Legislature approves $39.4B budget early Friday after day of talks
The Tennessee Legislature broke an impasse Thursday night and in the wee hours of Friday morning adopted a $39.4 billion budget for fiscal 2021 dealing with a $1 billion shortfall caused by the COVID-19 crisis as it moved toward wrapping up a short but chaotic session surrounded by protest.
The House passed the budget in a 72-18 vote, and the Senate approved it 29-0.
The budget proposal restores some $5 million each for Memphis and Metro Nashville and about $2.8 million for Shelby County out of a $200 million injection for local governments.
It also includes $32.6 million for a University of Memphis STEM building, which will replace the college’s outdated Herff College of Engineering facility. The state will borrow the money for the building, as well as for a West Tennessee Veterans Home.
Read more: https://dailymemphian.com/section/metro/article/14973/legislature-budget-fiscal-2021