Tennessee Senate Bill SB1269

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Chaptered: 3/31/25
• Passed: 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

SB1269 is a Tennessee administrative cleanup and conforming bill centered on the newly named Department of Disability and Aging. It updates numerous sections of 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 across titles governing state agencies, courts, education, health, and public welfare. The bill also removes or revises several references to “intellectual disability” and “developmental disability” in specific provisions, aligning those statutes with the department’s updated structure and terminology. The measure also makes targeted substantive changes to records and confidentiality rules for services provided by the department and its contractors. It requires preservation periods for service and support records, including longer retention for minors, and clarifies that records may be maintained in alternative media if accuracy is preserved. In addition, it revises who may authorize disclosure of confidential information, limiting that authority to an emancipated minor or a conservator with authority over disclosures or health care decisions, while excluding conservatorships over property or estate alone. A separate provision updates cross-references in criminal and health statutes, including a change tying a definition to Title 52 rather than Title 33, and it revises certificate-of-need treatment for certain intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IID) non-facility beds. Under the bill, public ICF/IID non-facility beds established under specified federal litigation settlements or orders are exempt from certificate-of-need requirements, while private ICF/IID non-facility beds remain subject to those requirements. The general sentiment around the bill appears strongly favorable and noncontroversial. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended passage unanimously, and the floor motion to adopt also passed unanimously. The lack of recorded opposition suggests the bill was viewed primarily as a technical and administrative update rather than a policy dispute. There is little evidence of major contention in the available record, but the most notable policy-sensitive areas are the confidentiality and disclosure rules for supported persons and the certificate-of-need exemption for certain public ICF/IID beds. Those provisions affect access, oversight, and facility planning, but the unanimous votes indicate no significant disagreement surfaced during the legislative process.

Impact

The bill amends multiple Tennessee Code provisions to conform state law to the renamed Department of Disability and Aging, replacing prior references to the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and updating related statutory cross-references. It also changes record-retention and confidentiality provisions for departmental services, clarifies who may authorize disclosure of protected information, and exempts certain public ICF/IID non-facility beds from certificate-of-need review while leaving private beds subject to that process. The practical effect is to update agency terminology, preserve records standards, and adjust regulatory treatment for certain disability-services facilities and supports.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have been received positively and without controversy. The Senate Health and Welfare Committee recommended it for passage unanimously, and the floor vote to adopt was also unanimous. That voting pattern suggests broad agreement that the measure is a routine conforming and administrative update, with no significant partisan or stakeholder opposition reflected in the available record.

Contention

No major contention is reflected in the committee or voting history provided. The only provisions that could raise policy questions are the revised confidentiality/disclosure rules for persons supported by the department and the exemption from certificate-of-need requirements for certain public ICF/IID non-facility beds. Those sections affect guardianship authority, privacy, and facility regulation, but the unanimous votes indicate those issues did not generate visible opposition in this bill’s consideration.