Lawmakers meet and greet

Jan. 8—Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton touted school choice as he spoke to community leaders during the annual Legislative Breakfast, held Thursday at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology at Crossville.

"Parents want to have the ability to be in charge of their children's education," Sexton said. "I don't think it's fair to say that only wealthy parents who can afford private schools should be able to pull their kids out of a situation and put them in a private school.

"You're telling the people who do not have the means to do that that they have to stay in a school they feel is not the best for their child."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has proposed a statewide school choice program that would provide public funds to send students to private schools or pay for homeschooling. It is not yet clear if the proposal, which must clear the Tennessee General Assembly, will include students who have not previously been enrolled in a Tennessee public school.

Vouchers and school choice are one area where Sexton anticipates fights in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 9.

Carrying over from the August special legislative session, Sexton anticipates bills focusing on gun ownership in the wake of a shooting at The Covenant School, a private school in Nashville, in March where three nine-year-old children and three adults were killed.

"We're going to protect your Second Amendment rights," said Sexton, who leads a supermajority in the state House. "Treat criminals like criminals, but don't treat citizens like criminals."

Sexton said there was also discussion of implementing a "wealth tax" in Tennessee, something else he said was not going to advance.

"We're not going to do a wealth tax in the state of Tennessee, either," said Sexton, who added he believes the state's current system, which relies primarily on sales tax for state revenue, was a good one. "You're only taxed when you spend."

He pointed to cuts in state taxes, from the elimination of the Hall Income Tax on investment income to reduction in the state's sales tax on food and cuts to business and other taxes.

"The goal is to allow you to flourish. Our economy is good not because of the state of Tennessee. It is because of you and the communities who are providing the services. We're trying to make it where it is easier for you to do business."

Sexton touted the state's education spending record, with annual spending on public school increasing from $3.4 billion 13 years ago to about $7 billion now, and $30 billion in new education spending. State education rankings have improved from 48th to 34th — and that's been under Republican leadership, he said.

"Money doesn't solve all issues," Sexton said.

Tennessee has enacted a new funding formula for schools, Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, and is moving toward a $50,000 minimum salary for all public school teachers by the 2026-'27 school year.

"We want to invest in the parents," Sexton said of the push for expanded school vouchers.

Funding for the vouchers, $7,075 each, would not come from the state's public education budget, Sexton said.

Sexton pointed to Washington, DC, where parents can use vouchers to send their children to participating private schools or transfer among public schools within their district and charter schools. He said the director of that school system loved having school choice for the families in the city.

"What has happened is the traditional public schools have improved," he said. "Giving choice did not take away. It actually added.

"It's not either/or. It's an and."

Sexton said the state should also look at giving high-performing public schools more autonomy, as well, while focusing on low-performing schools to help them improve.

Sexton also touched on issues in criminal justice following implementation of "truth in sentencing," requiring individuals convicted of certain violent offenses to serve 100% of their sentence. Now, he said the state needs to look at how bail is set.

Juvenile justice also needs to be addressed, requiring certain violent crimes to be tried as adults, such as first-degree murder, and to give judges the ability to enforce "blended" sentencing, which keeps a youthful offender under judicial supervision for a longer period.

"The judge can hold them accountable up to age 24 to make sure they're doing those basic things, like complete high school or get a job," Sexton said.

State tightening belt

State Sen. Paul Bailey, who operates a trucking and tire business, said there are indications the economy could see improvements later in 2024.

"That's been my hope," Bailey said.

But half-way through the fiscal year, the state is projecting a $330 million revenue shortfall, he said. That would be the first time in 10 years the state has not met its revenue projections.

"They've been telling legislators, 'Cut your wish list down just a little bit,'" Bailey said.

There is an effort at the state level to address the share of revenue sent back to municipalities. The state made changes in sales tax policy in 2002 to offset a budget shortfall amid a divisive vote on a state income tax, which failed.

Bills were passed last year to increase that share for cities, but the legislation was not funded, Bailey said.

"Knowing there is going to be a budget shortfall this year, I was advocating the equalization took place," Bailey said. "It's not going to be in the budget [Gov. Lee] proposes."

Action may wait until later in the spring when revenue collection is more clear.

Bailey pointed to new developments in Cumberland County, specifically Flatrock Motorsports Park in eastern Cumberland County.

"It's a big deal," Bailey said of the road course development that will feature a club track and a public Grand Prix track and potentially bring thousands of people to the community and new tourism spending.

"The tourism growth your county is going to experience is unbelievable," Bailey said.

Road projects will be key to continuing growth, he said. The state recently unveiled a 10-year plan for road projects across the state, including a truck-climbing lane on Interstate 40 eastbound between Cookeville and Monterey.

"This is something that we've been advocating for for a long time," Bailey said.

Road work continues on Hwy. 127 N. and Hwy. 127 S., and bridge replacement on Hwy. 70 W.

"We've got to make sure ... that we continue to have TDOT money to improve our roads and bridges. The Westel interchange came up. I think TDOT is fully committed to making sure that they'll be able to accommodate the traffic that's coming in and out of there," Bailey said.

Bailey reviewed cuts to business taxes and franchise and excise tax last year. This year, Bailey plans to work on legislation that would repeal requirements that hospitals hire certain specialists through corporations. That will affect emergency physicians, radiologists, pathologists and anesthesiologists.

"That's antiquated," Bailey said.

"A few months ago, Cookeville Regional Medical Center was put in a situation where the group they had that was providing emergency room doctors went bankrupt. They were given a two-week notice to fill those positions.

"If they'd had the ability to hire those emergency room doctors on their own, they would not have been in such a situation."

Bailey said there will also be efforts to establish additional mental health care facilities, particularly in East Tennessee.

"Many years ago, we shut down a lot of those facilities, which was wrong. We're now seeing the results of not having enough mental health beds available to meet the needs of the citizens we have that need that assistance," Bailey said.

Bailey also offered an update to legislation he championed several years before to seek a federal block grant for the state's TennCare program, the first and only state to implement such a program.

In the first full year of implementation, Bailey said the state received $300 million in shared savings. That money allowed the state to expand services, including dental care for adults, expanded post-partum care, purchasing diapers for new mothers and offering $100 million in grants for rural hospitals.

"That's because we run a good, efficient program within TennCare," Bailey said. "When government allows us to remove a lot of the red tape that they had in place for a Medicaid program, that we can actually run it better in Tennessee and be able to provide more services for Tennesseans."

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.