Tag: state of Tennessee

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Climate Change Action Moves Ahead Across Tennessee

Credit: Daniel Prado on Unsplash

Climate problems are starting to find solutions, from solar panels at the Memphis Zoo to state officials readying for potential millions of federal dollars to reduce air pollution. 

Memphis:

Zoo officials announced last week it would soon install solar panels on building rooftops, thanks to a $676,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said the panels will be the first-ever solar panels installed on any building owned by the city of Memphis. 

The grant will also expand community outreach at the zoo and clean energy education programs. A portion of the grant will fund a waste characterization study and regional solid waste master plan for Memphis and Shelby County. Those programs will be run by city and county officials. 

These programs further the Memphis Area Climate Action Plan. That plan aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission levels here by 71 percent by 2050. The latest figures from 2020 show the plan is mostly on track. It met GHG reduction targets in the transportation and waste sectors, but missed the mark on energy.

Tennessee:  

State officials are working to deliver part of Tennessee’s emissions-reduction plan to the feds by March. That’s the deadline for government agencies to get in line for $5 billion in federal grants to develop and implement “ambitious” plans for reducing GHGs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funds come from the Inflation Reduction Act.

Tennessee’s plan is called the Tennessee Volunteer Emission Reduction Strategy (TVERS). It is truly a “volunteer” program. 

”While other states have imposed mandates to reduce emissions, we hope to reach established goals through voluntary measures that may differ throughout the state,” reads the TVERS website.

TVERS will be the state’s first-ever climate plan. Memphis has one, as noted above. So does Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. 

Late last year, the state took public opinion on taking action on climate change. The vast majority (75 percent) said they were motivated to act out of concern for the environment and future generations. The biggest challenge for them to act, though, was the high cost of efficient or sustainable alternatives. 

Credit: state of Tennessee

To be eligible to get the federal funds, states had to identify low-income communities. State officials found that 54 percent of its census tracts were considered to be low-income/disadvantaged communities (LIDACs) by federal standards. Those applying for the funds must show their projects will bring significant benefits to these communities. 

Tennessee Valley

Last month, a new study from the University of Tennessee (UT) found that carbon emissions throughout the Tennessee Valley fell 30 percent since 2005, a decrease of abut 78 million tonnes. The report said half of the decrease was attributable to a 50 percent reduction in emissions from Tennessee Valley Authority’s electricity generation. Another large chunk of the decrease (39 percent) came from agriculture, thanks to the adoption of no-till farming.

The Tennessee Valley region, which covers parts of seven southeastern states, emits about 200 million tonnes of carbon each year, about 3 percent of the nation’s total. Of that, the state said in 2019 it emitted about 112 million tonnes. The Memphis-area emitted about 17 million tonnes. 

In Tennessee and the Tennessee Valley, transportation emitted the most GHGs. The UT report said electrifying light-duty vehicles was the single largest carbon reduction opportunity for the Valley. In Memphis, the top carbon emitter came from the energy sector. 

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State Budget Season: Experts Predict Stagnant Revenues

State Capitol (Photo: Tennessee State Government)

The days of skyrocketing tax revenues are likely over, multiple budget experts told Tennessee’s panel in charge of predicting revenue growth.

The financial experts predict the state and national economy will grow, but at a slower pace over the next two years. This, combined with the state’s business tax cuts enacted earlier this year, will slow the state’s revenue, making them harder to predict. 

For the past five years, Tennessee’s revenue has grown from $17.4 billion to $24.7 billion. This has allowed the state to spend more money on projects and keep up with the growing wages for employees. 

The revenue projections made by the state funding board are crucial as programs boosted by federal coronavirus relief funds expire, leaving the state with the option of whether to cut them or fund them from its own revenue. The projections will also factor into whether the state can afford to fund any new programs or whether it can cut taxes. 

If the panel goes with a negative growth rate, the state would have to cut its current spending, dip into its reserve funds, or increase revenue with new taxes. 

The funding panel heard presentations from economic experts at East Tennessee State University, the state Department of Revenue, the Federal Reserve, the Tennessee General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee and the University of Tennessee.

The various officials detailed Tennessee’s economic outlook, giving out projections for future tax revenue over the next two years. The funding board will use these predictions as it sets the revenue projections for state officials to use when developing next year’s budget.

Tennessee’s budget hearings start Tuesday, and the governor will submit his proposed budget to state lawmakers before his State of the State address in late January or early February of 2024.

Several of the experts pointed out that part of the reason Tennessee’s revenue isn’t growing as fast is because of a significant business tax cut already leading to a slowdown in franchise and excise tax collections. From July 1 to Sept. 30, 2023, these taxes missed projections by around $61.4 million. 

Most of the state’s revenue gain over the past five years has been driven by the ability to collect taxes on internet sales and an enormous growth in franchise and excise tax collections. Budget data shows that nearly two-thirds of the increase in state revenues came from these two areas. 

Don Bruce, the director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, said the days of large-scale revenue growth are “virtually over.”

He predicted tax revenue would grow by less than 1 percent in each of the next two years. Officials from the revenue department made a similar prediction, estimating virtually no revenue growth over the next two years. 

Representatives with the Tennessee General Assembly’s Fiscal Review Committee and those from East Tennessee State University were more optimistic, predicting positive growth.  Fiscal review officials projected 1.1 percent revenue growth next year and 3.4 percent the year after, while ETSU economists went with 4.8 percent and 4.2 percent.  

Over the past few years, the state’s funding panel has used expert predictions to set revenue growth below their estimates, creating a surplus in revenue. 

During this period, state officials used the surplus to increase its funding for schools by $1 billion, give $884 million in incentives to Ford and contribute $850 million towards professional sports stadiums in Nashville and Memphis.

The state funding board — whose members are Finance and Administration Commissioner Jim Bryson, Secretary of State Tre Hargett, state treasurer David Lillard and Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower — will meet again on November 29th to finalize the projected growth rate. 

Tennessee’s budget sees the impact of tax cuts and no new untapped revenue sources 

Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

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State Health Comissioner: ‘Massive Shutdown’ Not Likely on Virus Surge

State Capitol building

Tennessee’s approach to a surge in COVID-19 might not include another “massive shutdown,” and hospitals here now have enough of the drug remdesivir to treat about 600 patients.

This information came to light in a meeting this week of the Tennessee General Assembly. The Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee featured presentations by Dr. Lisa Piercey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health, and from Dr. Wendy Long, president and CEO of the Tennessee Hospital Association (THA).

Friday marks three months since the coronavirus appeared in the state for the first time on March 5th. Daily life halted here later that month as government lockdowns shut down businesses and stopped non-essential travel. Since then, much of the state has reopened for business. But that is less so in the state’s metropolitan regions, hot spots for the virus with independent health departments to guide final decisions on moving forward.
[pullquote-1] During the Senate hearing, Piercey, the state’s top health official, said Tennessee should not expect further lockdowns. 

Dr. Lisa Piercey

“I don’t know that anyone has the appetite for massive shutdowns,” she said.

Should the virus surge here again, Piercey said the state may take a “laser focus or a surgical approach.” The response may be targeted and could look different in different parts of the state or with different population groups.

“We’re not exactly sure what that will look like, but I don’t think we’ll have the massive, widespread efforts we’ve had in the past,” she said.

Part of this thinking, she said, comes from the idea that “economic prosperity is an important part of health,” a phrase Piercey repeated during the hearing. She also repeated the continued importance of “doing your part and staying apart,” covering your face in public, washing your hands, and staying away from sick people.

For now, though, Piercey reported a slower rate of increase in the virus here, that the “slope is not quite so steep and we’re starting to see some flattening.” Metros remain hot spots, she said, but that was expected.

Statewide, nearly 450,000 tests have been given. Nearly 20,000 were given each day over two days last week. Piercey said this level per capita ranks Tennessee 12th overall for testing in the U.S. She credited most of this to partnerships with private laboratories that can now turn around tests on an average of 1.6 days.

While health officials aren’t sure how the virus will react to the summer heat and humidity, Piercey said if it sticks around to this fall and winter it could cause strain at hospitals. This concern is based only on being aware of the normal uptick in hospital use during a typical flu season.
Tennessee Hospital Association

Dr. Wendy Long

THA president Long told Senators earlier this week that the federal government has doled out 4,880 vials of the drug remdesivir to Tennessee.

Long said the drug has shown to alleviate virus symptoms in patients from 15 days to 11 days. So far, 122 Tennessee patients have been treated with the drug, though Long did not have any reports on result as of this week.

The vials of the drugs in the state are held at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Hospitals here must request the drug from an advisory board overseeing the drug. That board then doles the drug to individual hospitals.