By State Senator Page Walley
Last week our General Assembly was back to business after postponing official business due to record-breaking amounts of snow and ice that blanketed the state. Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday and submitted hundreds of new bills to be considered during the 2024 legislative session ahead of the Thursday, Feb. 1, deadline to file new bills.
We had an opportunity to meet with our TDOT and hear about their efforts to clear roadways across the state and improve hazardous road conditions caused by snow, ice and subzero temperatures.
TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley told the committee TDOT staff worked 16-hour shifts to clear and treat roads. Over the course of a week, TDOT deployed 88,500 tons of salt, 1.5 million tons of brine and 884,200 miles driven to make roads in Tennessee safe to drive.
In our district our county and municipal road crews and water district crews did an amazing job of restoring roadways and water systems to safe use. I want to personally thank them and their families for their sacrifice and hard work. Our systems were never built to deal with subzero temperatures and large amounts of snow for that length of time.
We will see our TDOT and local road crews across the state continuing to work hard to deal with the potholes that result from this kind of weather.
Tennessee Promise Program evaluation indicates high success rates for students
Turning to education news, over the past decade, Tennessee high school graduates have had the opportunity to enroll in the Tennessee Promise Program which was first passed by the General Assembly in 2014. Last week, we were briefed on a recent report revealing the tremendous success of the Tennessee Promise Program. The report was issued by Tennessee Comptroller’s Office of Research and Education Accountability. Since its inception, Tennessee Promise has provided over $168 million in financial aid for students to attend Tennessee public higher education institutions tuition-free, and students enrolled in the program are excelling.
The report highlighted Promise students on average maintain higher achievements in many areas compared to their non-Promise student peers. Promise students excel academically, earn more credits and have higher retention rates compared to non participating students. Overall, the program’s evaluation indicates students receiving the Promise scholarship are empowered and motivated to obtain good grades and complete their postsecondary education.
Participating students can earn a bachelor’s degree, certificate or technical diploma for free at any of Tennessee’s 27 colleges of applied technology (TCATs), 13 community colleges, and HOPE eligible independent or public four-year universities offering an associate’s degree or certificate. Promise students make up over 30 to 47 percent of college enrollees in Tennessee any given year.
Next week, I look forward to sharing with you about legislation to prevent human trafficking which I am sponsoring. In the meantime if I can be of any service, please reach out to me if I can be of assistance to you at 615-741-2368 or sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov.
