February 13 - 17, 2023:
After a couple of weeks of major developments, things this week settled into a more normal routine at the General Assembly. All of the legislation that was filed two weeks ago is being assigned to committees or held pending expected amendments. Some of the Governor’s major initiatives he presented at his State of the State Address are moving forward in legislative committees.
Transportation
Gov. Lee’s major transportation initiative (HB321/SB273) passed out of a House subcommittee last week and was scheduled to be heard in the full committee this week. The bill was deferred two weeks as the administration continues to discuss details of the legislation with roadbuilders, auto manufacturers and other groups. County associations support this legislation which brings an infusion of one-time funds into the state aid highway program for counties and also provides long term funding stability by including county and city governments in the distribution of any proposed fees on electric vehicles. The bill will now be heard in both the House and Senate Transportation Committees on February 28th and March 1st. This coincides with County Government Day and will afford county officials a great opportunity to discuss the importance of this legislation with their delegations.
Education
Also moving this week is (HB68/SB249), which would extend and expand state funded summer learning camps to help students get back on track. Initially, these programs were proposed for the summers of 2021 and 2022 in response to learning loss experienced during the pandemic. This legislation extends these programs indefinitely and opens them up to more children. The original legislation was geared towards students entering grades 4 through 8. This bill expands eligibility to add students entering K-3 on the front end and those entering 9th grade on the back end. The legislation would be funded through...
Read This Week's Full Capitol Update from TCSA
Check out TCSA’s new video recap of the week’s legislative developments
Click below to view the full ~13 minute video recap from TCSA Executive Director David Connor. This update provides valuable context and insight for our TCSA membership and anyone interested in county government legislation!
View this week's Capitol Update video
TCSA + cashVest webinar from February 16th Now Available to View
Yesterday’s webinar with threeplusone, featuring a highlight of the cashVest program, which has been formally endorsed by TCSA, and several Tennessee counties have already inquired about the program!
If you are a county official needing training credit through a CTAS program, please login to your K@TE account and view the video through their system.
If you are interested in viewing the video on TCSA’s YouTube page, you can do that as well - no login required!
Thanks again to threeplusone for joining TCSA in the webinar yesterday, and to our members, stay tuned for the announcement of March’s ‘Third Thursday Webinar Series.’ We look forward to seeing you at County Government Day in a couple of weeks!
January 2023 Revenue Reports Released from TNDFA
Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson today announced that January state tax revenues exceeded budgeted estimates. Revenues for January totaled $1.9 billion, which is $212.9 million more than budgeted and 6.25 percent greater than revenues received in January 2022...
“While we are pleased with the strong revenue growth seen in the first half of this fiscal year, we remain cautious, closely monitoring economic conditions and revenue trends to ensure fiscal stability.”
On an accrual basis, January is the sixth month in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
General fund revenues were greater than the budgeted estimates in the amount of $197.9 million while the four other funds that share in state tax revenues were $15 million more than the estimates.