| 1 | 1 | | |
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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE BILL 46 |
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| 3 | 3 | | By McCalmon |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | SENATE BILL 1071 |
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| 6 | 6 | | By Johnson |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | SB1071 |
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| 10 | 10 | | 000476 |
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| 11 | 11 | | - 1 - |
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| 12 | 12 | | |
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| 13 | 13 | | AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 9 and |
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| 14 | 14 | | Title 37, relative to child advocacy centers. |
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| 15 | 15 | | |
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| 16 | 16 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: |
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| 17 | 17 | | SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 9-4-213, is amended by adding the |
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| 18 | 18 | | following new subdivisions: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (e) The department of children's services, or another department administering |
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| 20 | 20 | | state funds specially appropriated for child advocacy centers, shall: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) Ensure that a reimbursement payment owed to a child advocacy |
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| 22 | 22 | | center is paid within thirty (30) days of the date a request for reimbursement from |
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| 23 | 23 | | the child advocacy center; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2) For any reimbursement that is not completed within the thirty (30) |
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| 25 | 25 | | days required by subdivision (e)(1), pay to the child advocacy center an |
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| 26 | 26 | | additional amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the total reimbursement amount |
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| 27 | 27 | | owed as a late payment fee. The ten-percent payment must be paid from the |
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| 28 | 28 | | applicable department's budget without additional appropriation. |
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| 29 | 29 | | (f) On or before January 15, 2026, and no later than January 15 of each year |
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| 30 | 30 | | thereafter, the department of children's services shall submit to the clerk of the senate |
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| 31 | 31 | | and the clerk of the house of representatives a report on the timeliness of |
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| 32 | 32 | | reimbursements to child advocacy centers in this state during the previous calendar |
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| 33 | 33 | | year. The report must include, at a minimum, data on the amount of reimbursements to |
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| 34 | 34 | | child advocacy centers that failed to meet the thirty-day deadline required by subdivision |
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| 35 | 35 | | |
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| 36 | 36 | | |
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| 37 | 37 | | - 2 - 000476 |
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| 38 | 38 | | |
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| 39 | 39 | | (e)(1), expressed as both a raw number and a percentage of total reimbursements, and |
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| 40 | 40 | | the amount of late payment fees incurred pursuant to subdivision (e)(2). |
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| 41 | 41 | | SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it. |
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