(The Center Square) – A Tennessee panel tabled a request from the Health Facilities Commission to remove $550,000 out of its reserves for certified nursing aide fees.
Logan Grant, executive director, told the Joint Fiscal Review Committee on Wednesday the money was needed to cover a new $25 fee for applicants that’s part of its contract with D&S Diversified Technologies for testing and certifying nursing aides. The fee is standard among most states and $25 is the lowest, he said.
The agency thought it had rulemaking authority to require applicants to pay the fee. Grant asked the committee for the authority to use reserves to cover the fee until July 2026.
Rep. Rush Bricken, R-Tullahoma, questioned if the agency considered asking for an emergency rule, which is a six- to nine-month process.
“This is costing the state $550,000 that we are collectively paying,” Bricken said. “It should have been minimized or expedited to cut it in half if you expedited the rule. I’m not sure what an emergency is but if I can save a couple of hundred thousand dollars, to me that is an emergency.”
The agency would need a review from the attorney general, who would then send it to the secretary of state for publication. The Government Operations Committee would then consider the rule for approval.
“For one, we weren’t sure if it were evaluated by the attorney general’s office that it would meet their standards for an emergency rule,” Grant said.
Rep. Johnny Shaw, R-Bolivar, made the motion to allow the agency to use the money.
“I’m not sure right now whose fault it is, if there is someone to blame,” Shaw said. “I don’t know if they should be held hostage because it did happen.”
The committee moved the request to their agenda for next month.
