113th General Assembly adjourns By State Senator Page Walley

Our 113th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on the evening of Thursday, April 25. The session was highlighted by a focus on public safety, protecting children, keeping taxes low and maintaining fiscal responsibility with Tennessee taxpayers’ dollars.
This year we faced new budgeting challenges as state revenue collections slowed. Fortunately, years of consistent conservative budgeting from lawmakers enabled the state to be well-prepared to face declining revenues, while still returning tax dollars to taxpayers, investing in education, and keeping the budget balanced.
On the Finance Committee, we worked hard to be the very best stewards of taxpayers’ money and put the state in a solid financial position. We are returning billions of dollars back to Tennessee taxpayers, continuing to invest in education and ensuring Tennessee remains the very best state to live, work and raise a family.
I also successfully co-sponsored several pieces of legislation that passed both the House and Senate and are now set to become new state laws. Among these measures are legislation which improves access to rural health care; expands our farmers and foresters ability to compete in the marketplace; provides local governments with a break from the cost of installing new water and wastewater infrastructure projects; protects women who are victims of assault; and shields restaurant owners from patrons who want to bring in non-service animals
I will highlight many of these measures with more details in the coming weeks. Much of what we do in the General Assembly also involves preventing bad legislation from passing. For example, this year I am happy to report we protected our public schools from a diversion of their state funding going to alternatives to public education.
We also were successful in directing tens of millions of dollars to our district for broadband expansion, road improvements, water/wastewater projects and job creation.
Other highlights of the 2024 legislative session include:
Safer Communities
Strengthened restrictions for issuing bail to keep violent criminals off the streets
Passed Jillian’s Law requiring involuntary commitment for criminal defendants found mentally incompetent to stand trial
Increased penalty for child rape to death or life without parole
Created a new felony offense for repeat misdemeanor offenders
Protected citizens’ right to bear arms
Protected property owners from squatters
Increased criminal penalties for illegal immigrants
Sent Tennessee National Guard troops to Texas border to secure southern border
Added 60 positions to the Tennessee Highway Patrol
Added 13 positions to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
Protecting Children and Families
Restored parental authority online by requiring age-verification and parental consent for minors to create a social media account
Restricted minors’ access to online pornography through age-verification requirements for websites
Strengthened law to keep obscene materials out of public schools
Education
Increased investment in K-12 education by $261 million
Maintained commitment to raise teacher’s starting salary for $50,000 by 2026
Improved access to quality facilities for public charter schools
Pro-Business/Economy
Passed the largest tax cut in state history by modernizing the franchise tax
Maintained fiscal responsibility in the face of declining revenues
Health
Invested $105 million to strengthen rural and behavioral health
Provided $97.7 million to support Tennessee’s hospitals
Passed phase out of the Certificate of Need (CON) permit requirements to increase access to health care and lower costs
Established program to allow working individuals with disabilities to still receive TennCare
I have already begun touring the district speaking with our citizens about what was achieved this session and gathering input for what you would like to see done next year. Even though we are out of session, please continue to reach out to me at 615-741-2368 or sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov.