Official Summary Text
ON APRIL 7, 2025, THE SENATE
ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1388, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, make the following revisions to present law:
Requires the
department of human services
("department")
to
establish and implement by rule a process by which management of a public property may submit formal complaints regarding the conduct or performance of a blind individual who has been licensed by the department to operate a vending facility on such public property through the business enterprise program for the blind.
Requires, if
a complaint is substantiated upon investigation by the department,
the
department
to
subject the licensed blind vending facility operator to a plan of corrective action
, which
may subject the operator to further disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, retraining, placing the license in probationary status, emergency removal, and removal for cause.
Requires
the department
to
establish and implement by rule a process for self-employment and entrepreneurship that provides an eligible individual with a disability the opportunity, as part of the individual's IPE, to be trained and licensed to operate vending facilities on public properties for which the department has first priority pursuant to
present law
, but where licensed blind vending facility operators through the business enterprise program for the blind have chosen not to operate at such vending facilities or at such vending facilities that are not generating unassigned income on the effective date of
the bill
. However, the department
must
continue to retain first preference for operating vending facilities on public property for licensed blind vending facility operators, and
must
assign second preference for operating such facilities to licensed non-blind eligible individuals with disabilities pursuant to the department's priority established under
present law
.
Requires the
department
to
include a process for receiving and investigating complaints from public property management regarding the conduct or performance of a non-blind eligible individual with a disability who operates a vending facility on such public property.
Requires f
unding for the goods, services, initial stock, or other regular business expenses approved by the department for a licensed non-blind eligible individual with a disability to operate a vending facility
to
be provided in accordance with the individual's IPE.
Prohibits
funds used for licensed blind vending facility operators through the business enterprise program for the blind, including set-aside, unassigned, and business enterprise program funds,
from
be
ing
used for licensed non-blind eligible individuals with disabilities who operate a vending facility pursuant to
the bill
.
Requires, when
a licensed non-blind eligible individual with a disability ceases to operate a vending facility on a public property pursuant to
the bill
, the department
to
first determine whether licensed blind vending facility operators through the business enterprise program for the blind continue to choose not to operate the vending facility before assigning the vending facility to another licensed non-blind eligible individual with a disability.
Requires the department to
promulgate rules to effectuate
the bill.
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
SENATE BILL 1388
By Watson
HOUSE BILL 1066
By Vaughan
HB1066
001028
- 1 -
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71,
Chapter 4, relative to vocational services for
persons with disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 4, Part 5, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
Notwithstanding another law to the contrary, if a state entity submits three (3)
complaints within a six-month period to the department regarding a vending facility
manager at a specific location, then the department must assign a new vending facility
manager to that location.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.