The Budget

2023/2024 Budget Highlights

  • The $55.6 billion, no-debt budget addresses the needs of all Tennesseans while advancing efforts to strengthen families, bolster safety, improve education, create new opportunities for economic development and modernize transportation.
  • The balanced budget maintains Tennessee’s commitment to responsible fiscal management and deposits $250 million into the state’s Rainy-Day Fund, which serves as the state’s savings account to help withstand economic downturns, bringing the fund to a historic balance of more than $2 billion.

Tax Cuts

$407 million in tax cuts

  • $288 million for a 3-month sales tax holiday on food from Aug. 1 – Oct. 31, 2023
  • $64 million to simplify administration and conform with federal bonus depreciation provisions, allowing businesses to more quickly recover costs and further incentivize investment in Tennessee production
  • $37.8 million for Small Business Excise Tax Relief
  • $20.3M for Small Business Franchise Tax Relief
  • $7.9M for Small Business Relief from the Business Gross Receipts Tax
  • $7.3M to establish a state paid family leave tax credit against franchise and excise tax for a two-year pilot

Transportation Modernization

  • $3 billion to the Transportation Modernization Fund to alleviate urban congestion and fund rural road projects across the state
    • $750 million allocated to each of Tennessee’s four TDOT regions
  • $300 million to expand the State Aid Program for local road projects

Skilled Workforce / TCATs

$952 million to fully fund the Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology (TCAT) Masterplan

  • 370 million to update outdated facilities in seven TCAT campuses state-wide
  • $386.2 to invest in new buildings, expansion, and improvement to sixteen current TCAT campuses
  • $147.5 million to build six new TCATs to better serve more students across Tennessee

Higher Education

  • $47.9 million for higher education outcome funding formula
  • $16 million for the Tennessee Board of Regents
  • $18 million for the Locally Governed Institutions
  • $2.5 million for ETSU college of pharmacy
  • $5.2 million to expand the HOPE scholarship

Economic and Community Development

  • $103 million for the Jobs4TN program in ECD to create new opportunities for Tennessee’s workforce and support the growth and retention of the state’s traditional job base
  • $340 million for the Jobs4TN program for new development projects
  • $45 million for grants and services to assist rural communities and distressed counties with site development, community asset improvement, marketing strategic planning, downtown revitalization, and technical assistance
  • $50 million for a nuclear energy supply chain investment fund

Preserving Outdoor Heritage

  • $328 million for state parks, natural areas, and forests
  • $41 million for trails
  • $82.7 million for environmental cleanup

School Safety

$223 to improve school safety

  • $140 million to establish a School Resource Officer (SRO) grant fund to place an on-duty law enforcement officer at every public school
  • $30 million to expand a statewide homeland security network with 122 agents serving at both public and private schools
  • $40 million for public school security upgrades
  • $14 million for private school security upgrades
  • $8 million for additional school-based behavioral health liaisons across the state

Department of Children's Services

  • $15.9 million for salary increases for case managers
  • $8 million for a rate increase for private providers
  • $13.8 million to increase placements at private providers
  • $33 million to increase bed capacity in DCS
  • $39.8 million to increase the rate of payment for providers in DCS provider network that offer residential and clinical services to children in state custody
  • $4.9 million for foster care, adoption assistance, and subsidized permanent guardianship programs
  • $1.9 to increase adoption assistance
  • $1.1 million to DCS to improve adoption and foster care process
  • $5 million for provider network development for children in DCS custody or foster care but require specialized institutional/residential care
  • $61 million to replace the Tennessee Family and Child Tracking System (TFACTS), the DCS case management and payment system
  • $11 million to contract with short-term private case managers to alleviate burden on DCS case managers

Education

  • $350 million in additional funding to LEAs through TISA
    • Includes $125 million for teacher pay raises
  • $60.8 million to extend summer learning camps and expand eligibility age from 4th grade to K-9th grade
  • $10 million for Summer Bus Transportation

Public Safety and Law Enforcement

  • $4.5 million for 25 new forensic service positions within the TBI to help address the backlog in rape testing kits 
  • $28.7 million for 142 new Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper positions
  • $24.7 million for 122 new agents in the Department of Safety’s Homeland Security Office
  • $357 million for the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network
  • $17.5 million to increase pay for assistant district attorneys, public defenders, and criminal investigators
  • $50 million set aside for new prison, which will be needed in the next decade

Strong & Healthy Families / Healthcare

  • $190 million for the Tennessee Strong Families initiative which includes:
    • $13.5 million to increase parental eligibility income threshold to 100% of the federal poverty level
    • $5.1 million to TennCare program to increase the pregnancy eligibility threshold to 250% of the federal poverty level
    • $4.6 million to permanently extend TennCare coverage for mothers to 12 months postpartum
    • $1 million for a doula pilot program
    • $2 million to increase grants to regional perinatal health centers
    • $15 million for DIDDS services and other funding for children with disabilities in hospitals
    • $22 million for children in longer-term placements who are unable to be placed in traditional foster care
    • $15 million to the Department of Labor to connect youths and young adults with paid work experience and career exploration opportunities
    • $10.25 million for the TN Fosters Hope program
  • $110 million of TennCare reserves for hospital grants to cover services provided under the hospital assessment for rural and distressed hospitals
  • $16.3 million to increase pay for Direct Service Providers to $15 per hour
  • $9 million to the Department of Mental Health to increase provider rates
  • $16 million to the Department of Health to increase provider rates
  • $18.7 million for 6-weeks paid leave for state employees after the birth or adoption of a child
  • $15.5 million for 6-weeks paid leave for teachers and LEA employees after the birth or adoption of a child