2017-2018 Budget Amendment Introduced

This week, Governor Bill Haslam introduced his amendment to the fiscal year 2017-2018 budget proposal that will be considered by the 110th General Assembly in the coming days.

The appropriations amendment tracks closely to the Governor’s original budget proposal presented to the legislature on January 30, which for the second year in a row does not take on any new debt and makes significant investments in teachers, K-12 schools, higher education, state employees, the state’s Rainy Day Fund, and the tax cuts included in the IMPROVE Act.

The amendment builds on previous legislative priorities by making strategic and thoughtful investments across state government. Because of the conservative fiscal choices lawmakers have made over the last several years, Tennessee currently ranks as the lowest taxed and lowest debt state in the nation.

Notable investments in the 2017-2018 budget amendment include:

$8 million to increase salaries paid to Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities service providers who care for the state’s most vulnerable,

$2 million for prevention, education, treatment, and recovery services with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services,

$55 million for transportation projects as the IMPROVE Act is phased in,

$40 million for a new State Library and Archives building to collect and preserve Tennessee records of historical, documentary, and reference value,

And $10.65 million for disaster relief in Gatlinburg and Sevier County after the devastating wildfires in November 2016.

The appropriations amendment is customarily introduced in the final weeks of the legislative session each year for consideration and approval by the General Assembly. The final 2017-2018 budget is expected to be adopted sometime in May.