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Gov. Bill Lee released his proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget on Monday, focusing on pouring more resources into his perennial signature projects in his final year as governor. Most notably, Lee aims to double his school voucher program, even as the overall budget shrinks to $57.9 billion, down more than 9 percent due to dissipating federal funding.

Lee kicked off his State of the State address Monday evening with a tour through his first seven years as governor, boasting improved test scores, added jobs and storms weathered since 2019. 

“Being governor has afforded me the opportunity to experience things that I never could have prior, like witnessing the adoption ceremony of a foster child, or the heartbreaking but powerful experience of praying with a family who’s just lost everything in the Waverly flood, or taking a call from the COO of America’s most iconic automaker and hearing them say, ‘We decided to come to Tennessee,’” a visibly emotional Lee recalled, before laying out his plan to “forge ahead” in his final year.

For the most part, Lee’s vision of the future for Tennessee hinges on boosting his investments into past projects, first and foremost, education.

After touting $2.5 billion in new public school investments over his two terms, Lee proposed about an additional $190 million in public school funding for the 2026-2027 budget, which also includes more than $470 million in big-ticket higher education investments.

“Tennessee has cast a vision for what education can and should look like, strong public schools, choices for parents, opportunity for every kid to succeed,” Lee said.

Of course, Lee also proposed expanding his signature Education Freedom Scholarships, or school voucher program, which took most of his governorship to pass through the General Assembly.

“We know that parents know best. Clearly, Tennesseans like freedom,” Lee said, noting that more than 54,000 families applied for the 20,000 available voucher slots this year.

“This is why we should empower parents. This is why we need education freedom, and this is why we should, at the very least, double the amount of scholarships this year for Tennessee students,” Lee said.

To grow the program from 20,000 vouchers at more than $7,000 per student to 40,000 in FY 2027, Lee proposed an additional $155 million, bringing the program’s annual cost to more than $300 million in its second year.

In another on-brand proposal, Lee’s final budget would make big investments in road work, conservation and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Every year as governor, Lee has added state trooper positions to the THP, even as the patrol lagged on filling vacancies, like other law enforcement agencies nationwide.

This year, Lee wants to add $37.5 million to the highway patrol budget for pay raises and to create 50 new positions, clearing the estimated full staffing goal of 1,300 troopers, up from 800 when the governor first took office.

Lee’s proposed public safety spending would also drop $80 million into the continuation of a Trump-sanctioned police crackdown in Memphis and would permanently place 100 troopers in Shelby County.

Keeping with previous themes, Lee proposed a $81.6 million investment into creating three new state parks, marking 14 new state parks in his governorship, and more than $115 million in investments into nuclear energy and technology companies across the state. Lee would also add $100 million to the Governor’s Response and Recovery Fund, which provides aid after natural disasters, like the ice storm that has devastated the state, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power and 25 Tennesseans dead in the last 10 days.

Lee’s Democratic opponents also replayed their greatest hits in a “prebuttal” released Friday, criticizing Lee for focusing on his political projects rather than addressing the cost-of-living concerns burdening Tennesseans.

“After fifteen years of one-party control, working families are feeling the strain,” Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) said in the pre-recorded challenge to Lee’s budget, noting the increasing costs of housing, utilities, child care and groceries.

“Priorities at the Capitol have been upside down,” Akbari said, criticizing the voucher program and investments that benefit businesses, rather than individuals.

“We need relief now. We need fairness. We need leadership focused on our lives, not distractions,” she added, calling to raise wages, end the state’s grocery tax, reduce the cost of child care and make health care more accessible.

This article is courtesy of the Nashville Banner. Sign up for the Nashville Banner’s newsletters here.