State Democrats condemned the state’s $58 billion budget as it fails to address the affordability crisis for Tennessee families.
On Thursday, the Tennessee General Assembly passed the budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Members of the legislature said the budget reflects their “commitment to fiscal responsibility” with investments in the economy, education, and families in the state.
Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) said as a caucus, Democrats voted no due to the budget’s contents and the priorities of the administration. Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said this was unusual as the state budget has historically been passed on a bipartisan basis.
“Unfortunately this is not something we could support,” Akbari said in a press conference on Thursday. “It did not align with the priorities of the people in this state, and that is to make life more affordable.”
Akbari said residents are facing challenges such as inflation and rising gas and energy prices and the state’s budget doesn’t address this.
Yarbro added that the budget is full of “wishcasting” and “willful denial of reliability.” He said the biggest discretionary expenditure went towards the school voucher program.
The budget includes a $112 million investment into the Education Freedom Scholarship program, which the legislature said will serve a total of 35,000 students.
Akbari added that this has been a topic throughout her tenure in the legislature. She said as a caucus, Democrats were “fundamentally” against the voucher program last year due to its impact on public schools, lack of success in states that implemented similar programs, and the effect on the state budget.
“On its best day [the voucher program] is solely for the benefit of about 1 percent of Tennessee families,” Yarbro said. “About 1 percent of Tennessee families get a $7,000 a year benefit, while the other millions of families get next to nothing.”
Yarbro said with this being Governor Bill Lee’s last budget, his successor will receive a budget “that doesn’t pay for itself.” He said there are structural holes and deficits that the budget fails to address.
Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) said the state-funded private schools and companies. She stressed that Democrats are working to make life affordable for all families while “the other side” is working for “donors and special interests.”
Oliver said this pattern isn’t sustainable and was disappointed that the state failed to address essential problems because of partisanship.
“We are in denial that people are struggling in this state,” Oliver said.”We need to get to the real business and not keep kicking the can down the road.”
As the legislature nears its close, Akbari said she referred to this time as “end of days” for its unpredictability. She said this is usually when some of the most controversial legislation is brought up.
Akbari said one of the biggest issues for her district is the probability of a state takeover of Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS.) She said she was “disappointed” by the path the state was taking by potentially taking away power from local elected officials.