Current through September 24, 2024
(1) This rule is
applicable to any state board, agency, or commission attached to the division
of regulatory boards, as listed in T.C.A. §
4-3-1304(a).
This rule shall be effective ninety (90) days from filing with the office of
the Secretary of State.
(2) As used
in this rule, unless context otherwise requires:
(a) The terms "licensing," "licensing
authority," "licensure fee," "low-income persons," and "state agency" shall
have the same meanings as set out in T.C.A. §
62-76-105.
(b) "Assistance agency" means any state or
federal agency empowered to administer a state or federal public assistance
program that forms the basis for a request for a waiver under this rule and
T.C.A. §
62-76-105.
(c) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of
the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance or the Commissioner's
designee.
(d) "Department" means
the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance.
(e) "Qualifying program" means temporary
assistance for needy families (TANF), Medicaid, supplemental nutrition
assistance program (SNAP), or any other similar state or federal public
assistance program determined by the Commissioner to be issued based on
substantially similar income guidelines as one or more of those
programs.
(3) A request
for a waiver of an initial licensure fee pursuant to T.C.A. §
62-76-105
shall be made in writing on a form prescribed by the Commissioner at the time
of the initial application. The waiver request shall include:
(a) The full name, address, and phone number
of the applicant requesting the waiver;
(b) The most recent document issued by the
applicable assistance agency showing that the applicant requesting the waiver
is enrolled in a qualifying program at the time that the waiver request is
submitted to the Department. The Commissioner may request additional
documentation to reasonably determine the applicant's eligibility for the
waiver;
(c) A statement that the
applicant acknowledges that the Department may contact any assistance agency to
verify the applicant's enrollment in a qualifying program and that the
Department is authorized to do so;
(d) A certification, under penalty of
perjury, that the information contained in the request for the fee waiver is
true and accurate to the best of the applicant's knowledge. This certification
shall not be required to be notarized;
(e) If the basis for the fee waiver request
is any program other than temporary assistance for needy families (TANF),
Medicaid, or supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP), a written
explanation of the nature of the program that the applicant claims entitles
them to a waiver of fees under these rules, a copy of the income guidelines for
enrollment in the program issued by the assistance agency, and any other
documentation that the applicant wishes to provide regarding the program having
substantially similar income guidelines as one or more of TANF, Medicaid, or
SNAP. A determination as to whether or not a program constitutes a
substantially similar qualifying program shall be in the sole discretion of the
Commissioner; and
(f) Such other
information as the Commissioner may reasonably request.
(4) The initial licensure fee for a business
entity (including, but not necessarily limited to, a Limited Liability Company,
Limited Liability Partnership, or Corporation) or for a general partnership
shall be waived if the person that is requesting and is entitled to the fee
waiver under this rule owns the majority (more than half) of the business
entity or general partnership. The ownership interest of two (2) or more
persons may be combined to meet this threshold so long as the applicants
comprising the majority ownership provide sufficient documentation for a fee
waiver under this rule.
Authority: T.C.A. §§
56-1-302(a)(5)
and
62-76-105.
