On Wednesday, May 5, the 112th General Assembly adjourned for the year, finishing the first year of the two-year session just after 9:00 p.m. Legislators worked to keep the General Assembly running as smoothly as possible as Tennessee continued to open up following the distribution of vaccines. This unusual legislative session will be remembered for Zoom meetings, mask wearing at the capitol, and social distancing.
AIA Tennessee’s Advocacy Efforts
We are excited to announce two major initiatives were passed this year – funding for Historic Preservation Projects, and a significant increase in the amount dedicated to capital outlay and maintenance across the state. Over $1 billion! With these huge wins comes a responsibility by the industry to ensure the funding is put to full and efficient use.
AIA TN was also able to defend against legislation that would have undermined the ability of local governments to exercise zoning authority related to building materials and methods. We also worked to prevent erosion of licensing laws and using state law to change building codes. We expect to have a full summer and fall as we work with local and state agencies to implement new programs funded for the next year and lay out our legislative agenda for 2022.
Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget
The legislature passed a $42.6 billion budget. In stark contrast to the budget passed in 2020 which anticipated a $1 billion shortfall, the 112th General Assembly saw both a budget surplus and a significant amount of federal stimulus funds. Notable highlights from the passed budget include:
• $1 billion in capital infrastructure
• $5 million towards a 4-year pilot program to support historic preservation projects
• $250 million investment into the Mental Health Trust Fund.
• A 4% raise for teacher salaries.
• $100 Million in broadband infrastructure grants.
• $50 million for a two-week holiday on food and restaurant sales.
• $39 million initiative to increase the hourly wage of direct care staff employed at agencies contracted by the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities from $10.00 to $12.50.
• $25 million annually for “Truth in Sentencing” reform, which prohibits certain violent or sexual offenders from certain early release opportunities.
Depending upon their political affiliations, legislators will be going home with different messages about the most significant accomplishments of the year. The Governor’s office and the republican caucus are touting investments in rural communities, public safety, infrastructure and education initiatives. The democratic caucus is more critical and contends that the state surplus and available federal funds could have been put to more immediate use for struggling families.
Legislators will now return to their respective districts for the most part, but there are several pieces of proposed legislation that will be discussed in “summer study” committees and conversations are always ongoing for what’s next. The work for shaping the 2022 session will be underway soon!