Tennessee Governor Bill Lee delivered his seventh State of the State Address on Monday in the House Chamber of the Tennessee State Capitol where he laid out his $59.5 billion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025-2026.
Lee’s proposed $59.5 billion Fiscal Year 2025-2026 agenda is approximately $3.9 billion more than Fiscal Year 2024-2025’s budget.
The governor said the increase to his proposed budget for the upcoming year stems from Tennessee’s “legacy of responsible fiscal stewardship” which has put the state “in a strong budgetary position and allows for investments to secure continued success.”
Among the governor’s top areas of funding for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 include $739.6 million for education; $510 million for health and social services; $169.4 million for law, safety, and correction; $119.6 million for resources and regulation; $1.3 billion for transportation; and $797.6 million for general government.
While delivering his address in which he spoke for just under 40 minutes, Lee applauded the Tennessee General Assembly’s recent convening of a special legislative session in which lawmakers passed the governor’s signature Education Freedom Act, a disaster relief package, and other measures related to immigration.
“These pressing issues could not wait, and yet, we still have a lot of work to do in the legislative session before us,” Lee said.
Moving forward, the governor called upon lawmakers to help guide Tennessee in leading the nation in “innovation.”
“2025 should be the year to think bigger and to think boldly about what’s possible, and go there. If Tennessee has led the nation as a beacon of opportunity, security and freedom, why can’t we be the nation’s capital of innovation too? Somebody is going to determine what the future looks like. That should be Tennessee,” Lee said.
“Just like a business innovates to better serve their customer, or as science innovates to save lives, or as an athlete innovates to change the game, this is a time for us to innovate to create a brighter future for Tennesseans,” Lee added.
Watch the full State of the State Address:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-HYBGdUQC0
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
