
First and foremost: if you’re not already registered to attend, please do so via the following link: https://form.jotform.com/213492773819063 or by calling (615) 383-9442.
Secondly: Stay up-to-date on all things DDH & disability policy in TN by texting TEAMWORK to 72690. During legislative session, we’re sending quick two-minute videos directly to phones with all the need-to-know policy updates, and what they mean to YOU. Message and data rates may apply. Ave. 1-4 msg per week.
Last, but certainly not least: There’s a lot happening in the world right now, and our 2022 policy priorities reflect that. That’s why we’re pushing for policies that work. Programs that work. And systems that work. We’re also calling out the policies that don’t.
- Public School Funding Reform
The Tennessee Department of Education (DOE) announced early this fall that they would engage in an effort to solicit public and stakeholder input on a potential reform of the state’s public education funding formula, known as the Basic Education Plan (BEP). After several months of collecting feedback, the DOE recently released a framework for a new public school funding formula. The new formula would use a student-based weighted funding formula rather than a resource-based formula that depended on student-staff ratios like the BEP.
Weighted funding formulas account for the different costs associated with meeting the diverse needs of all students. The reform effort is necessary and welcome, and a weighted funding formula is much more ideal for students with disabilities than the BEP has been. That said, a weighted funding formula benefits students the most when there is an adequate amount of money available to pay for necessary educational needs; Tennessee must improve upon its funding effort, which currently ranks 44th in the country.
- COVID Safety Protocols, Policy, and Protections for People with Disabilities
The Tennessee General Assembly called a special session in late October to work on several pieces of legislation related to Covid-mitigation efforts in the state. Ultimately, several General Assembly priorities were rolled into one “omnibus bill” that passed by a wide margin in the early morning hours of October 30th. The omnibus bill, among many things, outlaws organizations that receive state funds from implementing mask or vaccine mandates, prohibits public schools from implementing mask mandates, prohibits restaurants and entertainment venues from enforcing vaccine mandates, and prohibits healthcare providers from administering a Covid-19 vaccination to a minor without parental consent.
It’s expected that the General Assembly will make some changes to these rules, or perhaps add to them, in the upcoming session. There has been some pushback from the business community and parents, as well as a lawsuit currently in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that blocks the bill’s public-school mask mandate prohibition. There have also been early indications that some lawmakers believe that the bill did not go far enough, or that some entities have found loopholes to the rules.
- Respite Options for People with Disabilities
The Alzheimer’s Association of Tennessee has sponsored a bill to create a pilot respite program for caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia. As it’s currently written, the bill would use the respite infrastructure of the Area Agency on Aging and Disability (AAAD) to provide access to care. The bill prioritizes enrolling individuals who are on the Options waiting list and would serve up to 150 individuals per year.
This is an important bill both in that it provides a desperately needed service to offer support to 357,000 family caregivers of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and/or dementia across the state, as well in that it opens the door to have a conversation about the dire state of respite access in Tennessee.
- Universal Changing Tables
The bill requires that some large public buildings that are being constructed or remodeled include a single-occupancy restroom with a motorized adult-sized changing table. This bill was introduced in 2021 in the first year of the 112th General Assembly session and was assigned to summer study. The large fiscal note assigned to the bill is one of the primary reasons the bill is being carried over to the second year of the session, and the text and compliance mechanism of the bill will likely face some changes in order to reduce the total estimated cost.
This is a bill that would benefit a lot of Tennesseans with disabilities, as well as their families. First, the bill offers Tennessee families the opportunity to spend time in places where they currently must choose between going home or changing a family member on the floor of a bathroom. Second, it signals to these same families that they are welcome in these places and that their presence is valued. Finally, it is simply a good universal design, because it ensures that people with and without disabilities have access to this tool should they need it.
- Insurance Coverage for Telehealth
Of the many lessons we’ve learned about access to health care during the pandemic, one of the more valuable contributions was the broadened access to and coverage for telehealth. In August 2020, the General Assembly passed a bill that required insurance companies to cover telehealth the same way they would in-person care. The bill also changed some rules around geographic proximity and expanded the type and number of providers who are permitted to provide telehealth services. However, the bill passed in 2020 provides only temporary flexibility, with the rules due to expire in April 2022. While this bill text has not been published yet, we expect to see legislation that would either extend telehealth flexibilities and coverage parity rules, or make them permanent.