Gov. Lee delivers fifth State of State
Gov. Bill Lee delivered his fifth State of the State address and presented budget and legislative priorities for the upcoming year to a joint session of the General Assembly on Feb. 6.
Gov. Bill Lee delivered his fifth State of the State address and presented budget and legislative priorities for the upcoming year to a joint session of the General Assembly on Feb. 6.
Lee’s proposed $55.6 billion budget includes major funding for transportation, K-12 education, public safety, and the creation three additional state parks.
Key highlights include:
Transportation & Infrastructure Funding
- $3B to alleviate urban congestion and fund rural road projects across the state
- $300M added to the State Aid Road Program for local road projects
Education
- $350M - including $125 million for teacher pay raise
- $952M - updates existing TCAT facilities and creates new buildings and additions for state-wide facilities
Law & Safety
- $33.25M to adds 100 state troopers and related supervisory staff as well as 25 forensic services staff to improve public safety
- $50M – Violent Crime Intervention Fund expansion which expands grant funding to local communities and provides new support for local jails and sheriffs through new training programs
State Parks
- $328 .7M to improves accessibility to state parks, upgrade existing outdoor spaces, and create three new state parks across Tennessee
Tax Cuts
- • $412 Million for tax cuts including $288.3M for a one-time three-month sales tax holiday on food from August 1 to October 31, 2023
Rainy Day Fund
- $250M to the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, taking the total to more than $1.8 Billion.
Key highlights and the full speech can be found here.
A Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget overview can be found here.