Senator Joey Hensley, MD; 28th District Capitol Hill Week in Review

Tax relief, public safety and education highlight fiscally responsible budget passed by General Assembly

The state budget led a host of important bills approved by lawmakers this week as the 2022 legislative session begins to close. The General Assembly, which is looking to adjourn soon, has completed the majority of its business with most of the remaining action pending on bills that were behind the budget due to their cost.

This year’s no-debt budget highlights lawmakers’ continuous efforts to cut taxes for Tennesseans, maintain fiscal responsibility, ensure public safety and prioritize education. It invests $52.58 billion in the state of Tennessee for the 2022/2023 fiscal year, with total legislative initiatives making up $84.1 million recurring and $570.8 million in non-recurring expenditures.

To maintain fiscal responsibility, lawmakers are making a $250 million investment in the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, which serves as Tennessee’s savings account to withstand economic downturns. This allocation raises the fund to a historic level of $1.8 billion. Another key conservative component of this budget is that $1.3 billion of Tennessee’s $3 billion revenue surplus is set aside for future use. Additionally, the budget uses the surplus for many one-time expenditures to prevent the growth of state government but still provide resources and relief to important initiatives.

In this budget, lawmakers continued their commitment to Tennessee taxpayers by ensuring citizens can keep more of their hard-earned money. With additional tax and financial relief appropriated by the General Assembly, Tennesseans will be able to recognize a total of $281 million in tax and financial savings in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.

Everyday Tennesseans will benefit from the financial and tax relief provided in this year’s budget. As proposed by Governor Lee, it includes $80 million for a grocery sales tax holiday for August 2022. Lawmakers also wanted to ensure there was financial relief in the budget that only Tennesseans could take advantage of and not out-of-state residents who shop and do business in Tennessee, so the budget provides $121.6 million to eliminate the state’s $29 license plate registration fee for one year.

Lawmakers allocated $9 million to continue their multi-year commitment to eliminate the professional privilege tax. This appropriation will remove the annual $400 tax physicians pay in order to practice their profession. In 2019, lawmakers passed legislation eliminating the professional privilege tax for 15 licensed professions.

Another significant tax cut includes $68 million for a sales tax reduction on broadband supplies. This tax reduction will incentivize companies to accelerate the deployment of needed broadband services to rural communities.

Other reductions in taxes added by the legislature are $2.8 million to reduce sales tax on agricultural machinery and equipment to mirror tax reductions that manufacturers in Tennessee currently receive and $360,000 to eliminate a tax on gold, bullion and silver.

Because lawmakers take great care when allocating taxpayer dollars to large initiatives, after much consideration the Senate voted to remove a budget item proposed by Governor Lee to issue a $500 million bond to help complete a new covered stadium that would be home to the Tennessee Titans. Senators expressed concerns about the wisdom of such a large investment in a sporting venue. Ultimately, the proposal was added by the House of Representatives and the final version of the budget included the $500 million bond authorization for the Titans stadium and $55 million recurring to cover the debt service.

Education

Education remains a top priority in the 2022/2023 budget. It includes the largest increase in K-12 education funding in the history of Tennessee. With an additional $1 billion in K-12 funding, Tennessee is investing a total of $6.5 billion in K-12 education. This includes $750 million for the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) Act, along with $125 million to increase teacher salaries. The General Assembly also provided $20 million for Humphrey County Schools to cover losses from devastating floods last year.

Many significant investments in higher education were made including:

• $200 million for TCAT infrastructure improvements

• $643,500 to increase middle college scholarships from $1,250 to $2,000 per semester

• $19.4 million to alleviate TCAT Waitlist

• $500 million to CTE grants for high school and middle school students

• $88 million for GIVE and HOPE expansions bringing the scholarship award to $5,700 per year for juniors and seniors and $4,500 per year for freshman and sophomores

• $90 million for the outcomes-based funding formula

• $66.3 million for a 4% salary increase within higher education

• $18 million to build a new TEST hub at UT Martin

Public Safety

To ensure Tennessee remains a great place to live, work and raise a family, lawmakers made significant investments in public safety. A $25 million appropriation was included in the budget for key legislation protecting victims of violent crimes and providing true accountability for those who commit crimes. This “truth in sentencing” legislation requires a person convicted of certain violent offenses to serve 85% to 100% of their sentence before becoming eligible for release.

Lawmakers added $7.5 million in one-time money to the $500,000 proposed by the governor for competitive grants to be awarded to volunteer fire departments and rescue squads for equipment and supplies, bringing the total to $8 million. Also added by the legislature was $6 million to increase the per day rate paid to local jails from $39 per inmate per day to $41.

Protecting the U.S. southern border and building the wall — The Senate this week passed House Joint Resolution 652 urging congress to complete a secure border wall on the U.S. southern border. The resolution states the General Assembly “strongly support[s] the completion of the secure border wall across our nation’s southern border and strongly urge[s] the United States Congress to immediately act to fund the construction of such border wall without delay.”

Strengthening protections for police and service animals — The Senate this week passed legislation known as Joker’s Law that would strengthen the penalty for anyone who harms a law enforcement or service animal in Tennessee. Senate Bill 2013 increases the penalty for anyone who knowingly and unlawfully kills a police dog, fire dog, search and rescue dog, service animal or police horse. Offenders would now be charged with a Class B felony. Anyone between the ages of 14 and 17 who kills or causes serious injury to one of those animals could also be tried as an adult. Under present law, killing a law enforcement service animal is a minimum Class E felony. The bill is named in honor of Joker, a K-9 with the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office who was seriously injured after being shot during a pursuit last year.

Restitution for children of victims of DUI offenders — Legislation that provides restitution for minor children when a parent is killed by a drunk driver now heads to the governor’s desk for his signature. Passed by the Senate this week, Senate Bill 2103 requires the convicted offender to pay restitution in the form of child maintenance to each of the victim’s children until each child reaches 18 years of age and has graduated from high school. The bill requires the court to determine a reasonable payment after considering factors including the financial needs of the child and the financial needs of the surviving parent, among other criteria.

Cracking down on mail-order abortions — The Senate this week voted to approve legislation that creates criminal and civil penalties for anyone who provides abortion-inducing drugs through telemedicine and subsequently supplies those drugs via courier, delivery or mail service. Abortions via mail have become increasingly common since the Federal Drug Administration approved telehealth and mail distribution of abortion-inducing drugs in 2020. Current law in Tennessee already bans mail-order abortions. Senate Bill 2281 strengthens current law and patient safety measures by putting further restrictions on the use of telemedicine and courier delivery. The bill intends to keep patients from developing serious, life-threatening complications during an unsupervised chemical abortion at home. The bill creates a Class E felony for anyone who intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly violates this act. Failure to comply with this act provides a basis for a civil action against a healthcare provider.

Streamlining reporting system for dangerous road conditions — The Senate passed a bill this week that aims to make it easier for citizens to report road hazards and settle claims with the state when vehicles are damaged on state-maintained highways. Senate Bill 2678 requires the state treasurer to work with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to develop and implement a centralized information system for the reporting of dangerous road conditions. It expands the authority of the state treasurer to settle citizens’ claims when personal property is damaged by road hazards such as potholes. The state received 1,800 claims for pothole and road hazard damage in 2021 and of those, only 12 were settled.