Governor Lee’s State of the State & Proposed Budget Released

Governor Lee delivered his State of the State address on February 6 2023. Funding for a public-private transportation plan, grocery tax breaks, funding for crisis pregnancy centers and contributing to the rainy day fund were announced in the speech. You can read the full speech here: 2023 State of the State Address

The proposed budget includes over $1.9B in total capital appropriations for maintenance and improvement projects. The image below is an overview.

Click on the link for a complete review of the proposed capital improvements and maintenance projects – starting at page A-127

https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/finance/budget/documents/2024BudgetDocumentVol1.pdf

Notable highlights as it relates to design/construction from Gov. Lee’s FY23-24 agenda include: 

• $3B to the Transportation Modernization Fund to alleviate urban congestion and fund rural road projects across the state
• $300M to expand the State Aid Program for local road projects

• $370.8M to update outdated facilities in seven TCAT campuses state-wide
• $386.2M to invest in new buildings, expansions and improvements to sixteen current TCAT campuses
• $147.5M to build six new TCATs to better serve more students across Tennessee

• $66.5M for the Natchez Trace Recreation Area, establishing a sportsman’s themed park with a lodge, cabins, campgrounds and a shooting range
• $28.3M to create Scott’s Gulf State Park, a 9,000-acre park uniting Virgin Falls State Natural Area with surrounding nature areas into a single wilderness park
• $30M to revitalize the Heritage Conservation Trust to support public-private partnerships through a matching grant program
• $15.4M for trail infrastructure and development of the Cumberland Trail
• $10.3M to address critical gaps along the Wolf River Greenway, a 26-mile paved trail meandering from the Mississippi River to Germantown
• $6.3M to expand the Tweetsie Trail in Carter County, connecting four communities, two bike parks and a pedestrian bridge
• $70M to TN Clean Initiative, cleaning up state superfund sites, Oak Ridge and all 47 known dry cleaner sites
• $6.3M for the Rural Brownfields Investment Act to revitalize 175 known brownfield sites, creating a new state-administered grant and technical support program for remediation and economic development of existing brownfields