We are nearing the end of the year’s Legislative Session, with only about five more days before closing out the first year of the 114th General Assembly.
I have two or three bills left in the Committee system. This week, we passed a $59.7 billion
balanced budget. We are using some bonds to fund some of the bigger capital projects across the state.
This past weekend was hectic but very exciting! I was honored to speak at two very special
events in Bedford County. In the early afternoon on Saturday, I gave some remarks at the
ribbon cutting for the Tony Rice Center’s new facility, which is adding 28 additional beds for their men’s addiction services program. We had a large crowd at the event, and we were able to tour the new facility, which will help many more people in our area. This event was a great reminder of the community of hope we’re building together!
Saturday evening, I attended the Community Clinic of Shelbyville and Bedford County’s Gala at the Nearest Green Distillery. Their event showcased the Clinic’s partnership with the Meharry School of Dentistry. This partnership has been helping out low income and elderly citizens for over five years. A huge thank you to Dr. Phil Wenk of Smile 180, for their generous donation of $180,000 for dental equipment and to Fredia Lusk, who heads up the program. The dental students from Meharry come to the Clinic twice a week to work on our folks’ dental needs. It was such a great event that honored those people who that made all this happen in our county.
Thursday, after the Legislative Session, I was fortunate enough to get to go to Memphis to tour the St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. It is a wonderful research hospital that focuses on childhood diseases, primarily cancer. They have a huge, beautiful facility and employ over 7,000 people! St. Jude is building two new large high-rise buildings and will soon add another 2,300 employees!
We passed House Bill 1376, which transfers the authority of regulating the hemp industry from the Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (or ABC) and establishes a hemp distributor license. This bill will help us regulate hemp in a similar way to the way alcohol is regulated in Tennessee. The legislation restricts sales to 21 and older establishments, licensed manufacturers, and businesses with wine and spirits or liquor-by-the-drink licenses. It also prohibits hemp sales within 1,000 feet of a school. We are also hoping to pass more legislation to further regulate the vaping industry, which has been negatively affecting our youth in Tennessee.
I also wanted to inform everyone about some exciting portions of the budget that our citizens will love. There is $42.5 million in the grant pool, which includes:
● $20 million for Volunteer Fire Departments
● $5 million or Volunteer Rescue squads ● $5 million for EMS
● $5 million for Senior Citizen Centers
● $5 million for Museums
● $2 million for Courthouse Repairs
● $500,000 for food banks
We are adding $640 million to K-12 education, $254 million to higher education, and $1 billion extra to the Department of Transportation to help build and maintain roads. We are also adding an additional $35 million to the rainy-day fund, bringing the total amount up to almost $2.2 billion. The budget includes many items that will strengthen and benefit Tennessee in the future!
I’m honored to serve as your state representative! Please call or email me if I can ever help.
615-741-6824, rep.pat.marsh@capitol.tn.gov. You are also welcome to come to the Capitol and stop by my office at 610 in the Cordell Hull building.
