Tennessee General Assembly passes FY24-25 budget, includes key investments for UT

Colleagues,

Yesterday, the Tennessee General Assembly approved the state budget for fiscal year 2024-2025. This budget contains important investments benefitting University of Tennessee campuses and institutes. In a year marked by resource limitations, the support from Gov. Bill Lee and our state legislature for higher education recognizes the pivotal role UT plays in fostering economic growth and workforce advancement across the state. Highlights of the budget include:

Highlights of the budget include:

• A 3% salary pool increase for state employees. Due to the implementation of DASH, the increase will be realized as a 3% raise across the board for all eligible UT employees for this year only.
• $66.4 million to fund UT Chattanooga's Fletcher Hall/Rollins College of Business
• $29.6 million for the UT Health Science Center Gross Anatomy Lab
• $22.5 million for five capital maintenance projects across the UT System
• Authorization to expend $10 million in plant funds to allow UT Knoxville to complete planning through construction documents, secure early procurement items, and conduct initial site work for the purpose of constructing a new chemistry building
• Fully funded outcomes formula, which will result in $13.3 million for UTC, UTK, and UTM.
• $899,700 recurring to fund operating increases at the Health Science Center, College of Veterinary Medicine and UT Southern
• $8.6 million for staff benefits cost increases
• $18 million to support the Healthy Smiles Initiative, aimed at increasing the number of dentists practicing in Tennessee in partnership with the UT Health Science Center

My sincere thanks to the government relations team and so many others across the UT System for their tireless work during this legislative session. We are grateful for the ongoing support from our state's legislature and look forward to continuing to contribute to our state's promising future.

Randy Boyd
President, University of Tennessee System