March 20, 2020 | Issue 9
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This Week's Legislative Alert
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Late in the night on Thursday, March 19, 2020 the General Assembly passed a budget and the other necessary items to keep state government functioning and then recessed until June 1. Items outside of the budget include legislation addressing TennCare, hospitals, ambulances, civil procedure, and school testing. The budget and education legislation were reported in a Special Alert on Thursday and these items changed little by final passage. If you missed this information, more about these items is found in this Alert. All of Farm Bureau's legislative priorities have been put on hold and will be evaluated leading up to when lawmakers return this summer. Farm Bureau will work to communicate as necessary about the current events through the Legislative Alert, National Affairs Update, our website, social media, and other forms. |
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The Budget
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The budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 (FY20-21) passed the General Assembly on Thursday. This budget is significantly different than the one presented earlier in the session. Most of the governor's initiatives are stripped from this budget and few legislative initiatives are included. This budget recognizes 0.25% growth in revenue compared to 3.1% as originally proposed. Emphasis in this budget has been placed on the state's Rainy Day Fund and emergency response priorities.
Budget highlights include:
- $350 Million to the Rainy Day Fund. (The governor would have some flexibility to use this money if necessary).
- Fully funded Basic Education Program (BEP) formula funding. BEP is how the state allocates state dollars to local education agencies.
- $200 Million for local government grants for infrastructure and disaster assistance (including tornado and COVID-19).
- $150 Million for health and safety programs related to emergency and contingency funds.
- $30 Million to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency for Disaster Relief Funding.
- $12.5 Million increase to the Department of Health for the Uninsured Adult Health Care Safety-Net Program.
- $25 Million for Broadband Accessibility Grants (maintained from original budget proposal).
- Additional one-time $7.5 Million for Tennessee Agriculture Enhancement Program (TAEP) for the current fiscal year to cover the costs of this year's requests for the program.
- Tennessee Department of Agriculture funding for Chronic Wasting Disease: $304,900 recurring, $599,300 non-recurring.
- 2% increase to the BEP Salary Pool (initially proposed to increase 4%).
- 1.5% increase to non-formula unit salary pool for higher education (initially proposed to increase 2.5%). Extension agents are considered non-formula units.
- A legislative initiative to increase the 911 surcharge rate from $1.16 to $1.50 effective January 1, 2020 to fund the needs of the 911 Emergency Communications Fund. *
- An additional $7 Million for ambulance reimbursement through a legislative initiative. *
- *Asterisked items were added by a legislator led amendment after Thursday's Special Alert.
Below are items previously reported on by Farm Bureau in the initial budget proposal which are NOT in the new FY20-21 budget proposal.
- The additional $7 million recurring to the Tennessee Agriculture Enhancement Program (TAEP) is no longer funded. TAEP is still fully funded at the historical $21 million.
- The Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Enterprise Fund (AEF) was set to receive an additional $1 million recurring and $1 million non-recurring above the current annual base funding of $500,000. AEF will still be funded at $500,000 recurring.
- The Department of Economic and Community Development was set to receive $20 million for a Rural Opportunity Fund. No money is being allocated for this program.
- The Department of Tourism's budget was set to receive $2.4 million for the Office of Rural Tourism. This is not funded.
- $4 million dollars recurring to the state's agriculture extension programs: The University of Tennessee (UT) and Tennessee State University (TSU) extension services were each allocated an additional $2 million each to support and expand their operations. This is not funded.
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Tennessee COVID-19 Information
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On Thursday, Governor Bill released more information about the state's efforts around COVID-19 and issued Executive Order 15. Below is the press release with this information which was found at this link.
COVID-19 Bulletin 3 - March 19, 2020
Thursday, March 19, 2020 | 05:15pm
Today, Governor Bill Lee provided an update on Tennessee's efforts around COVID-19 relief.
Gov. Lee's daily press conferences can be viewed here. Gov. Lee has also established a website specific to COVID-19 updates which can be found here.
Updates & Reminders
Support for Small Businesses
Yesterday, Gov. Lee submitted a request to the Small Business Administration to officially pursue statewide relief opportunities for Tennessee small businesses. Tennessee nonprofit organizations can also pursue this assistance.
- Once the declaration is made, all Tennessee small businesses and nonprofit organizations that have suffered economic injury as a result of COVID-19 will be eligible to apply for disaster loan assistance of up to $2 million per applicant.
Medical Supply Capacity
- It is estimated that there are currently 15,000 licensed, unused beds within Tennessee's hospital capacity.
- Tennessee currently has 537 unused ventilators, and the Tennessee Department of Health ordered 570 additional ventilators yesterday.
Administration Actions for Targeted Relief
Executive Order 15
Today Gov. Lee signed Executive Order 15 to relieve regulatory burdens and free up the Executive Branch to more effectively respond to COVID-19 in Tennessee. This executive order works to quickly boost our health care capacity, continue important consumer protections and provide enhanced customer service to our citizens during this pandemic.
The Executive Order accomplishes the below actions, among others:
Health Care Capacity
- Further deregulates hospital beds to free up capacity.
- Further deregulates scope of practice, allowing more health care professionals to treat patients.
- Expands the number of providers who are eligible to provide telehealth services by loosening regulations around technology and geographic area and urges insurers to provide coverage for COVID-19.
Customer Service Provisions - Department of Safety
- Effective immediately, the Department is waiving its requirement that citizens appear in person and have a new photograph taken through October 1, 2021. This will allow many customers with expiring credentials to renew online and not visit in person.
- Non-US citizens with Temporary driver licenses (Class XD and XID) will still need to visit in person to renew those licenses upon expiration of the current license.
- All Driver Licenses, Learner Permits, Commercial Driver Licenses, Photo Identification Licenses (ID), and Handgun Carry Permits that would expire between March 12, 2020, and May 19, 2020, will be extended for six (6) months from the original expiration date. The Department will issue a letter of extension to the individuals affected. Affected individuals will be required to keep the letter with them during the extension period.
- Gov. Lee has asked the federal government to delay the October 1 deadline to acquire a Real ID. That decision from the federal government is pending.
Consumer Protection
- Cracks down on the price gouging of consumer foods and supplies.
Current Department of Health Testing Results (as of 2 p.m. 3/19)
| Testing Location |
Total COVID-19 Tests Completed |
Number Negative |
Number Positive |
| TN State Public Health Laboratory |
497 |
464 |
33 |
| All other commercial and private laboratories |
-- |
-- |
121 |
| Total positives in TN |
154 |
For more information on COVID-19 in Tennessee, please visit the Tennessee Department of Health's website here. |
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