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Finance subcommittee advances FY2027 budget bill (House Bill 2631) as amended
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Summary
On April 15, the Finance Ways and Means Subcommittee advanced House Bill 2631 (FY2027 budget) as amended to the full finance committee by an 11–1 vote; Chairman Hicks outlined a $58.3 billion budget with major allocations to health, education and transportation and highlighted hospital buybacks and nonrecurring investments.
The Finance Ways and Means Subcommittee advanced House Bill 2631 — the proposed fiscal year 2027 state budget — to the full finance committee on April 15 after adopting three amendments by voice vote and approving the bill as amended, 11–1.
Chairman Hicks, who presented the bill, described the fiscal year 2027 budget as “a total of $58,300,000,000,” saying about 51% of that total is expected to come from state appropriations (roughly $29.9 billion), 34% from federal revenue (about $19.5 billion) and 15% from other resources (about $8.9 billion). He said over 45% of spending goes to health and social services and nearly 28% to K–12 and higher education.
Why it matters: The subcommittee action keeps the budget on track for consideration by the full finance committee and outlines major new and continuing priorities for the next fiscal year, including support for hospitals, education funding growth and transportation projects.
Hicks highlighted several large line items and initiatives. He described the largest legislative initiative as hospital buybacks, allocating $79.8 million in general fund dollars and $43.2 million in recurring dollars through shared-savings mechanisms tied to TennCare. He said the budget includes more than $1.4 billion in new funds for health and social services, and cited specific allocations such as funding for rural hospital capital improvements paired with $1.5 billion in federal rural health transformation program funding, $28 million to address unmet dental services, $125 million in shared savings for rural hospital capital improvements, and funding for behavioral health housing initiatives.
The budget also contains roughly $518 million in new state education dollars, including $145.5 million recurring to support TISA growth and raise per-student funding, funds for school construction and maintenance grants, school safety grants and other education initiatives. For economic development and infrastructure, Hicks listed about $890 million in new state appropriations and cited $400 million nonrecurring and general fund subsidy for transportation projects statewide.
Representative Parkinson questioned changes made by the legislative amendment and asked why $1,000,000 for a local Star Academy charter school was removed. Chairman Hicks replied that the Star Academy Parkinson referenced was a different entity and explained the process by which member-requested items are filed and funded, saying he could not provide an on-the-spot party breakdown of which members’ bills received funding.
The committee recorded its vote after debate and procedural matters: the clerk reported 11 ayes and 1 no, and the subcommittee sent House Bill 2631, as amended, to the full finance committee for further consideration.
Next steps: HB 2631 will be considered by the full finance committee; the subcommittee recessed for five minutes before the full committee convened.
