Tennessee
Tennessee spent only 10% of American Rescue Plan allotment. Use it or lose it by Dec. 31
Now is the time for the governor and the state legislature to use the money they have to make things better for working families.
State of the Union: Jobs created, economy continues to grow says Biden
President Biden says his “American Rescue Plan” left no one behind, compared to the previous administration.
STAFF VIDEO, USA TODAY
President Ronald Reagan loved to say that the nine most terrible words in the English language were, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
The American Rescue Plan Act, enacted three years ago in March, proves Reagan wrong: Government action − when timely, targeted, and sufficient in size − can make all the difference for people across the country. It’s a model we’d do well to follow in future crises. It’s also a model that Tennessee seems to have ignored, to the disadvantage of the state’s working families.
One of ARPA’s key elements was sending $350 billion directly to state and local governments with few strings attached. These State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) were designed to tackle the myriad ills plaguing communities in the wake of COVID, and it did its job.
Here’s how other states are using their ARPA funds
Typically when the federal government gives cash to state and local governments, it’s for specific uses at specific times − so many dollars for fixing roads, or buying new fire trucks, or securing our elections, that sort of thing.
But when President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, his team knew that if ARPA tried to micromanage how state governments spent the money, it would have missed the mark. Instead, SLFRF could be used for effectively anything responding to the pandemic or the economic impact of the pandemic such as making up lost government revenue, hero pay for frontline workers, or infrastructure spending, whatever the state thinks is best.
Some states have used their funds in inventive and helpful ways. Minnesota allocated $500 million in “hero pay” for frontline workers. Connecticut announced a plan to pay off the medical debts of thousands of families with fiscal recovery funds. Other states used the money to rebuild public services, which had never fully recovered from budget-cutting that many states adopted in the decade following the Great Recession.
States closer to Tennessee have also used these funds to strengthen their economies and rebuild public services. Kentucky spent $168 million to repair and renovate school buildings. North Carolina spent almost $500 million in grants to businesses to help recover from COVID. Georgia spent $1 billion of ARPA money in 2022 to give cash assistance to poor families.
Nearly 90% of Tennessee funds have not been spent yet
And Tennessee? Tennessee has barely touched the money. According to the latest data available from the U.S. Department of the Treasury,
Tennessee has spent just 10.5% of the $3.7 billion it received in fiscal recovery funds in 2021. While other states have rebuilt infrastructure and supported working families, Tennessee has done almost nothing.
More: Nashville OKs use of COVID-19 relief funds to stabilize rocky Fisk University finances
While the state rolled out an ambitious plan for using the money, very few of those paper plans have been approved by the legislature, and even less money has gone out the door. $500 million was allocated for broadband, but only $44.6 million has been spent. $1.3 billion was budgeted for wastewater infrastructure – just $36 million has been spent. $15 million was earmarked for Habitat for Humanity to support low-income housing, but none of those funds have yet been appropriated by the legislature.
It’s an open question whether they ever will. Tennessee only has until Dec. 31 to formally obligate the funds, or it loses them forever. Now is the time for the governor and the state legislature to use the money they have to make things better for working families. If they don’t, they will have wasted a once-in-a-generation chance to do good.
Dave Kamper is senior state policy strategist for the Economic Policy Institute.
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Things went sideways quickly at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Friday as the No. 4 Texas Longhorns fell into an early hole and never recovered in a 5-1 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers that included another shoulder injury sustained by junior second baseman Ethan Mendoza.
After spending 15 games last year as the designated hitter following a shoulder injury sustained diving for a ground ball, Mendoza left the game in the first inning on a similar play, leaving head coach Jim Schlossnagle without much optimism that the Arizona State transfer will be able to return to action this weekend.
Without Mendoza in the lineup, Texas struggled at the plate against Tennessee ace Tegan Kuhns, who recorded a career-high 15 strikeouts in seven innings. Throwing 113 pitches, Kuhns allowed just four hits and one walk in his scoreless outing as the Horns ultimately struck out 19 times, leaving the bottom of the order without much production — sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez struck out all four times he came to the plate and junior designated hitter Ashton Larson, junior infielder Casey Borba, and freshman center fielder Maddox Monsour all struck out three times apiece.
Junior right fielder Aiden Robbins did have two hits — a double and a solo home run in the eighth inning — but didn’t receive help from the rest of the lineup.
And sophomore left-hander Dylan Volantis looked human, a rare occurrence in his sterling career in burnt orange and white, allowing RBI doubles in the first and second innings and giving up another second-inning run on a wild pitch. Volantis recovered to throw three scoreless innings before redshirt senior right-hander Cody Howard pitched the final three innings, giving up two runs on two hits.
Texas tries to bounce back on Saturday with first pitch at 5 p.m. Central on SEC Network+.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – State Rep. Antonio Parkinson says Tennessee’s two blue cities, Memphis and Nashville, should break away and form their own state.
“I don’t think the state of Tennessee deserves a Memphis and Shelby County…or a Nashville, Davidson County,” Parkinson said on Action News 5’s A Better Memphis broadcast Friday.
Parkinson proposed creating a new state called West Tennessee, which would span from the eastern border of Nashville’s Davidson County to the Mississippi River.
“I’m not just talking about Memphis, I’m talking about the eastern border of Nashville, Davidson County and everything to the Mississippi River to create a new state called the new state of West Tennessee, the 51st state, West Tennessee,” Parkinson said.
Proposal follows new congressional map
Parkinson’s secession pitch follows the GOP supermajority approving a new congressional map Thursday that splits Shelby County into three districts, dismantling what was the state’s only majority-Black district.
“So this is about accountability. We’re paying all of this money, yet you remove our voice, so that is taxation without self-determination, taxation without actual representation,” Parkinson said.
Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton denies race was a factor when Republicans redrew the map.
“Look, at the end of the day we were able to draw a map based on population and based on politics, we did not use any racial data,” Sexton told Action News 5.
Sexton said Democrats did the same thing in the 1990s when they split Shelby County into three different congressional districts.
Secession requires state, federal approval
For Memphis to secede, it requires approval from the State of Tennessee and the U.S. Congress.
Parkinson said he’s willing to fight that uphill battle.
“Why should we stay in an abusive relationship where they’ve shown us the pattern over and over and over…where they do not see our value, and do not care about us,” Parkinson said.
This is not the first time Parkinson has suggested Memphis secede from Tennessee. He made the same call in 2018 after the Republican-controlled state legislature punished Memphis, cutting the city’s funding by $250,000, in retaliation for removing two Confederate statutes.
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