On July 1 of every year, present law requires each agency that is subject to review under the Tennessee governmental entity review law to submit a list of all policies that have been adopted by the agencies in the past year to the chair of the government operations committee of the senate and the chair of the government operations committee of the house of representatives. The information submitted must include a summary of the policy and the agency's justification for adopting a policy on the subject instead of promulgating a rule.
However, present law provides that the following information is not required to be submitted to the chairs of the committees under the above provision:
(1) Records or other information deemed to be confidential under existing law regarding public records or otherwise not required to be disclosed or made available under existing law;
(2) Records or other information that are required by an agency of the federal government for the purposes of securing federal funds, complying with federal law, maintaining national security, or qualifying for or maintaining required accreditation, the failure of which could jeopardize the loss of a federal program, funds, or accreditation; and
(3) Statements, documents, or published materials, such as frequently asked questions, that are prepared and used in the course of general correspondence with persons or entities.
Present law requires the above provisions to apply to all policies that are proposed or developed by agencies on or after July 1, 2018.
Until June 30, 2026, this bill adds to the present law by providing the following:
(1) In addition to the requirements for the submission of information under the above provisions, the department of children's services must submit a written summary of policies and guidelines adopted by the department to the chair of the government operations committee of the senate and the chair of the government operations committee of the house of representatives no later than the last calendar day of each month in which the policies and guidelines were adopted; and
(2) The written summary of policies and guidelines adopted by the department and submitted to the committees as prescribed in this bill must be posted on the joint government operations committee rule review agenda prior to each meeting scheduled by the committee for the month following the submission of the summaries under this bill.
ON MARCH 4, 2024, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1806, AS AMENDED.
AMENDMENT #2 rewrites the bill to, instead, require the department of children's services to submit any new departmental policies within 60 days of adoption to the judiciary committee of the senate, the civil justice committee of the house, and the government operations committees of the senate and the house. As used in this amendment, "policy" means:
(1) Any statement, document, or guideline (i) prepared or issued by any agency pursuant to its delegated authority that merely defines or explains the meaning of a statute or a rule; or
(2) Any statement, document, or guideline concerning only the internal management of state government that does not affect private rights, privileges, or procedures available to the public.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 4-5-230