NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Both the Tennessee House and Senate have passed a $59.8 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. The budget will now go to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's desk for his signature.
Technically, under the Tennessee Constitution, a balanced budget is the only piece of legislation lawmakers are legally required to pass.
Budget highlights
A big highlight of the budget includes $597 million toward disaster relief, especially in Northeast Tennessee, where Hurricane Helene left many communities in ruins.
Lawmakers also allocated $1.5 billion dollar towards TDOT, to help with a backlog of more than $40 billion worth of projects needed to improve safety and congestion. Democrats contend that amount should be a lot higher.
"Our roads aren’t in better shape, traffic congestion hasn’t decreased," said State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) during floor debate.
Teachers will still get their scheduled pay raises, and a one time bonus. The bonuses are a part of a component of the controversial statewide voucher bill. It's worth noting that voucher bill alone, which allows students to apply for $7,000 scholarships to attend private school, will cost the state $150 million this year alone.
Law enforcement got a boost too, with the Tennessee Highway Patrol receiving funding for 116 for new positions. The TBI is also receiving additional positions.
"$6 million to fund an additional 22 positions for TBI," said State Rep. Gary Hicks (R-Rogersville) who serves as the House Finance Chairman.
The budget also creates a $42.5 million grant pool for community services, which includes $20 million for volunteer fire departments, $5 million for rescue squads, $5 million for emergency medical services, $5 million for senior centers, $5 million for local museums, $2 million for courthouse restorations and $500,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank.
Lawmakers also added an additional $78 million to help rural hospitals with uncompensated care and $4 million to complete capital projects at county health departments. Both of those projects were paid for by TennCare's Shared Savings program.
Despite a tight bottom line, budget architects still added $35.6 million to the state's Rainy Day Fund, bringing Tennessee's reserves to nearly $2.2 billion. That's a record amount for the fund.
Unimpressed Democrats
House Democrats weren't impressed with the Republican-crafted budget.
"That's where you’re voting to put your money instead of these other vital programs?" asked Clemmons.
Democrats tried to amend the budget to favor some of their priorities by submitting 26 different budget amendments. Some of their ideas included appropriations for a Memphis Crime Lab, Medicaid expansion, funding a full summer EBT food program, eliminating the grocery sales tax, supporting more local charities and the Governor's proposed starter home fund.
All of the proposed amendments were rejected largely along party lines.
What comes next
Governor Bill Lee can either sign the budget into law or veto it. It should be noted, the Governor has never vetoed a bill since he assumed office in 2019.
Lee did have $180 million of his priorities, cut by legislators in the final form of the budget.
Even if Lee vetoed the budget, Tennessee lawmakers can easily override his veto with a simple majority.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
The line ''see something, say something" took on new meaning recently in Bowling Green. Two alert neighbors helped tip police to stolen Corvettes from the nearby assembly plant. That led law enforcement to find 8 stolen Corvettes worth over $1 million. We may all be able to learn a little lesson from this.
-Lelan Statom
