Legislative Recap: Investments in Rural Tennessee and Hamilton County

District 27 is one of the most beautiful and varied districts in our state. From Lookout Mountain and Lookout Valley to Red Bank, Signal Mountain, Hixson, Soddy Daisy, Mowbray Mountain, Flat Top Mountain, and Bakewell, our communities are a mix of urban edge, suburban neighborhoods, and rural mountain land. Every part of this district matters, and every part benefited from the investments we made this session.

The General Assembly appropriated more than $890 million in new dollars for infrastructure, transportation, and economic development. That includes $400 million for new and existing transportation projects, $81.2 million for aviation infrastructure, and $20 million for upkeep and infrastructure of shortline railroads. These investments matter for working families in Hamilton County who depend on safe roads to get to work and reliable freight service to keep our regional economy strong.

For our rural health care needs, we directed $205 million to fund Rural Health Transformation Resiliency Grants. The FAIR Rx Act helps restore fairness and competition in prescription drug access by protecting patient choice and preventing vertically integrated companies from controlling too much of the process. We eliminated Certificate of Need barriers for acute care hospitals, emergency rooms, and cardiac catheterization labs, opening the door to genuine competition.

We also passed HB 2592 to ensure fair representation for customers of municipally owned electric utilities in counties served by those utilities. We expanded support for volunteer fire departments through the new Volunteer Firefighter Vehicle Grant Program.

Tennessee's strength has always come from her counties, her small towns, and the people who actually live and work in them. This session, we invested in that foundation.