Federal Aid

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on specific exemptions or penalties, leading to removal of those claims from the candidate explanation.

A Law About Asking for Federal Money

This law sets up rules for state government to follow when applying for federal financial assistance.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the governor and state departments to notify a special joint committee before submitting an application or accepting federal aid under $25 million.
• For federal aid of $25 million or more, the recipient must also get approval from this committee within 30 days.
• Sets up rules for reporting how federal money was used each year.

Who It Names or Affects

• The governor and departments of state government
• A special joint committee in the legislature

Terms To Know

joint committee on ways and means

A group made up of members from both houses of the Tennessee Legislature that reviews requests for federal aid.

federal financial assistance

Money or other resources given by the U.S. government to help states with various projects or needs.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law does not specify what happens if the committee disapproves of a federal aid request.
• It is unclear how this new process will affect existing state programs that rely on federal funding.

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 22, 2025, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1, #2, AND #3 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 1092,
AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to establish a process for reviewing requests for federal aid.

Present law authorizes the governor to accept federal aid made available to this state, whether by grant or loan through any executive order o
f the president or any act of congress heretofore or hereafter enacted; provided, that any such aid accepted in the form of a loan is subject to the approval of the funding board.

This amendment instead generally requires that the governor and department
s of state government comply with the following:

(1) Prior to the submission of any application for federal aid or, if there is no application required, prior to the acceptance of federal aid in an amount that is less than $25,000,000 the recipient must
notify the appropriations subcommittee of the senate finance, ways and means and the subcommittee of the house of representatives with jurisdiction over appropriations (collectively referred to in this amendment as the "joint committee on ways and means"
)
of the application or acceptance and, if the federal aid would be in the form of a loan or other indebtedness requiring repayment by the state, the application or acceptance of such federal aid must be submitted for review and approval by the funding boa
r
d; and

(2) Prior to the submission of any application for federal aid or, if there is no application required, prior to the acceptance of federal aid in an amount that is equal to or exceeds $25,000,000 the recipient must notify the joint committee on w
ays and means of such proposed acceptance. The committee may hold a hearing to review and approve or disapprove the proposed acceptance of the federal aid. Once the committee approves the proposed acceptance of the federal aid, then the recipient may ac
c
ept the federal aid. If the committee fails to disapprove the proposed acceptance within 30 days of receiving notice from the recipient, then the recipient may accept the federal aid. If the federal aid would be in the form of a loan or other indebtedne
s
s requiring repayment by the state, the application or acceptance of such federal aid must be submitted for review and approval by the funding board.

The full text of this amendment specifies various procedural requirements that will apply to the reviews
conducted under this amendment.

This amendment specifies eight categories of federal aid that the governor will be authorized to accept without first notifying the joint committee on ways and means; provided, that a recipient remains required to report
to the committee when the recipient applies for federal financial aid in the form of a grant in an amount that is more than $100,000.

This amendment requires that, on or before February 1 of each year, each recipient submit a written report to the joint
committee on ways and means, summarizing the amount of funds allocated from federal block grants or other federal funds in the preceding fiscal year. The report must also summarize the purposes for which the funds were expended, the amount of such funds
t
hat was unexpended, and any amount that was returned to the federal agency that supplied the original federal block grant or funds.

In addition to appropriate staff of the senate and the house of representatives, the office of legislative budget analysi
s, the fiscal review committee staff, and the office of legal services will jointly staff and provide administrative support to the joint committee on ways and means.

This amendment adds to and changes various provisions of present law to specify that en
tities of state government must acquire and use federal aid in compliance with the review process established by this amendment.

This amendment takes effect July 1, 2025, and applies to federal aid applied for on or after July 1, 2025, and if no
application occurred before July 1, 2025, applies to federal aid accepted on or after July 1, 2026.

AMENDMENT #2 clarifies that this amendment requires each federal aid recipient to report to the joint ways and means committee when the recipient applies
for federal financial aid in the form of a grant in an amount that is more than $100,000.

AMENDMENT #3 corrects a typographical error.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 1092
By Sexton

SENATE BILL 1366
By Watson

SB1366
002781
- 1 -

AN ACT relative to government applications for federal
financial assistance.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 9-4-5404, is amended by deleting
"February 1" and substituting instead "March 1".
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 9-4-5406, is amended by deleting
"February 1" and substituting instead "March 1".
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.