional music therapy advisory committee attached to the Board of Examiners in Psychology. The bill removes the committee from one statutory list of state entities that are scheduled for repeal under Tennessee’s governmental review provisions and adds it to the separate list of entities that are expressly continued in law. In practical terms, this preserves the committee’s legal existence rather than allowing it to expire automatically. The measure does not create a new licensing program or change the substantive regulation of music therapists. Instead, it updates the state’s organizational statutes so the advisory committee created in Title 63 remains operative as part of the psychology board structure. The act takes effect immediately upon becoming law.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 29, by deleting the professional music therapy advisory committee from the list of entities subject to termination, and amends Title 4, Chapter 29, Section 248, to add the committee to the list of continuing entities. This preserves the committee created under Title 63, Chapter 11, Section 601, ensuring it remains authorized to advise the Board of Examiners in Psychology on music therapy-related matters. The bill’s legal effect is limited to state administrative structure and does not directly alter licensure standards, scope of practice, or disciplinary rules for music therapists.

Sentiment

The available legislative history suggests broad support and little controversy. The Senate Government Operations Committee recommended passage on a unanimous 8-0 vote, indicating the bill was viewed as a routine housekeeping measure rather than a contested policy change. The absence of recorded opposition or committee debate further suggests general agreement on preserving the advisory committee.

Contention

There is no documented substantive opposition in the provided materials. Any potential point of discussion would likely have been procedural rather than policy-based: whether the professional music therapy advisory committee should remain on the list of continuing entities under Tennessee’s sunset-review framework. The committee vote indicates no recorded disagreement, and no stakeholders or legislators are identified in the record as opposing the measure.