NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Governor Bill Haslam delivered his sixth State of the State Address Monday night before a joint session of of the 109th General Assembly.
The address outlined the 2016-2017 Fiscal Year budget while also talking about the “collaborative effort across state government to grow Tennessee’s economy, reduce ongoing costs, provide high quality service to taxpayers.”
One of the main points Governor Haslam talked about was public education in the state.
“What’s important in all of this is that we’re not investing in the same old public education system in Tennessee. We’ve raised our standards. We’ve linked teacher evaluations to student performance, and we’ve expanded education options for children. We’re showing historic progress, and we can’t back up,” Haslam said.
To do that, the government is willing to invest more than $414 million in new dollars to schools, and more than $200 million to teacher’s salaries.
In addition, he said suggested the state fund teacher health insurance and double the technology in our schools.
He also proposed significant investments in higher education and the Drive to 55 initiative, the state’s effort to increase the number of Tennesseans with a postsecondary credential to 55 percent by 2025, including:
- $50 million for the Complete College funding formula for higher education
- $20 million for the Drive to 55 Capacity Fund to help community and technical colleges meet the growing demand for degrees and certificates; and
- $10 million for the Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP) helping communities align degree and course offerings with the needs of the local workforce.
The proposal invests $581.6 million in state and other funds to build new buildings and fix existing higher education and general state government facilities.
- $85.5 million for a new Tennessee Tech University laboratory science building;
- $39 million for a new dentistry building at the UT Health Science Center in Memphis;
- $38.8 million for Tennessee State University’s new health science building; and
- $36 million for renovations to UT-Chattanooga academic buildings.
Other notable budget investments are:
- $130 million from the General Fund to repay the Highway Fund;
- $24 million in state funds for the Employment and Community First (ECF) CHOICES program to allow the state to serve more people currently on the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities’ waiting list and others eligible for services;
- $12.8 million for facilities and homeland security upgrades for the Military Department;
- $10 million for the Department of Economic and Community Development’s Rural Development Initiative; and
- $1.27 million to increase the number of drug recovery courts from 41 to 50 and for two additional veterans courts.
Read the entire State of the State Address
