The hopper just opened for the 110th General Assembly, but the very first bill filed in the Tennessee State Senate is a doozy — and it already has people hopping mad, a month before session convenes in January.

SB1, filed by Williamson County's Sen. Jack Johnson, updates and expands last year's HB1840/SB1556 — that is, the notorious "Counseling Bill." You know, the bill allowing therapists to discriminate against gay clients because of their religious beliefs? The one of which the CEO of the American Counseling Association, Richard Yep, said, "Of all the state legislation I have seen passed in my 30 years with ACA, the new Tennessee law based on Senate Bill 1556/House Bill 1840 is by far the worst"? The bill that caused numerous conferences to cancel their planned events in Nashville and cost the state millions of dollars in lost spending and tax revenues?

But apparently those consequences were not dire enough for Johnson to cease his inexplicable feud with the ACA. The new legislation, filed on Friday, would prohibit the state Board for Professional Counselors, Marital and Family Therapists, and Clinical Pastoral Therapists from adopting "any rule that incorporates by reference a national association's code of ethics, including, but not limited to, the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics."

The current rules governing counselors in Tennessee state: "All licensees and certificate holders shall comply with the current code of ethics adopted by the American Counseling Association, except to the extent that it conflicts with the laws of the state of Tennessee or the rules of the Board. If the code of ethics conflicts with state law or rules, the state law or rules govern the matter."

And that's a bad thing, says Johnson.

"We need to take [the ACA] out of the code," Johnson says. "We want to get [the Board for Professional Counselors] to create their own code of ethics."

Have any counselors approached Johnson about the need for a new, Tennessee-specific code of ethics?

"No counselors have asked for this. I just think it should be done — we don't need a special interest group in D.C. determining how Tennessee counselors should act."

Yes, the world's largest international association of professional counselors is now a "special interest group." Who needs a professional code of ethics with national standards when you can just make up any ole' thing?

In a later press release, Johnson elaborated:

“The ACA lobbied Tennessee about 25 years ago to adopt by rule their code of ethics as the requirements for licensure of counselors in the state, although other counseling associations exist,” said Senator Johnson. “As a result, any changes they make to their code of ethics, in effect, alter our state’s licensure law regardless of our own professional board’s views or those expressed by the people of Tennessee through their elected representatives. This is an inappropriate delegation of the legislature’s authority to an unelected, unrepresentative and private interest group that should have never been abdicated.” ... “Tennesseans are best suited to determine what our state licensure requirements for our professional counselors should be rather than subrogating that right to a private organization,” added Johnson. “I believe our State Board of Professional Counselors is capable of this responsibility and that all Tennesseans seeking counseling will benefit as a result.”

Never mind that more than a thousand Tennesseans are themselves therapists who are members of the ACA.

"This would negatively impact counselors in our state," says Lisa Henderson, president-elect of the Tennessee Counseling Association. "I feel that it's a slippery slope — I feel that once you start picking and choosing which regulations you follow, it starts to get troublesome."

Henderson says there have been no complaints about the ACA's code of ethics. (There had been no complaints last year, either, when Johnson introduced the first counseling bill.) She notes a Tennessee counselor was on the ACA board that last revised the code of ethics in 2014, the one to which Johnson takes such exception because it doesn't allow discrimination against gay clients.

"The ACA code of ethics has been built over 50 years," says the ACA's Yep, citing the careful standards the organization takes in every revision. "These are designed to safeguard consumers. They are based on research and education, not the whims of politicians."

So what exactly is there in the ACA code of ethics with which Johnson could be taking issue, since therapists are now safe in turning down gay patients? He wouldn't specify, but one bet could be provisions against so-called reparative therapy — i.e., therapy that purports to change a person's sexuality to straight.

"We do have a stand that our counselors will not engage in reparative therapy," says the ACA's ‎Director of Government Affairs, Art Terrazas. "If a group of lay people rewrite the code of ethics to say it's ok, you could do some real damage to clients."

Only one layperson is on the five-member Board of Professional Counselors, Jennifer Little. She's a former nurse and current Director of Tourism of Grainger County Chamber of Commerce — but she was also appointed the vice-chair of the Tennessee Republican Party on Saturday. That in and of itself doesn't mean Little would make political decisions that were not in the best interest of the counseling profession, but it does place her in a unique position to be lobbied if the board were to write its own, new code of ethics.

Terrazas says the majority of states in the country have adopted the ACA's code of ethics as their own, and the few that haven't used the ACA code as a model, so at best, the legislation is "completely unnecessary," he says.

At worst, however, besides the possibility of a code that doesn't protect patients, there could be a flood of unintended consequences making Tennessee — already underserved by mental health providers — an even less attractive state in which to practice. Terrazas says there could be concerns about insurers declining to offer liability to providers in the state, because they don't meet national standards. Henderson says reciprocity agreements with neighboring states could be in danger, and the growing telemedicine industry would be hobbled.

"It's a scary process to even think about," Henderson says.

What also makes the legislation so galling to counselors is the fact that similar rules govern almost every medical profession (and other non-medical professions) in the state. The Board of Medical Examiners, for example, which supervises every physician in Tennessee, uses as its code of ethics the one published by the American Medical Association. Physical therapists use the code of ethics of the American Physical Therapy Association. Acupuncturists use the code of ethics of the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. And on and on. Is Johnson going to make all of these boards write their own codes of ethics too?

"I think I may be open to that discussion. Outside groups really shouldn't be deciding what's best for Tennessee," Johnson says. "But with the AMA, there really hasn't been a fundamental difference in their code of ethics. And that's the problem."

What Johnson's really saying is that he, a former banker and retail business owner, knows better than the 56,000 therapists who make up the ACA as to what their code of ethics should be, solely because he lives in Tennessee, and the ACA office staff does not.

But does he at least care about the possibility of the state losing more money if the legislation passes?

"Nope," Johnson responded. "Whether or not a conference chooses to pull out isn't going to affect our public policy."

Gov. Bill Haslam signed the original counseling bill. His office did not respond to a request for comment on the new legislation. But activist groups including the Tennessee Equality Project are already running with the news, telling supporters to call Johnson's office to protest. If this bill does find a House sponsor and does move forward, expect those voices to only get louder.