Human Services, Dept. of

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary does not provide specific details about the funding provisions, which were included in the candidate explanation.

Vending Facility Management for Disabled Individuals

This bill changes how Tennessee handles complaints about blind and non-blind vending facility operators with disabilities on public property.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Department of Human Services to create rules for handling complaints from public property managers about blind vending facility operators.
• If a complaint is found true, the department must make a plan to correct any issues, which could include training or removing the license if needed.
• The bill also requires the department to set up ways for non-blind disabled individuals to get trained and licensed to run vending facilities on public property where blind operators are not working.
• It sets rules for how complaints about non-blind disabled vending facility operators should be handled by the department.
• Funding for equipment, stock, and expenses for non-blind disabled vending facility operators must follow their Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE).
• The bill stops funds meant for blind vending facility operators from being used to support non-blind disabled vending facility operators.

Who It Names or Affects

• Blind individuals who operate vending facilities on public property through the business enterprise program.
• Non-blind eligible individuals with disabilities who want to run vending facilities on public properties.
• Public property managers who submit complaints about vending facility operators.

Terms To Know

Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE)

A plan that helps disabled individuals find and keep jobs, including training and support services.

Business Enterprise Program for the Blind

A program that provides vending facility opportunities to blind individuals as a way of employment.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if non-blind disabled operators stop running vending facilities.
• It is unclear how existing rules will be changed or updated by this new legislation.
• The bill's full impact on funding and operations for both blind and non-blind disabled vending facility operators remains to be seen.

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

HOUSE BILL 1066
By Vaughan

SENATE BILL 1388
By Watson

SB1388
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.