State lawmakers passed the State budget today, avoiding legislative attempts in the House to remove and/or reduce state funding for UT’s highest priority capital project, the West Tennessee 4-H Camp and Conference Center. Rep. Tim Wirgau (R-Buchanan) introduced and then withdrew an amendment on the House floor seeking to strip state funding from the project. … Continued
Governor Bill Haslam signed into law on Thursday a measure exempting public higher education employee performance evaluations from the public record, essentially correcting a public policy oversight in state law dealing with public employees. Since the passage of the TEAM Act in 2012, state service employee performance evaluations have not been part of the public … Continued
On Tuesday, the Haslam Administration released its proposed budget amendment. The Administration’s budget amendment provides an opportunity to alter the original budget proposal based on the State’s revenue trends. Citing strong sales tax numbers and revenue increases from “a one-time event,” the Administration amendment increases funding for education and health and doubles the contribution to … Continued
With 140 budget amendments proposed in the Senate and 235 proposed in the House, there appears to be no shortage of ideas on how to spend a state revenue surplus that could easily reach half a billion dollars by the end of the fiscal year. In recent months, indicators continue to point toward positive growth … Continued
Wednesday, the House Education Instruction and Program Subcommittee passed a bill that could change the way HOPE scholarship hours are calculated for ROTC students in Tennessee. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge), would address problems in the HOPE hours calculation that cause some STEM-major ROTC cadets to lose eligibility for the state-sponsored … Continued
