All Roll Calls
Yes: 41 • No: 0
TennesseeSB 2544114th General Assembly (2025-2026)SenateWALLET
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4 and Title 63, relative to respiratory therapy.
Sponsored By: Sponsor information unavailable
Signed by Governor
Interstate Compacts
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 2 costs, 4 mixed.
Military therapists and spouses avoid commission fees
Active-duty service members and their spouses can choose a compact home state where they hold a current, good-standing license. They can keep that home-state choice during the service member's active duty. They owe no commission fee for a compact privilege. Other member states may reduce or waive their own privilege fees, but those fees are not automatically waived.
New respiratory licenses require background checks
Tennessee's licensing authority must complete a criminal background check for each new respiratory therapist at initial licensing. It can conduct the check only with the legal authorization described in the compact. The checking duty falls on the licensing authority, not households generally.
Therapists may pay interstate practice fees
The compact commission can charge fees to therapists who receive interstate practice privileges. It can also assess member states each year using a formula set by commission rule. These charges pay for the commission's operations. The law sets no specific fee or assessment amounts.
Compact officials gain civil lawsuit protections
The compact preserves state immunity and generally protects covered commission personnel from civil claims for their compact duties. Protection also covers acts reasonably believed to fall within those duties. Intentional, willful, or wanton misconduct is not protected. The commission must defend covered personnel and pay qualifying settlements or judgments. Separate state rules for therapist malpractice remain unchanged.
Respiratory therapists gain interstate practice options
Tennessee joins an interstate compact that starts when the seventh state enacts it. Eligible respiratory therapists can seek permission, called a compact privilege, to work in other member states. They need an active, unrestricted home-state license and a qualifying National Board for Respiratory Care credential. They must have no adverse license action within the previous two years. Therapists must notify the commission, meet the other state's legal-knowledge requirements, and follow its practice rules. They must pay applicable fees and consent to receiving legal notices by mail at their home address. They must report home-address changes and disciplinary actions from nonmember states within 30 days. A privilege lasts until the home-state license expires or is revoked, unless discipline ends it sooner.
Therapists face shared oversight with privacy protections
Member states share licensing, disciplinary, and investigation records through a commission data system that states must monitor. They cannot submit criminal history records; significant investigation information is available only to member states. State-designated records need that state's permission for public release, and legally expunged records must be removed. Other member states can investigate therapists and restrict their practice privileges, following compact and state procedures. States can enforce each other's investigation subpoenas; the issuing authority pays required witness fees and related costs. States cannot discipline a compact privilege for conduct that was lawful where and when it occurred. Restrictions in another state suspend the privilege there until those restrictions end. Restrictions on a home-state license end all out-of-state privileges until lifted and two years have passed since resolution. Therapists must then meet all eligibility requirements again; investigation costs can be charged where state law allows.
Therapists get transition time when states leave
A state can leave by repealing the compact; withdrawal takes effect 180 days after enactment. It must immediately notify listed licensees and privilege holders, and keep reporting investigations and discipline until withdrawal takes effect. The commission can remove a defaulting state by majority vote only after notice, repair instructions, training, and technical help. Removal requires an uncured default and exhaustion of other compliance measures; the state still owes accrued assessments and liabilities. Leaving or removed states must honor compact licenses for at least 180 days after notifying affected therapists. The compact and commission continue even when departures or defaults leave fewer than seven member states.
Shared rules govern therapists across states
A joint commission runs the compact, with one voting commissioner chosen by each state's respiratory therapy licensing authority. Its rules have legal force on their stated dates, and state executive branches and courts must enforce the compact. The compact overrides conflicting state requirements, including later ones; state rules that do not conflict stay in place. States joining after the first seven must pass a participation review and follow existing commission rules and bylaws. Rulemaking includes public notice and hearings, with shorter notice for emergencies. A majority of member-state legislatures can reject a rule within four years; compact amendments require enactment by every member state. The commission can collect operating fees, but cannot pledge member-state credit or take on obligations without funds.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
There is no primary sponsor on record.
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/9/2026
FLOOR VOTE: Motion to Adopt 3/9/2026
Yes: 32 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
SENATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
Yes: 9 • No: 0
Bill Text
Enrolled / Public Chapter
Fiscal Note
Introduced
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