PLEASE CROSSPOST WIDELY!
SB 3850-HB 3834 has been re-written to add $1 to each rabies vaccination in Tennessee. Now there is another fee on rabies vaccinations planned by our legislature and governor.
Whether you've called and voiced your objection to SB 3850-HB 3834 or not, PLEASE call and write again. A second amendment to the bill is outlined in a fiscal memo here:
(I'll post the memo at the end of this message.)
It states that, in addition to the $1 fee added to each rabies vaccination, the governor plans to add a fifty cent surcharge to each vaccination to fund HOME-DELIVERED MEALS FOR ELDERLY CITIZENS. Now, I am as sympathetic to elderly citizens as anyone else, but there is no reason in the world why pet owners should be paying for their meals. The governor and legislature need to find another way to pay for things instead of trying to stick it to pet owners. In fact, many seniors own pets, so they would have to pay these fees that would be used to buy the meals!
That would make a total of $1.50 added to each rabies vaccination in the state. Each additional fee makes it more likely that some animals would go unvaccinated and that someone in Tennessee would be bitten by an animal with rabies.
Everyone needs to call AND write the House Health & Human Resources Committee right away! This is URGENT. If you don't act then you will be paying these fees in just a few weeks, and so will everyone else in TN.
To voice your opposition to these state-added fees on vaccination certificates, please contact the following committee members by 4/27/10. Be polite but tell them that this is a public safety issue. If they add additional fees to pet vaccinations there will be people who will not vaccinate their pets. That means an increase in the odds that someone in Tennessee will get rabies. You can ask them if it will happen in their district? How are they going to explain a case of rabies to their constituents or to the media?
House Health and Human Resources Committee
Rep. Joe Armstrong, Chair
D-Knoxville
Phone (865) 357-1524
nashville office Phone (615) 741-0768
Fax (615) 253-0316
rep.joe.armstrong@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Joey Hensley, vice chair
Phone (615) 741-7476
rep.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov
Members
Note: all phone numbers below are area code 615
Charles Curtiss rep.charles.curtiss@capitol.tn.gov
741-1963
Vince Dean rep.vince.dean@capitol.tn.gov 741-1934
John DeBerry rep.vince.dean@capitol.tn.gov 741-2239
Lois DeBerry rep.lois.deberry@capitol.tn.gov 741-3830
Vance Dennis rep.vance.dennis@capitol.tn.gov 741-2190
Joshua Evans rep.joshua.evans@capitol.tn.gov 741-2860
Dennis Ferguson rep.dennis.ferguson@capitol.tn.gov
741-7658
Henry Fincher rep.henry.fincher@capitol.tn.gov 741-1875
Dale Ford rep.dale.ford@capitol.tn.gov 741-1717
Curtis Halford rep.curtis.halford@capitol.tn.gov 741-7478
Michael Harrison rep.mike.harrison@capitol.tn.gov
741-7480
Sherry Jones rep.sherry.jones@capitol.tn.gov 741-2035
Debra Maggart rep.debra.maggart@capitol.tn.gov 741-3893
Jason Mumpower rep.jason.mumpower@capitol.tn.gov
741-2050
Gary Odom rep.gary.odom@capitol.tn.gov 741-4410
Mary Pruitt rep.mary.pruitt@capitol.tn.gov 741-3853
Bob Ramsey rep.bob.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov 741-3560
Barrett Rich rep.barrett.rich@capitol.tn.gov 741-6890
Jeanne Richardson rep.jeanne.richardson@capitol.tn.gov
741-2010
David Shepard rep.david.shepard@capitol.tn.gov 741-3513
Tony Shipley rep.tony.shipley@capitol.tn.gov 741-2886
Mike Turner rep.mike.turner@capitol.tn.gov 741-3229
Mark White rep.mark.white@capitol.tn.gov 741-4415
SB 3850 – HB 3834
TENNESSEE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
FISCAL REVIEW COMMITTEE
FISCAL MEMORANDUM
SB 3850 – HB 3834
April 15, 2010
SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS (016012, 016675): Deletes all language after the
enacting clause and authorizes the Commissioner of Health to charge a registration fee for each
vaccination certificate that does not exceed the cost of the program. Creates a $0.50 surcharge on
the fee for the sole purpose to fund congregate or home-delivered meals for elder citizens under
programs administered by the Department of Human Services or the Commission on Aging and
Disability and adds the severability clause.
FISCAL IMPACT OF ORIGINAL BILL:
Increase Local Expenditures – Exceeds $100,000*
*Article II, Section 24 of the Tennessee Constitution provides that: no law of general application shall impose increased
expenditure requirements on cities or counties unless the General Assembly shall provide that the state share in the cost.
FISCAL IMPACT OF BILL WITH PROPOSED AMENDMENTS:
Increase State Revenue - $1,000,000/Rabies Vaccination Certificate Fee
$500,000/Congregate or Home-Delivered Meals Programs
Decrease State Expenditures - $1,000,000/General Fund
(The $1,000,000 in rabies vaccination fee revenue is reflected in the Governor’s
FY10-11 Recommended Budget)
Assumptions applied to amendments:
• According to the Department of Health, there will be a fee of $1 per registration
established that will result in $1,000,000 in service fee revenue.
• Currently, the rabies vaccination program is 100 percent funded through the General
Fund. This will result in a decrease in $1,000,000 in General Fund expenditures for the
program. The $1,000,000 in increased revenue will not completely fund the program.
• The Governor’s proposed budget proposes to replace $1,000,000 of General Fund
dollars with $1,000,000 service fee revenue in the program’s budget.
SB 3850 – HB 3834 2
• The $0.50 surcharge on the fee will result in $500,000 [($1,000,000/$1) x $0.50] in
revenue to fund congregate and home-delivered meals for elder citizens that are enrolled
in programs administered by the Department of Human Services and the Commission on
Aging and Disability.
CERTIFICATION:
This is to duly certify that the information contained herein is true and correct to the best of
my knowledge.
James W. White, Executive Director
/kml
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