Legislative Recap: Conservative Fiscal Discipline at Work

While Washington racks up trillions in debt and prints money to cover its mistakes, Tennessee continues to do something very important: we balance our budget. That matters. A state government should not spend money it does not have, and Tennessee’s commitment to a zero-debt, balanced budget helps keep our state on stronger financial footing than many others across the country.

This year, the General Assembly passed a $58.3 billion balanced budget without raising taxes. I voted for the budget because it funded important priorities, maintained Tennessee’s strong fiscal position, and avoided new debt.

But I also believe we could have done more to reduce spending.

Tennessee families are making difficult decisions every day. Grocery bills are higher. Housing costs are higher. Insurance, utilities, gas, and basic necessities are taking more out of family budgets. When families have to cut back, the government should be willing to do the same.

There were good investments in this budget. The state appropriated more than $890 million in new dollars for infrastructure, transportation, and economic development. That includes $400 million for new and existing transportation projects, bringing TDOT’s total General Fund allocations to $5 billion. It also includes $81.2 million to support aviation infrastructure, $25 million for Nuclear Industry Initiative Grants, and $20 million for upkeep and infrastructure of our shortline railroads, including investments that support rural communities and farmers across Tennessee.

For K-12 education, the budget added $339 million in new recurring dollars, bringing the total Tennessee Investment in Achievement formula to $7.1 billion and the overall public education budget to more than $9.4 billion for the 2026-27 school year. The budget also raised the minimum starting teacher salary to $50,000.

For health care and children’s services, the budget directed $205 million in Shared Savings to fund initiatives, including Rural Health Transformation Resiliency Grants. It provided $230 million to TennCare to cover increasing costs tied to medical inflation, higher prescription drug prices, Medicare payments, and expanded services. It invested $34.5 million in the Department of Children’s Services to reduce caseload ratios and help protect Tennessee’s most vulnerable children, plus $10.7 million to enhance staff safety at DCS facilities serving delinquent youth. The budget also provided $7 million to the Summer EBT program for 2027.

We also funded a three-year pilot program to support family caregivers’ lost wages and expenses and approved a $1 million Volunteer Firefighter Vehicle Grant Program through HB 2446 to help local communities meet match requirements for federal grants.

These are real needs, and some of these investments will benefit Tennessee families, communities, and infrastructure.

But conservative fiscal discipline requires more than balancing the budget. It requires asking whether the government should be spending the money in the first place. It requires a willingness to examine every program, every new initiative, and every recurring expense to determine whether it is necessary, effective, and respectful of the taxpayers who fund it.

In my view, we should have trimmed more. We should have looked harder for places to reduce the size and cost of government. And we should be looking for more ways to return money to Tennessee citizens, whether through reducing the sales tax on food or other forms of tax relief that help families directly.

A balanced budget is good. A zero-debt budget is important. But the ultimate goal should not be for the government to keep more of the people’s money simply because revenues are available. The goal should be to fund core responsibilities, reduce unnecessary spending, and leave more money in the hands of the people who earned it.

Tennessee is still one of the best-managed states in the country, and I want to keep it that way. But staying fiscally conservative means we cannot become complacent. As families across Tennessee tighten their belts, state government should be willing to tighten its belt too.