Nashville, TN – Over the last several weeks, state departments have presented their budget proposals to the various legislative committees within the House.
The presentations allow legislators to hear directly from executive branch officials and get important questions answered before voting on the overall state budget, which is typically one of the last items of business before the General Assembly adjourns for the year.
At that time, House members will decide whether they believe the proposed budget meets their goal of ensuring taxpayer dollars are being used in an efficient, effective, and fiscally conservative manner.
This year’s $33.3 billion proposed budget was unveiled by Governor Bill Haslam in February during his State of the State address to a joint convention of the legislature, in which he unveiled major investments in both K-12 and higher education and doubled down on his commitment to create an even friendlier environment for job growth across the state.
Specific highlights of this year’s budget include 100% funding for the Basic Education Program (BEP) formula, $100 million dollars for increasing teacher salaries, which amounts to a 4% pool that education associations will have available as they make local decisions to increase teacher pay, and adding $36.5 million dollars to the state’s Rainy Day Fund
