Last year, when the heads of Tennessee state departments and agencies met with Governor Bill Lee, Finance and Administration Commissioner Butch Eley and state Chief Operating Officer Brandon Gibson to propose their 2021 budgets, the world was a different place. The Governor had at that time requested that the heads of state agencies identify 12% across-the-board cuts to their departments for the 2021 fiscal year, and an additional 2% cut for fiscal year 2022.

In early October, Governor Bill Lee and Commissioner Penny Schwinn announced a 90-day stakeholder engagement effort to solicit input on possible reforms to the state's education funding formula, the BEP. Governor Lee and Commissioner Schwinn announced 8 community engagement town halls and 18 subcommittees to evaluate potential reforms in advance of making any changes.

While safe, in-person education is the best option for Tennessee students, rising Covid cases across the state have made this scenario difficult to enact. During the 2020-2021 school year, most school districts recognized this reality and shifted to remote learning. The success of remote learning across the state varied from district to discrict, class to class and student to student, but one thing is certain: it protected students from contracting and spreading Covid-19.

We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the progress of the TennCare III Demonstration. The Tennessee Disability Coalition is an alliance of organizations and individuals who have joined to promote the full and equal participation of Tennesseans with disabilities in all aspects of life. We work together to advocate for public policy that ensures self-determination, independence, empowerment, and inclusion for people with disabilities. A strong Medicaid program that appropriately serves vulnerable Tennesseans with disabilities is critically important.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed in March of this year, is a boon for home- and community-based services (HCBS) in the US. The legislation makes significant investments in HCBS through a higher federal matching rate, which equates to an additional $157 million in funds to improve HCBS in Tennessee. With only a couple requirements for the money, states have broad latitude to determine how to best use their additional funds.

This year Tennessee received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) for a waiver to shift the funding mechanism for Medicaid (TennCare) from the traditional state-federal matching model to the nation’s first Medicaid block grant. Since then, the General Assembly has passed legislation that permits TennCare to implement the block grant. Since the possibility of a block grant was proposed, we have been concerned about how the use of this funding mechanism will impact Tennesseans with disabilities.