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Tennessee
Opponents of repealing Tennessee’s Certificate of Need law are fearmongering
Augusta Birth Center holds press conference on Certificate-of-Need law
Augusta Birth Center founder Katie Chubb, along with Americans for Prosperity-Georgia, hold a press conference about certificate-of-need laws.
Katie Goodale, Augusta Chronicle
RE: “Tennessee Certificate of Need health care laws can be improved but should not be repealed,” by Wendy Long, March 18.
A recent piece by Tennessee Hospital Association CEO Wendy Long erroneously claims that repealing Certificate of Need (CON) laws will decrease access to healthcare. This, even though CON laws by design make it difficult or impossible for healthcare facilities to open or expand.
Dr. Long and other proponents argue that hospitals will close without the monopoly power conferred by CON laws, claiming that if new healthcare facilities open, existing hospitals may lose privately insured patients and won’t be viable with only uninsured or under-insured patients. This argument is intended to sound scary, but real-world evidence shows it’s untrue.
One-third of the U.S. population live in states without CON laws, making it easy to compare outcomes in CON and non-CON states.
The research shows states without CON laws have more hospitals and surgery centers per capita. The results hold up when researchers study only rural communities, ending the “cherry-picking” argument.
If repealing CON laws causes hospital closures, we would see fewer hospitals in non-CON states. Yet the exact opposite is true. States without CON laws have more facilities.
Further, CON laws don’t increase access to care for underserved populations. A 2023 review of all academic CON law studies found no evidence that CON laws lead to greater care for underserved populations. In fact, one test found that safety-net hospitals had higher profit margins in states that already nixed their CON laws.
When considering CON repeal, policymakers should heed the research instead of allowing fearmongering from CON beneficiaries to guide legislative reforms.
Jaimie Cavanaugh is legal policy counsel at Pacific Legal Foundation and Jeff Mazzella of Franklin, Tennessee is president at Center for Individual Freedom.
Agree or disagree? Or have a view on another topic entirely? Send a letter of 250 words or fewer to letters@tennessean.com. Include your full name, city/town, ZIP and contact information for verification. Thanks for adding to the public conversation.
Tennessee
RTI Reaction: Tennessee Comes From Behind to Win Double Overtime Thriller Against Texas A&M | Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee Basketball fought from behind to earn an 87-82 win over Texas A&M in double overtime on Tuesday night in Knoxville. The Vols trailed for much of the game from the jump, but Tennessee pushed forward and found a way to win in front of its home fans in the Food City Center.
Tennessee spent more than 35 minutes trailing in that game, with much of that coming in consecutive minutes from the opening whistle. The Vols didn’t take the lead until the 5:29 mark in the second half, and still had to fight off a few Aggie runs in order to push the game into extra time. Tennessee and Texas A&M were tied at 71 at the end of regulation and tied at 75 after the first overtime, but the Vols outscored the Aggies by five in the final five minutes to pick up the win.
Tennessee had five double-digit scorers on Tuesday night, led by Nate Ament’s 23 points. The freshman forward also went 9-for-11 from the free-throw line with some clutch makes in the final stretch. Tennessee also outrebounded A&M 60 to 35 during the contest. It wasn’t always pretty, but it’s chalked up as a W in the record book.
After the game, RTI’s Ryan Schumpert and Ric Butler discussed their reactions to the Vols’ win on the RTI postgame show. The guys talked about Tennessee’s slow start, Ament’s big scoring night, impact players, and much more.
More From RTI: Three Quick Takeaways As Tennessee Basketball Finds Away Against Texas A&M
Check out the RTI: Reaction show below:
RTI: Reaction
Tennessee
Authorities asking for help with crash investigation in Washington County, Tennessee
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WCYB) — Authorities in Washington County, Tennessee, are asking for the public’s help following a crash that happened last month.
The crash took place shortly before 8 a.m. on December 30 in the 200 block of Liberty Hill Road.
Authorities are encouraging anyone with security cameras along that road to view their footage from that morning and look for a spray painted, black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado.
Anyone with information is asked to call (423) 788-1414. Folks can also report information anonymously via Tip411 at wcso.net.
Tennessee
Tennessee bill rekindles debate over prayer in public schools
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Prayer in public schools has been debated for generations, not over whether students may pray, but over how far government should go in regulating religion in the classroom.
The longstanding question is resurfacing at the Tennessee State Capitol, where Republican state Rep. Gino Bulso has introduced legislation challenging the modern interpretation of the separation of church and state.
Bulso’s bill argues that the principle of separation has drifted from its original intent and now restricts religious expression rather than protecting it. Supporters of the proposal said the result is not neutrality, but discrimination, treating religion as something to be excluded from public life instead of being accommodated.
“It’s pushing the envelope,” said David Hudson, a constitutional law professor at Belmont University. “He’s going farther than that by suggesting the entire body of Supreme Court decisions after 1947 interpreting the Establishment Clause is wrong.”
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Courts have long interpreted that language as limiting government involvement in religion while still allowing individuals to freely practice faith.
Supporters of Bulso’s bill argue that recent applications of that principle have gone too far, creating an environment where religious expression is discouraged in public schools.
Opponents disagree, saying the Constitution requires government neutrality, particularly in a religiously diverse society.
“In a pluralistic country, you cannot have one-size-fits-all prayer,” Hudson said. “That’s part of why the separation exists.”
House Democrats echoed that argument, pointing to what they say is already happening in Tennessee schools. In a statement to News 2, Senate Democratic Caucus Press Secretary Brandon Puttbrese said:
Tennessee public school students are already free to pray and study the Bible. No one is stopping them. In fact, there are student-led Bible study clubs already happening in the district he represents.
Instead of chasing problems that don’t exist, a better use of the legislature’s precious time would be to address the K-12 school funding crisis. Tennessee ranks 47th in public school student spending. That’s a real problem.
⏩ Read today’s top stories on wkrn.com
Newer religion-in-education cases have worked their way through the courts. Hudson said the bill may be designed to test how far that shift could go.
“It may be trying to introduce something that, if passed, is challenged,” he said. “And that would force courts to deal with recent Supreme Court precedent that has lowered the church-state separation barrier.”
Lawmakers return to session on Tuesday. For the bill to become law, it must be referred to committee, pass hearings and votes in both the Tennessee House and Senate, and ultimately signed by the governor.
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