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House approves governor's response fund bill after heated exchange over residency requirement
Summary
The House passed a bill to strengthen the governor's response fund and streamline disaster recovery, but debate focused on a provision tying eligibility to Tennessee residency and lawful presence; critics called the clause unnecessary and potentially cruel in disaster settings.
The House approved a rewritten bill to strengthen the governor's response fund and set guardrails for accelerated recovery assistance to local governments and individuals when federal aid is unavailable.
Representative Hicks, the sponsor, said the bill "strengthens Tennessee's disaster response by updating the governor's response fund and placing it under Tema," and described guardrails that limit use to declared emergencies and specified thresholds for state aid. He said the 18‑month payback structure is a cost‑share mechanism for multiple counties and defended flexibility for different disaster sizes.
The most contentious exchange focused on a provision requiring Tennessee residency and lawful presence. Representative Jones pressed the sponsor, calling the requirement "unnecessarily cruel" and saying that in disasters "every document was probably flooded out and destroyed" and that people could be afraid to seek help. Representative Hicks said the provision was intended to ensure assistance to Tennesseans and argued local communities can still help those in desperate need and that the governor can waive provisions.
After extended debate and procedural motions, the House recorded a roll-call where the Speaker declared the bill passed; the transcript shows a recorded tally of "Ayes, 85, 4 nays."
