Williamson legislators say budget prioritizes education, health care and roads

At a Policy Talks forum in Williamson County, Senator Jack Johnson, the Senate majority leader, said the new roughly $58 billion state budget focuses on education, health care and infrastructure. “When you add up everything and you look at the budget, that $58 billion ... education, health care, and infrastructure,” Johnson said.

Johnson highlighted increases to the state's K'12 funding through the TISA formula, saying the state has added about $4.4 billion to public education since 2021 and that the current budget includes roughly $340 million in additional K'12 funding. “Since 2021, you know, we've added $4.4 billion to public education in Tennessee,” he said.

Legislators also discussed reserve policy. Johnson noted the budget includes an increase toward a rainy day fund "up to about $2.2 billion," but said tapping that fund is legally limited to catastrophic needs and would not erase a multi-decade backlog in road projects. "The rainy day fund would just barely scratch the surface," he said, contrasting the deposit with an estimated $40'$60 billion backlog in road projects.

Representative Lee Reeves described the House budget process and the role of fiscal notes in accounting for bill costs. "We make sure that we have a balanced budget," Reeves said, explaining that many bills with fiscal notes are reviewed and sometimes placed behind the budget to account for costs.

Representatives from the delegation emphasized transportation needs for rapidly growing areas such as Spring Hill and cited recent injections into the state road fund; Representative Todd Warner said recent actions to add lanes and fund projects aim to address congestion, but that demand outpaces available funds.

The forum host, Dave Crouch, said Policy Talks will return next month to examine more budget details and other subjects including child care and immigration.

The session was primarily discussion; no formal budget votes were taken at the forum.