February 27 - March 3, 2023
It was a very busy and eventful week at the General Assembly and a great time for county officials to show up in force and spend time with their legislators. (See more about County Government Day on the Hill below).
Transportation
On both Tuesday and Wednesday, county highway officials were on hand in committee to see the Governor’s Transportation Modernization Act of 2023 (HB321/SB273) move forward. The path was smoother in the House Transportation Committee, where the bill passed on a unanimous voice vote. The next day in Senate Transportation, presenters of the legislation and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley faced more questions and opposition. The bill passed out of committee, but only on a narrow 5-4 vote. Members of the administration have expressed their appreciation of county government support of the bill and mentioned how critical it will be for state legislators to continue to hear from county officials over the next couple of weeks. We encourage you to contact your Senators and Representatives, let them know your support and ask them to sign onto the legislation as a co-sponsor to signal their support.
Other Administration Proposals
A couple of other key proposals from Governor Lee also progressed this week. Legislation to extend summer learning camps (SB249/HB68) and to establish new grants to help clean up brownfields (SB271/HB319) across the state are headed toward floor votes. The brownfields bill is on the consent calendar Monday night in both chambers. The summer learning camps proposal is also up for a floor vote in the Senate Monday night. It still has to move through the House Finance Committee.
Development Taxes
The TCSA board voted to support a proposal to authorize counties and cities to levy adequate facilities taxes and impact fees. The bill, (HB1206/SB820) is having more trouble at the legislature. It is facing serious opposition from realtors and homebuilders. The proposal was scheduled for consideration in committees this week, but was deferred. If you would like your county to have the option to use these tools to help manage demands on county services caused by growth, let your legislators know.
Read This Week's Full Capitol Update from TCSA
Check out TCSA’s new video recap of the week’s legislative developments
County Government Day 2023 Recap + vital updates concerning the "Transportation Modernization Act", which could heavily boost counties' infrastructure and road funding capacity. Check out this week's big Capitol Update from TCSA!
View this week's Capitol Update video
TCSA Hosts Another Successful County Government Day in February 2023
The annual conference hosted 350+ county leaders and partners
The Tennessee County Services Association (TCSA), in partnership with the Association of County Mayors (ACM), Tennessee County Highway Officials Association (TCHOA), and the Tennessee County Commissioners Association (TCCA), hosted its annual County Government Day at the Downtown DoubleTree Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, on February 27 - 2023.
The event allows an opportunity for county mayors, commissioners, and highway officials to network with legislative and TCSA leaders as well as opportunities for training and committee meetings within each association.
One big topic of discussion was Governor Lee and TDOT’s Transportation Modernization Act, which TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley came to further explain during Monday afternoon’s TCHOA membership meeting. During the TCHOA Board meeting on Monday morning, the association Board made a motion to formally support the bill, due to its overall support of county highway infrastructure funding.
Other association Boards and committees held meetings..
Read the Full CGD Breakdown and View Pictures
2023 County Government Day Attendees' Survey Now Available
If you attended TCSA's 2023 County Government Day, please take a moment to complete our short survey of your experience and thoughts about the event. We'd love to hear from you! Click the button below to take the quick survey. We look forward to seeing you in May at the Post-Legislative Conference!
Take the Short County Gov't Day 2023 Survey
Join TCSA for This Month's Third Thursday Webinar!
Interested in learning more about your local development district and how it can help your county thrive? Join TCSA and many of Tennessee's regional development districts on Thursday, March 16, at 1:30 PM CDT via Zoom to learn more about these amazing resources for your county! Simply click on the button below to register for the event (attendance is FREE), or check out our YouTube channel later if you're not able to make this wonderful event. For those who can, we look forward to seeing you on Thursday, March 16, at 1:30 PM CDT! (Zoom link to be sent closer to the event time)
