The fallout over Gov. Bill Haslam's recent signing of a bill that allows licensed counselors or therapists to deny clients could begin with the cancellation of an upcoming conference scheduled to take place in Nashville.
The American Counseling Association, which is set to hold its annual gathering at Music City Center next April, is thinking about heading elsewhere. At stake is a conference that the group says would bring more than 3,000 conventioneers to Nashville, generate up to $4 million in combined local and state tax revenue and have a local economic impact of up to $10 million.
Art Terrazas, the association's government affairs director, told The Tennessean that the group's governing council is weighing options, but he didn't have a time frame on when it would know whether it would stay committed to Nashville or find an alternative site.
"They're looking at that decision right now in light of the governor's action and decision to sign the bill into law," Terrazas said. "A final decision has not been made yet, but we are looking at that."
The counseling association, based in Alexandria, Va., has never held its annual convention in Nashville and is among the new trade associations attracted to city following the construction of the city-financed $623 million Music City Center in 2013. The ACA held its annual conference last year in Montreal.