Committee approves grants for East Tennessee homeowners damaged by Hurricane Helene

The Finance, Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously Jan. 29, 2025, to advance House Bill 6007, a one‑time grant program for East Tennessee property owners whose homes or businesses were damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Sponsor Chairman Faison told the committee the program provides grants “equivalent to a 130% of the taxes that are due for the property” to help owners rebuild when their losses were not covered by insurance. He said assessors and the comptroller’s office worked to identify every damaged property in the affected counties.

Supporters emphasized the event’s scale and the limits of private insurance for flood‑related losses. Chairman Williams, who urged colleagues to support the measure, said the program targets an “uninsurable event” for many residents and is restricted to properties identified under the FEMA declaration for the storm period. The sponsor and committee members said the grant is available to property owners whether or not insurance paid, and that the comptroller’s office will administer the application process.

Committee members asked constitutional and precedent questions. Representative Parkinson said he had previously pursued a similar property‑tax–based formula for recruitment grants and raised whether the new program met constitutional requirements; committee leaders said the office of the comptroller and counsel reviewed the approach and treated the payment as a grant tied to property tax as the formula, rather than direct tax relief to local governments.

On the roll call the committee recorded 26 ayes; the chair announced the motion carried and that House Bill 6007 will move to Calendar and Rules.

The committee recessed after completing its calendar.