KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., made a stop in Tullahoma this past week where she delivered remarks and answered questions about what she’s doing for Tennessee on Capitol Hill.

Blackburn was the special guest speaker for the Tullahoma Noon Rotary Club at its meeting on Aug. 15 at The Atlantic. Blackburn was introduced by Dr. Paul Bass, who described Blackburn as a person of integrity and having a “whatever it takes attitude” when a task is presented to her.

“The bottom line is you add those two together and all I can say is she’s simply best,” Bass said.

After his introduction, which included his ringing endorsement as the next governor of the state, Blackburn said she was absolutely delighted to be with everyone to see friends, catch up and celebrate what they got going on in Tennessee.

“Here in Tennessee, it is awesome,” Blackburn said.

For the past seven years, Blackburn visits each of the 95 counties in the state each year where she gets the chance to both talk with the citizens and to speak with the county leadership to get updates on how things are going in the counties. She admitted that she hasn’t been able to visit the counties as much this year, as she has been quite a bit busy in Washington D.C. with this session of Congress.

“We have been in session more than 750 hours this year, since Jan. 3,” Blackburn shared with the Rotarians. “We have taken 499 votes.”

She stated that Congress have confirmed all of President Donald Trump’s cabinet, and it is now working on the subcabinets and judges. She noted that the first judge confirmed in this administration was Whitney Hermandorfer, a former member of Tennessee Attorney General’s office, for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District, which oversees Tennessee. She also highlighted other things that Congress has done including making sure the border was secured, that deportations are taking place, reducing crime numbers, defunding NPR and ending the foreign aid to countries that didn’t support the U.S.

“It was time to see that done,” she said.

She then moved on to the topic that she said was what everyone in attendance wanted to hear about: the Big Beautiful Bill and what was actually in it. To start off, Blackburn stated it was the largest tax cut in history, stating that the Council of Economic Advisers estimated that it would about $2,600 tax savings per family. She added, because of the policies embodied in the bill, Tennesseans will see a wage growth over the next couple of years in the $8,000 to $10,000 range. She then went over some of the financial aspects of the bill, including the reinstatement of various components to help small business owners, removing tax on social security, setting permanence on tax policy, raising the death tax exemption and creating a childcare tax credit to employers who provide childcare services.

“So, if you’re an employer, small or large, and you provide childcare for your employees, you’ll have a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for that service,” Blackburn said. “For a lot of our small communities, this is going to be awesome.”

She then moved on to Medicaid, which she said that Medicaid was getting cut was false.

“It is not,” Blackburn said. “Medicaid spending is going to increase.”

She said what will be different is that Medicaid and Snap Benefits will go towards working U.S. citizens.

“If you are a freeloader, if you are a fraudster, if you are an illegal alien, you will not get Medicaid and SNAP benefits,” Blackburn stated. “They are there for the American people and if you’re an able bodied, childless adult and you want Medicaid and SNAP, you’ve got to work 20 hours a week and it is that requirement will be enforced by our state and our state legislators.”

Blackburn added that a rural hospital funding mechanism was put in place, which was something she worked on alongside with Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, as Tennessee has lost 12 rural hospitals. She said they got a $50 billion fund set up, where $25 billion will be set for payments for the rural hospitals, while the other $25 billion will increase access to care.

The last topic covering what’s in the Big Beautiful Bill was $150 billion plus up for the military, which she said that the Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base will get its portion. She said that she was proud of AEDC and that she was excited about the recent testing of the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) at the base.

“That is something that is going to help make our nation safer,” she said. “It makes our war fighters safer. It makes our military more efficient and we are just thrilled with the work that [Mizell is] doing and the team you’re leading. So, we are really proud of that.”

She said since she’s been in the senate, she has helped to put in about $138 million of upgrades over at Arnold AFB and said that the work done at AEDC is tied with the what is going on at Huntsville with the U.S. Space Force. She wrapped up her remarks by going over what she’ll be doing as part of the Senate Finance Committee in September, which included finishing appropriation bills, a second reconciliation bill, strengthening Medicare, and the tariffs and trade. Blackburn said there will be hearings and work on an online privacy bill, as well as future discussion about artificial intelligence and quantum development.

She then held a Q&A session with the Rotarians, where they asked questions ranging from the Tennessee Valley Authority, the national debt, implications of the Big Beautiful Bill and how it will affect different entities and affordability.

 “Cost of living is a big issue and people want to make certain we’ve got this wonderful state,” Blackburn said to The News. “They want to be sure we can live in this wonderful state.”

Following the meeting, Blackburn took a trip to City Hall where she met with city and county leadership for a roundtable discussion about the issues and needs for the community.

“It is so exciting to hear firsthand what Coffee County needs, what AEDC needs and to focus on those issues,” Blackburn said.