►
Description
House Finance, Ways, & Means Committee (A)- November 15, 2021- House Hearing Room I
A
Good
morning,
thank
you
all
for
joining
us
here
today
on
a
happy
monday,
a
couple
of
weeks
prior
to
thanksgiving,
and
it
seems
like
I
just
saw
most
of
you
just
very
recently,
but
always
always
good-
to
see
our
friends.
But
I
would
like
to
call
the
house
finance
committee
focus
hearings
to
order
for
monday
november
15th
and
madam
clerk.
Would
you
please
call
the
roll.
B
A
Thank
you
and
let
the
record
reflect
that
representatives,
crawford,
sexton
and
gillespie
are
excused,
and
thanks
again
for
joining
us
today.
I
want
to
thank
commissioner
ely
and
his
team.
I
know
that
there
is
a
tremendous
amount
of
work
going
on
there.
Always
is
this
time
of
year
with
budget
preparations
and
when
we
have
all
the
additional
funds
and
the
additional
questions
about
federal
funding
and
what's
coming
when
and
how
and
where.
C
Good,
thank
you,
chair,
hazelwood
members,
members
of
the
committee,
I've
I've
finally
been
here
enough
to
now
know
your
seating
arrangement.
So
when
you
start
talking,
I
know
I
know
where
you
are
before
it
took
me
a
while
to
figure
out
where
you
were
where
the
question
was
coming
from,
but
I
really
do
appreciate
this
opportunity.
There's
a
lot.
That's
happened
over
the
last
two
years
and
so
as
as
chair
hazelwood
said
this.
C
C
C
Working
together.
We
have
provided
tennesseans
in
a
very
short
time
period,
making
sure
that
we
took
care
of
health
at
the
same
time,
looking
at
how
we
could
support
livelihoods,
and
we
now
find
ourselves
in
a
much
better
position
than
most
most
states
across
this
country
to
aid
in
providing
these
funds.
The
legislature
provided
fna,
really
a
unique
authority
to
be
able
to
expand
budgets
very
quickly
and
necessary
to
accept
these
federal
funds
and
be
able
to
dispense
of
these
federal
funds
at
the
outset
of
this
pandemic.
C
C
This
next
slide
really
is
a
reminder
that
every
dollar
that's
flowed
to
tennessee
hold
on
man
got
the
wrong
slide
here
we
go
this.
This
shows
that
every
dollar
that
we've
tracked
for
from
public
knowledge
from
our
team
at
fna
over
the
last
two
years
to
date,
we've
accounted
for
approximately
16
billion
dollars
in
pandemic
related
relief.
C
C
C
C
And
if
I
had
to
say
I
mean
the
short
answer
has
been
the
collaboration
of
working
with
that
fsag
group
and
the
feedback
that
they've
received
from
from
many
of
you
in
their
respective
chambers.
As
we've
gone
about
this
process,
our
process
has
been
collaborative.
It's
it's
been
transparent.
We
have
all
the
materials
posted
and
archived
on
on
that
site
that
we
showed
a
few
minutes
ago,
and
I'm
personally
grateful
for
the
membership
of
this.
C
Kind
of
the
highlight
big
buckets,
but
we
did
not
over
900
million
932,
I
believe,
into
our
unemployment
trust
fund
to
keep
it
where
it
needed
to
be
to
ensure
that
small
businesses
did
not
have
an
increase
in
their
unemployment
taxes
during
that
time
period
and
that
prevented
over
over
a
300
300
percent
increase.
If
they
would
have
incurred
in
their
unemployment
taxes,
we
had
300
million
in
small
business
relief
over
20
million
in
new
higher
education
funding.
As
you
recall,
we
did
61
million
out
of
those
funds.
C
All
of
you
helped
us
double
up
quadruple
up
last
year
in
the
budget
by
putting
an
additional
400
million
in
broadband
and
then
an
additional
100
million
in
broadband
adoption.
That
will
be.
That
is
part
of
this
current
budget
that
we're
in
now
we
had
150
million
in
non-profit
relief,
as
you
recall,
115
million
that
was
put
into
local
government
relief
and
around
55
million
in
agriculture
and
forestry
52
million
in
hospital
staffing
assistants
will
be
coming
have
already
come
to
fsag.
C
C
C
C
D
C
C
It
provides
for
a
consistent
reference
point
for
treasury
reporting
supports
a
quarterly
reporting
framework
where
everybody
knows
where
to
go
to
to
see
where
funds
have
been
expended
also
gives,
as
I
mentioned,
the
public
place
to
review
and
comment
if
they
so
desire,
and
it
also
provides
a
direction
to
local
governments
on
how
to
maximize
those
local
frf
funds
under
the
arp2.
There
is
enhanced
reporting
by
treasury
as
compared
to
crf,
so
there's
there's,
there's
more
stringent
guidance
as
to
what
these
funds
can
be
expended
for
and
how
they
can
be
expended.
C
So,
finally,
just
kind
of
bring
us
back
to
to
where
we
are.
We
have
established
a
thorough
and
methodical
process
to
be
able
to
expend
these
funds.
I
know
you're
hearing
from
departments
today
and
tomorrow
and
many
of
those
have
already
accepted
through
your
expansions,
significant
levels
of
these
federal
funds.
C
C
I
think
it
is
the
combination
and
the
result
of
years
of
good
financial
management
by
this
body
by
the
legislature
and
by
the
speakers,
and
we
appreciate
being
able
to
be
a
part
of
that.
So
with
that.
Thank
you
for
this
opportunity
to
present
we'll
take
your
questions.
I
I
may
not
be
able
to
answer
all
your
questions.
E
Yes,
thank
you,
commissioner,
for
coming.
I
appreciate
you
guys
coming
today
and
you
have
a
full-time
job
prior
to
cove.
This
has
been
a
lot
of
additional
work,
just
wanted
to
say
thanks
for
all
the
hard
work
you're
doing,
we
did
get
a
spreadsheet
as
part
of
your
package
today.
I
just
had
a
quick
question
on
those
are
those
where
the
monies
are
committed
or
are
those
where
the
monies
are
allocated?
For
instance,
is
there
a?
E
E
And
so
that's
what
we're
tracking
each
agency
state
agency
is
serves
as
the
point
person
to
draw
those
funds
down,
and
so
we
have
worked
with
agencies
to
identify
which
buckets
of
funds
that
they've
been
awarded
and
then
help
to
understand.
At
what
point
they've.
You
know
there
was
a
long
gap
waiting
for
guidance
on
a
lot
of
these
dollars,
and
I
understand
what
point
they
have
guidance
and
when
they
start
drawing
those
dollars
in,
so
that
we
can
adjust
their
budget
accordingly.
So
this
is
really
just
inventory
of
that
information.
E
It
doesn't
necessarily
mean,
for
instance,
we
we
may
have
a
bucket
full
of
money,
but
they
may
have
not
expended
that
dollar.
Out
of
this
bucket
correct,
that's
correct!
So
hopefully,
this
will
serve
as
a
good
launching
pad
to
talk
with
agencies
about
the
timing
and
what
they've
done
with
the
dollars
all
right.
Thank
you,
commissioner.
C
Let
me
add:
butch
eagley
with
fna
one
thing
real
quickly.
I
just
wanted
to
clarify,
though,
is
that
it?
It
does
include
the
other
federal
dollars
through
crf
that
we
talked
about
here
that
bucket,
that
will
that
will
flow
through
to
fna,
because
it
came
through
fna,
and
then
it
went
out
to
the
various
relief
programs
non-profits
or
whatever,
so
that
that's
going
to
show
up
in
the
fna
bucket
on
this.
F
G
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
and
thank
you,
commissioner,
and
thank
you
for
being
here
and
and
thank
you
for
what
you
do,
because
we
can
be
no
better
than
fna
and
you
know
thank
you.
Folks
do
a
good
job.
I
do
have
one
question
about
public
comments.
You
talked
about,
I'm
not
really
for
sure
that
I
know
exactly
how
that
process
work.
Can
you
just
kind
of
walk
me
through
how
what
do
you
start
with
public
comments?
How
do
you
communicate
that
out
and
what's
the
process,
can
you
talk
about
that?
A
little
bit?
Yes,.
C
C
But
that
shows
the
the
comment
mechanism
so
that
the
public
has
has
eyes
on
that
and
they
can
send
comments
back
to
us
so
that
we
can
take
that
into
account
and
then,
like
today,
in
in
our
meeting
today,
we
have
the
benefit
and
the
members
of
fsag
have
the
benefit
of
those
comments.
And
so
when
we
we
take
action
today,
then
we'll
have
the
ability
of
knowing
those
public
comments
that
came
in
during
the
last
30
days.
G
H
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
commissioner,
thank
you
and
your
team
for
being
here
as
well.
I
was
intrigued.
You
mentioned
prior
budget
year
only
two
months
of
negative
revenue
growth.
All
the
other
months
were
substantial
revenue
growth
that
we've
seen
as
well
as
what
we're
seeing
so
far
in
this
fiscal
budget
year.
C
C
It
gave
us
a
little
bit
of
cushion
as
we
as
we've
gotten
into
this
year.
The
the
good
news
is
the
first
few
months
of
this
22
year
are
going
very
well.
We
again
are
over
collecting
from
from
what
we
budgeted,
because
we
were
cautious
and
we
fully.
We
fully
expect
22
to
be
a
good
year
of
growth
for
our
state
and
so
looking
out
beyond
and
we'll.
C
We
have
funding
board
meetings
next
week
or
yeah
just
this
week,
looking
out
beyond
to
the
out
years,
we
we
still
feel
caution
is
is
worthy
because
much
of
the
spending
much
of
the
over
collections
that
we've
had
over
this
last
year,
or
so
we
have
no
guarantee,
is
going
to
repeat,
and
so
I
think
it
would
be
a
good
measure
for
all
of
us
to
continue
to
be
aware
of
that
and
cautious
of
that.
As
we
look
to
this
coming
budget.
A
C
Yeah
well,
it
has
been
a
I'm,
not
I
wouldn't
say
nightmare
because
it's
turned
out
it's
it's
actually
working
really
well,
but
you
you
made
the
comment
earlier
about
it's.
It's
really
a
whole
nother
set
of
work
that
has
to
be
done
because
all
all
this
has
to
be
tracked
separately
and
independently
from
from
what
we're
doing
through
our
normal
budget.
So
it
is,
it
has
been.
C
A
C
Let
me
let
me
add
to
that.
I
forgot
that
part
of
the
question,
so
we
have,
I
think,
taken
great
strides
in
making
sure
that
our
local
governments,
local
governments,
are
getting
over
and
above
what
I
just
talked
about
with
the
3.725
coming
to
the
state,
an
additional
2.2
billion
that
our
our
counties
and
cities
will
be
getting
also.
C
And
so
what
we
are
are
wanting
to
do
is
to
be
a
resource
to
our
our
cities
and
counties,
and
so
we're
we're
making
available
to
them.
The
resources
at
our
at
the
state's
cost
to
be
able
to
have
these
professionals
to
be
able
to
help
them
in
making
sure
that
the
programs
that
they
set
up
or
the
the
plans
that
they
have
to
expend
these
funds
are
done
properly.
C
In
addition
to
the
firm
that
has
been
helping
with
the
overall,
we,
we
recognized
that
we
didn't
want
to
put
all
of
our
eggs
in
one
basket
and
make
sure
that
we
were
able
to
help
what
may
be
a
myriad
of
questions
at
the
same
time
to
cities
and
counties,
because
we've
got
several
hundred
entities
that
will
be
receiving
these
funds
and
so
we're
going
through
the
process.
Now
of
of
of
going
through
a
procurement
process
working
with
cpo
going
through
a
competitive
process
so
that
we
can
pick
a
handful.
C
I
Thank
you,
madam
chair,
commissioner,
good
morning.
Thank
you
for
taking
the
time
to
come
and
talk
to
us
this
morning.
Just
a
quick
question,
somewhat
related
to
chairman
hazel
with
chair
lady
hazelwood's
question
anytime.
We
receive
funds
for
the
federal
government,
there's
always
some
kind
of
guidance
or
strings
attached
to
that.
Back
a
couple
of
months
ago,
the
department
of
education
sent
out
a
very
detailed
form
to
our
lea,
asking
for
really
specific,
specific
information,
all
the
way
down
to
seating
charts
how
we
were
contacting
for
contact
tracing.
I
It
was
extremely
detailed,
and
when
I
began
to
dig
into
that
a
little
bit,
they
told
us
it
was
related
to
the
requirements
from
the
federal
government
for
the
arp
or
the
care
funds.
So
my
concern
has
been
as
we
walk
through
this.
What
kind
of
strings
and
additional
guidance
and
requirement
are
going
to
be
required
of
us
is
tennessee
on
tennesseans.
I
That
really
would
violate
the
spirit
of
the
conservative
government
approach
that
we
have
in
tennessee.
So
my
question
is:
do
we
know
that
guidance
and
those
strings
up
front,
or
do
they
have
the
flexibility
to
do
that?
On
the
back
end
after
we
already
take
that
money
and
then
kind
of
what
steps
are
you
guys
taking
to
watch
and
ensure
that
all
right
that
string?
That
guidance
is
a
step
too
far,
we're
not
going
to
be
able
to
accept
those
funds
because
of
that.
C
So
for
the
most
part,
I
would
say
that
these
guidelines
are
familiar
and-
and
we
know
them
up
front
before
taking
the
dollars,
and
it's
just
a
matter
of
making
sure
that
we
expend
those
dollars
in
in
the
in
the
fashion
that
they
were
supposed
to
be.
Why
don't
you
talk
a
little
about
the
the
original
guidance
that
and
in
the
in
the
the
last
guidance
so
that
they're
aware
of
that.
A
J
You
got
it
right
that
time,
representative
zachary
I'll
speak
generally
about
the
process
and
then
maybe
respond
a
little
bit
to
that
specific
situation.
With
the
background
that
I
have
but
I'll
leave
kind
of
what
I
don't
know
for
the
department
of
education
to
fill
in
some
of
the
gaps.
But
generally
when
these
new
programs
are
created,
they
are
passed
by
congress.
J
What
we
do
whenever
one
of
these
new
grants
come
in,
we
take
great
care
to
review
those
guidelines
in
in
detail
and
we
identify
areas
that
may
be
of
a
significant
challenge
to
us
and
we
correspond
with
the
attorney
general's
office
to
talk
about
strategy
to
address
that
the
best
and
most
recent
example.
The
most
salient
example
that
I
would
raise
is
around
the
american
rescue
plan
funds
passed
in
march,
the
the
3.725
billion
dollars.
J
That's
coming
to
the
state
of
tennessee
over
the
next
five
years
out
of
that
grant
award,
which
is
administered
by
treasury
treasury
drafted
into
the
regulation
based
on
one
line
in
the
statute.
That
states
may
not
reduce
taxes
or
take
any
action
to
reduce
tax
collections
as
a
condition
of
taking
these
funds,
and
so
you
may
recall
back
in
2011
2012,
there
was
a
fair
amount
of
litigation
around
similar
conditions.
Around
medicaid
expansion
right
there
were
states
that
were
told.
J
We
have
working
with
them
developed
a
case
that
against
the
federal
government
against
the
u.s
department
of
treasury,
seeking
to
enjoin
that,
and
just
last
month
the
attorney
general
won
a
preliminary
junction
in
joining
treasury
from
enforcing
that
provision
against
the
state
of
tennessee.
We
also
in
our
award
application
where
we,
where
we
submit
to
draw
down
those
funds,
included
a
reservation
of
rights,
stating
that
we
are
in
no
way
conceding
that
that
is
a
valid
use
of
congress's
spending
clause.
J
However,
we
can
acknowledge
that
in
some
of
the
e
for
each
agency
and
each
administration,
there's
going
to
be
very
different
approaches
and-
and
we
do
have
to
kind
of
be
vigilant
at
various
types
of
attempts
to
try
to
squeeze
in
a
little
more
control
as
a
result
of
these
these
awards.
So
it's
something
we're
very
concerned
about.
As
for
that
specific
circumstance,
I
would
refer
you
to
the
department
of
education
to
answer
those
questions.
J
The
esser
fund,
which
was
passed
through
the
state
to
local
education
agencies
approximately
to
date
a
little
over
5
billion
dollars.
That
was
a
fund
that
the
state
had
no
discretion
in
how
to
administer
it.
It
was
a
formula
predetermined
by
the
federal
government
and
we
either
sent
it
or
they
would
send
it
for
us
to
those
lease,
and
I
can
imagine
there
are
certain
conditions.
As
of
taking
those
funds
that
you
must
report
on,
certain
americans
with
disabilities
act
idea
other
types
of
provisions
of
federal
federal
government.
I
You,
madam
chair,
thank
you
tony
for
the
explanation.
That
was
fantastic.
Just
one
final
question,
so
the
guidance
requirement
strings
whatever
we
call
it
do
they
do.
We
have
to
know
those
up
front
before
we
take
the
money
or
can
that
be
amended
or
changed
on
the
back
end
once
we
already
accept
the
money.
J
G
Thank
you
chairman,
mr
eddie,
could
you
provide
us
with
the
gross
amount
of
federal
dollars
the
state
of
tennessee
has
received
since
february
of
2020,
and
I
don't
expect
you
to
use
generally
accepted
accounting
principles.
To
give
me
the
exact
number,
could
you
be
a
gross
number
of
how
much
infusion
of
federal
money
that
the
state's
received
since
the
beginning
of
february
2020.
E
So
I
think
what
we're
showing
here
on
this
report
are
the
dollars
that
that
have
been
awarded
to
us
through
the
different
funding,
and
so
we
have
adjusted
agencies
budgets
for
the
most
part
to
recognize
these
dollars,
so
they
can
draw
it
down.
But
it's
a
timing
issue
and
it's
expensive,
so
it
may
not
all
happen
in
a
fiscal
year,
but
it
is
north
of
of
16.
So
you
know,
I
think,
the
the
budget
that
we
just
brought
forward
to
you
last
year
was
a
it
showed.
E
The
budget
had
grown,
eight
billion
dollar
eight,
eight
billion
dollars,
so
for
fy.
I
think
it
was
20
and
21,
so
I
think
maybe
21
was
8
billion
that
we
recognized,
but
did
they
spend
it
all?
I
don't
know
yet
until
we
finally
closed
the
books,
but
it's
somewhere.
It's
spread
over
multiple
fiscal
years.
So
it's
hard
to
tell
you
a
number
with
a
fiscal
year.
G
C
Right
that
is
all
of
those
funds
have
not
been
received.
So
the
way
the
3.75
is
is
being
delivered
is
they've,
given
us
the
first
half
payment-
and
we
are
now
in
the
process
of
of
working
with
fsag
to
determine
how
those
all
those
dollars
will
be
spent
a
year
from
now
we'll
receive
the
other,
the
other
tranche
of
dollars.
G
Just
one
follow-up
question:
I'll
I'll
stop
my
calculations
and
I
may
be
wrong,
but
my
calculations
will
receive
approximately
40
to
60
billion
dollars
from
the
transportation
department,
the
federal
government
to
our
highway
department
of
highway
department.
D.O.T
are
those
numbers?
Is
that
high
low?
Or
what
do
you
anticipate
that
we'll
receive
as
far
part
of
the
infrastructure
act
of
direct
federal
dollars
in
the
state
of
tennessee.
C
G
A
Well.
Thank
you,
commissioner.
I
have
no
more
questioners
on
my
list.
I
want
to
thank
you
all
again,
not
only
for
being
here
with
us
today,
but
for
the
yeoman's
work
that
I
mean,
as
someone
mentioned
earlier,
it's
always
a
tough
job
in
fna,
but
with
the
addition
of
the
federal
stimulus
dollars
and
working
through
this
whole
coveted
process,
you
all
have
really
had
your
hands
full
and
you
managed
it
admirably,
and
I
appreciate
that
and
working
with
david
and
tony
and
you,
commissioner,
to
just
on
fsag
and
some
other
opportunities
that
I've
had.
A
I
see
the
commitment
that
you
have
to
the
state
and
to
making
sure
that
we
do
what
all
of
us
are
interested
in
as
that
make
sure
that
we
utilize
these
federal
dollars
for
the
betterment
of
tennesseans
and
that
we
do
so
in
a
way
that
is
as
responsible
as
possible
and
that
we're
we're
being
very
careful
again.
This
is
this
is
my
mantra
so
I'll
say
it
one
more
time
to
not
spend
non-recurring
dollars
on
recurring
things.
So
thank
you
again
for
all
that.
A
A
Welcome
we
have
a
large
group
of
people
representing
the
department
of
education.
I
know
that
commissioner
swing
could
not
be
with
us,
so
we'll
have
to
tell
her.
It
takes
five
people
to
replace
her
or
even
attempt
to,
but
we
thank
you
for
being
here,
and
I
would
just
ask
that
you
introduce
yourselves-
and
I
believe
that
you
have
a
presentation
for
us-
and
I
should
have
mentioned
this
earlier.
A
These
presentations
are
on
the
dashboard,
so
they're
available
for
members
there
we
have
some
paper
copies
as
well
and
for
those
folks
who
are
might
be
watching
this
at
home
or
in
their
offices,
those
that
will
be
available
for
them
as
well.
So
with
that,
thank
you
again
for
joining
us
this
morning.
A
K
Ma'am
before
we
do
get
started,
I
just
want
to
say
the
commissioner
sends
her
apologies.
She
had
a
prior
commitment
out
of
state,
so
she
appreciates
you
all
understanding
and
allowing
the
team
to
take
a
crack
at
this
conversation
to
get
started.
I
just
want
to
reinforce
that
everything
we've
done
with
our
coveted
relief
dollars
from
the
feds
has
continued
to
align
to
the
best
for
all
strategic
plan,
with
our
focus
on
academics,
student
readiness
and
educators,
so
that
has
been
a
consistent
conversation
throughout
this
period
and
just
want
to
reinforce
that.
K
That
is
where
we
continue
to
align
our
resources
and
our
efforts
just
a
quick
overview
of
what
we
hope
to
hit
on
today.
For
you
briefly,
we'll
start
with
an
overview
of
our
federal
funds,
with
a
specific
emphasis
on
the
funds
that
have
been
dedicated
to
education,
albeit
we
have
many
funds
from
a
lot
of
sources,
we'll
we'll
kind
of
hone
in
on
a
couple
of
them
specifically
for
the
purposes
of
our
conversation
today,
then
we'll
focus
in
on
our
district
spending
updates.
K
I
know
that
has
been
a
big
question
of
how
our
lease
are
doing
on
their
spending
part
as
90
of
the
largest
buckets
of
these
funds
go
straight
out
to
our
school
districts
and
then
we'll
close
out
with
some
of
our
strategic
investments
at
the
state
level.
And
so
with
that,
I
will
turn
it
over
to
drew.
L
L
This
slide
is
to
indicate
the
various
periods
of
performance,
so
periods
of
performance
are
when,
when
lease
are
allowed
to
do
the
work
under
each
of
those
grants,
the
big
note
is
one.
These
are
very
overlapping,
esr,
1,
2
and
3
are
extremely
overlapping
and
when
they're
allowed
to
be
used-
and
they
can
all
be
dated
back
to
march.
L
So
when
we're
thinking
of
them
from
a
state
perspective
and
when
we're
thinking
about
them
from
a
district
perspective,
it's
encouraging
everyone
to
to
use
the
each
grant
for
the
maximum
period
of
availability
that
we
have
available
and
shift
between
as
necessary
to
ensure
maximum
usage.
We
want
districts
to
get
the
full
benefit
of
each
of
these
dollars.
L
This
site
here
is
an
indication
of
each
of
the
grant,
awards
and
kind
of
where
we
are
on
the
percent,
spend
the
big
flag
is
given
the
various
periods
of
performance
and
when
each
of
these
awards
drop
off,
this
is
kind
of
what
you
would
expect
to
see
in
terms
of
percent
spent.
You
can
see
that
the
1.0s
are
significantly
more
spent
down.
The
2.0
is
a
little
bit
less.
3.0
is
much
less
that's
kind
of
what
you
would
expect
to
see.
L
The
other
flag
is
that
most
of
these
grant
awards
were
intended
to
go
over
the
entire
period
of
performance
so
stretching
out
to
9
30
2024
such
that
districts
are
going
to
be
using
these
funds
for
for
the
next
several
years.
We
wouldn't
expect
them
all
to
be
used
immediately
and
with
that
I'll
flip
it
over
to
eve.
F
Good
morning
on
this
circular
graphic,
you
will
see
the
amount
of
the
esser
funds
that
have
been
reimbursed
to
districts
from
sr1,
2
and
3..
Again,
90
of
the
funds
go
to
school
districts,
and
this
is
reflective
of
what
has
been
reimbursed
to
date,
as
drew
just
noted,
and
we
would
expect
almost
all
of
sr1
has
been
reimbursed
almost
a
third
of
sr2
and
only
one
percent
of
sr3.
F
F
F
Currently
we
are
in
the
process
of
finalizing
the
reviews
we
are
as
of
friday,
89
of
all
of
the
730
documents
have
been
reviewed
and
approved,
and
we
are
in
the
final
stages
of
approving
additional
funding
applications
and
expect
to
have
those
completed
by
november
the
30th.
I
know
there
have
been
quite
a
few
questions
about
where
we
are
with
all
of
these
applications
and
plans.
F
I
will
just
say
this:
we
have
a
very
rigorous
review
process,
not
just
of
the
funding
application,
but
of
all
components
of
the
plan.
That
is,
that
is
the
reason
that
we
are
taking
time
to
do
them.
Well,
there
is
a
significant
amount
of
oversight
expected
by
the
u.s
department
of
education
on
this,
as
well
as
additional
data
reporting
that
will
be
required
annually
over
the
life
of
the
grants,
and
so
to
be
good
stewards
of
those
funds.
We
felt
it
was
necessary
to
have
a
rigorous
review
process,
and
that
is
what
we
are
doing.
F
It's
public
money,
it's
taxpayer
money.
I
take
that
very
seriously
and
want
to
ensure
that
what
we
put
forth
and
approve
is
of
high
quality
and
aligned
with
the
needs
of
individual
districts,
and
so
we
actually
will
I'll
put
a
little
plug
in.
We
actually
were
called
out
as
one
of
the
few
states
that
had
a
rigorous
review
process
by
the
genomics
lab
at
georgetown
university.
So
these
things
take
time
with
730
plans
to
review,
and
so
that
is
kind
of
where
we
are.
F
In
that
note,
we
will
also
be
working
with
districts
over
the
next
several
months
to
do
the
first
round
of
data
collection.
The
u.s
department
of
education
continues
to
update
their
template
even
as
late
as
last
week.
We
still
do
not
have
the
final
template
and
it
right
now
is
at
38
pages.
So
it's
no
small
feat:
we're
working,
really
hard
to
support
and
prepare
districts
for
what
will
be
required.
K
This
is
not
an
exhaustive
list,
but
wanted
to
certainly
highlight
these,
as
the
general
assembly
played
an
integral
role,
especially
in
those
top
two
bullets
around
the
literacy
success
act
and
the
launch
of
reading
360,
with
111.5
million
in
investments
to
date.
Tennessee
all
core.
We're
excited
that
we
have
over
50
percent
of
our
districts
signed
up
to
participate
in
an
early
launch
of
tennessee
all
core,
so
201
million
dedicated
to
that
and
an
additional
46
million
invested
in
online
resources
and
supports
to
improve
data
systems
for
districts
and
our
student
readiness
priority.
K
We're
especially
excited
about
the
innovative
high
school
initiatives
and
the
supports
around
that
for
promoting
post-secondary
success
for
our
students.
We
had
over
24
districts,
participate
in
our
initial
cohort
for
innovative
high
schools
and
that
that
initiative's
about
30
million
of
that
67.5
I'll
also
just
identify
that
this
bucket
includes
some
of
the
initiatives.
The
general
assembly
asks
us
to
look
into
around
a
career
readiness
assessment
and
an
attendance
recovery
tool.
K
The
last
bucket
educator,
17.3
million,
as
we've
discussed
before,
we
continue
to
see
a
large
potential
risk
of
retirement
among
our
teacher
pipeline
and
so
investing
there
to
ensure
that
we
have
grow.
Your
own
programs
and
other
supports,
like
that
for
educators
remains
a
top
priority
for
us
at
the
state
level.
K
Again,
this
slide
just
recaps.
Some
of
those
wins
that
we
are
excited
to
celebrate,
especially
around
the
early
reading
training,
with
over
10
000
educators
having
participated
over
the
summer
and
67
of
our
districts
participating
in
early
literacy
networks.
That
is
part
of
our
support
to
have
ongoing
coaching
for
teachers
and
making
sure
that
we
have
a
robust,
well-rounded
academic
support
program
for
educators,
especially
in
the
early
literacy
space.
We
also
have
a
note
in
here
about
our
decodable
kits.
K
Almost
58
000
families
ordered
decodables
to
be
sent
directly
to
their
homes
to
do
support
between
the
parent
and
the
child.
So
a
high
uptake
on
that
initiative
that
we
are
glad
to
see
in
the
student
readiness
space
we
spoke
about
the
innovative
high
schools
already
ap
access
for
all
81
percent
of
our
districts
are
participating,
meaning
our
students
have
more
opportunity
to
participate
in
those
post-secondary
pipeline
support
processes
and
then,
in
our
grow.
A
Thank
you
and
we
do
have
several
and
I
just
I
want
to
just
note
it
was
mentioned,
but
I
want
everybody
here
to
understand
these
escrow
funds.
They
are
reimbursable
funds.
The
districts
do
not
get
the
monies
until
they
have
obligated
and
spent
them.
So
again,
that's
I
think,
that's
important
to
understand
that
the
districts
aren't
sitting
on
a
large
pile
of
money
that
those
dollars
are
only
reimbursed
after
expended
on
an
approved
plan
and
methodology.
So
with
that,
the
first
question
I
have
is
leader,
lambert.
M
M
M
Okay
and
are
those
funded
through
federal,
grant
funds?
Yes,
sir,
they
are
sir
okay
perfect.
Specifically,
what
are
those
24
positions
for
like
what
exactly
once
those
are
fully?
You
know,
obviously,
they're
fully
funded
once
they're
filled.
What
are
those
going
to
be
utilized
for?
I
know
it's
for
the
administration
of
those
dollars,
but
it's
I
mean
it's
24
new
spots.
What
exactly
are
we
looking
at
there.
K
Yes,
sir,
so
their
spread
of
both
operational
supports
and
programmatic
initiative
oversight.
So
we
have
a
handful
of
positions
that
may
support,
say
the
grow.
Your
own
initiative
or,
like
the
connected
literacy
part
counts
for
two
of
those
positions.
Those
people
are
responsible
for
both
oversight
and
federal
reporting
requirements,
as
well
as
technical
assistance
to
districts.
K
As
you
can
imagine,
the
the
operational
side
of
this
is
that,
with
almost
4.5
billion
dollars
of
federal
refund
coming
into
the
agency,
we
also
have
other
responsibilities
in
terms
of
processing
a
number
of
procurements
managing
those
budgets
from
a
financial
perspective,
those
components.
So
a
handful
of
those
positions
are
reserved
for
those
operational
supports
as
well.
K
M
So
when
you
add
up
kind
of
all
of
that,
and
obviously
there's
a
significant
expense,
really
kind
of
two
things,
one
are
all
of
these
positions
going
to
be
utilized
in
a
way,
that's
going
to
make
it
easier
on
our
school
districts
to
be
able
to
both
access
these
funds
and
utilize,
these
programs,
and
then
two.
If
the
answer
to
that
question
is
yes,
I
saw
you
all
kind
of
nodding
with
me
there.
M
K
Yes,
sir,
so
to
your
first
question:
yes,
if
those
people
aren't
helping
to
support
the
grant
initiatives
and
districts
being
able
to
leverage
them,
then
we're
not
doing
our
job.
So,
yes,
they
are
intended
to
do
it
just
that
in
terms
of
the
the
plan
at
the
end
of
the
grant
period,
we
have
already
made
the
commitment,
those
positions,
all
24
of
them
and
there's
actually
a
handful
of
others.
There
will
be
sunset
at
the
end
of
the
s
or
grant
period
in
september
of
2024..
K
We
have
made
that
planning
internally,
and
so
we
have
invested
to
make
sure
that
the
staff
that
we
bring
on
board
are
aware
of
that
timeline
as
vacancies
become
available
at
the
department.
If
we
have
strong
staff
members,
we
obviously
want
to
make
sure
they
have
a
good
place
to
land
with
us
and
we
retain
good
talent.
M
M
At
the
end
of
all
of
that,
when
all
of
these
programs
have
been
implemented,
when
you
guys
have
overseen
them
and
we've
had,
you
know
all
of
these
folks
who
just
talked
about
hired
to
try
to
help
administer
them,
what
can
we
expect
has
occurred
with
our
children,
our
teachers,
our
school
systems
and
hopefully,
what
has
occurred
in
a
positive
way
so
that
our
children
are
served
better
and
their
educational
journey
is
what's
going
to
be
the
goal
kind
of
sum
it
up?
Just
in
you
know,
30
seconds
or
something
on.
K
I
don't
know
that
you
all
could
have
labeled
your
your
special
session
bill
any
more
appropriately
in
that
space,
from
taking
care
of
learning,
gloss
remediation
and
accelerating
kids.
It's
not
just
about
catching
up
from
what
damage
happened
during
the
pandemic,
but
about
realigning
the
trajectory
for
where
we
want
kids
to
go
perfect.
Thank
you.
Thank
you,
madam
chairman.
N
F
F
I
would
say
this
as
we
have
as
a
state
navigated,
this
kind
of
federal
change
in
administration
at
the
federal
level,
additional
requirements
being
added
after
the
grant
was
awarded
to
states
the
continued
updates
of
those
guidance
documents,
as
well
as
the
updated
templates
for
the
data
reporting.
It
does
make
it
a
little
more
challenging.
F
Knowing
that,
when
you
have
this
amount
of
money,
there
will
be
requirements
to
those
funds,
and
our
job
is
just
to
ensure
that,
as
that,
we're
being
good
stewards
of
those
dollars,
but
also
trying
to
work
with
districts
as
much
as
possible
to
streamline
that,
because
they're
they're
juggling
a
lot
of
other
things
right
now
and
it's
our
job
to
help
them
navigate
this.
This
these
uncertain
times.
F
They
have
worked
really
hard
to
do
that
with
fidelity
and
to
do
it
well,
as
you
might
expect
a
number
of
needs,
the
funds
are
relatively
flexible,
but
also
ensuring
that
we
have
the
appropriate
documentation
in
place
such
that,
as
the
oversight
begins
both
at
the
state
level
and
the
federal
level
districts
are
set
up
and
have
exactly
what
they
will
need
to
continue
to
spend
the
money
well,
but
they
are
doing
just
really
hard
work
and
good
work
around
the
development
and
implementation.
At
this
time,.
N
Okay
and
maybe
one
last
follow-up
kind
of
building
on
what
leader
lamberth
was
discussing
in
terms
of
the
ftes
and
contractors
we've
hired
in
order
to
help
distribute
these
federal
funds,
is
there
going
to
be
any
need
to
hire
additional
ones,
or
do
you
think
you've
got
the
number
that
you
need
to
complete
this?
This
project
through
sr3.
F
K
A
And
just
to
a
follow-up
to
that
in
our
previous
presentation
from
fna
they
mentioned,
you
know
they,
they
could
have
hired
hundreds
of
accountants
to
try
and
keep
up
with
these
dollars.
They
went
outside
because
this
is
this
influx
of
money
is
temporary,
so
again
just
to
go
back
to
do
we
envision,
because
we
we're
implementing
a
lot
of
new
programs,
we're
doing
a
lot
of
new
they're,
just
a
lot
of
new
tools
that
we're
putting
into
place
so
once
the
funds
are
expended.
A
K
Yes,
ma'am
so
so
two
things
that
I
would
identify.
First
and
foremost,
this
is
actually
a
standard
practice
for
the
department,
while
it's
a
massive
scale
in
terms
of
the
sum
of
money,
we
run
grants
to
school
districts
as
a
regular
part
of
our
business
so
being
able
to
redirect
internal
capacity
to
support.
This
is
the
reason
we
don't
have.
K
You
know
the
need
to
just
keep
billowing
out
and
and
bringing
on
more
and
more
staff,
and
primarily
that's
so
that
our
districts
have
the
same
experience
in
terms
of
oversight
and
supports
with
these
dollars
that
they
are
used
to
getting
with
their
other
federal
dollars
through
the
department
and
and
to
that
same
point,
chair
lady.
I
think
that
is
also
the
reason
why,
once
we
get
towards
the
end
of
this
grant
period,
the
department
will
not
need
additional
staff
to
cover
that
part.
E
E
B
F
There
and
then,
of
course,
most
of
them
have
expended
esr1
so
as
if
we
noticed
that
districts
are
challenged
and
are
not
moving
those
funds
forward.
We
take
extra
steps
to
ensure
that
we're
checking
in
with
them
making
sure,
because,
honestly
they
are,
they
have
capacity
challenges
as
well
with
their
personnel.
E
L
So
so
far
from
the
the
practice
of
actually
getting
the
money
from
the
federal
government,
we
haven't
experienced
any
any
issues
in
the
the
technical
side
of
the
draw
down
system.
I
think
the
the
largest
problem
that
we've
had
has
been-
and
you
just
alluded
to
this
on
the
state
side,
just
meeting
some
of
those
obligation
deadlines.
It's
a
lot
of
money
that
needs
to
go
out
really
fast,
we're
very
happy
to
be
working
with
our
partners
over
at
cpo
and
department,
general
services
and
with
the
contracts
approval
group
over
at
the
comptroller's
office.
L
L
Thank
you,
madam.
I
don't
know.
If
I
can
follow
that
good
to
see
you
representative
got
a
quick
question.
First
of
all,
before
I
do
get
started,
let
me
say
thank
you
all
for
being
here
and
commissioner
buffalino.
I
thank
you
for
your
responsiveness
and
I'd
also
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
say
thank
you
to
jay
klein
back
there
sitting
back
behind
you,
so
thank
you
all
you're
always
very
responsive
when
I
reach
out.
So
I
do
want
to
say
thank
you.
As
I
look
at
some
of
the
uses
for
the
federal
funds.
L
L
Carried
over
my
question
is
now:
it
looks
like
probably
somewhere
around
25
million
is
still
being
earmarked.
What
is
the
status
of
that
portal?
Is
it
completed,
or
is
there
still
more
work
to
do?
Can
you
kind
of
hit
on
that?
Absolutely
so
one
thing
about
the
best
for
all
central
is:
it
includes
both
the
technical
side
of
the
build
out,
which
I
think
deputy
commissioner
pierson
will
hit
here
in
a
second
and
the
programmatic
side,
so
this
includes
some
of
the
supports
for
for
videos
and
things
that
we've
placed
on
the
website.
K
Yes,
sir,
I
would
say
that
we
intend
for
best
for
all
central
to
be
an
ongoing
support
for
school
districts.
So,
as
drew
mentioned,
we
have
both
content
creation
that
is
ongoing
and
hitting
additional
content
areas
as
we
continue
to
develop
out
those
materials.
And
then
we
still
have
the
the
technical
build
out
which
you'll
be
familiar.
The
goal
there
is
to
make
sure
that
we
have
solid
integration
in
our
data
systems.
L
Say
this
as
far
as
utilization
of
this,
and
which
I
want
to
ask
you
about,
but
I'll
remind
you
during
the
time
that
this
was
actually
rolled
out,
I
think
literally
districts.
Their
hair
was
on
fire
just
to
be
honest
with
you,
and
so
I
don't
think
it
would
be.
I
would
be
remiss
if
I
didn't
say
that
I
would
encourage
you
all
to
make
sure
you
go
back
and
it
wouldn't
be
a
bad
idea
to
really
get
this
out.
This
is
good
information
on
this
website
and
I'm
going
to
be
honest
with
you.
L
I'm
not
sure
a
lot
of
districts
still
know
about
this
so
again,
and
it
was
just
the
timing,
it's
nothing
that
the
department
could
have
done
different.
It
was
just
the
priorities
were
certainly
changed
during
this
particular
time
the
rollout
came.
So
I
would
encourage
you
to
do
that
and,
as
I
finish
up,
I
guess
what
is
the
utilization
on
that
and
it
may
I
guess
that
may
be
the
reason
why
if
the
utilization
is
a
little
bit
low
but
everybody
I
ask
they
use
it,
they
like
it.
L
E
Thank
you,
madam
chair.
Thank
you
guys
for
being
here
appreciate
the
service
y'all
provide
the
state
the
question
I've
got
is
there?
Are
there
any
particular
regions
of
the
state
that
were
using
the
terminology
grow
your
own
in
in
a
manner
here
in
the
state
to
promote
students
from
students
to
teachers.
E
K
F
So
as
as
we've
noted
a
couple
of
times,
90
of
these
funds
go
to
school
districts,
and
then
they
are
the
ones
who
make
the
determinations
on
what
they
do
with
those
dollars.
If
a
district
is
having
issues
with
teacher
retention,
they
are
absolutely
allowed
to
use
both
the
relief
funding
and
then
their
other
federal
dollars
that
they
also
receive
on
a
recurring
basis
for
retention.
If
they
choose
to
do
so,
and
we
do
have
a
number
that
are
doing
that.
F
F
E
A
Thank
you
and
just
a
follow-up
on
the
grow.
Your
own,
I
think
that's
incredibly
important.
I
hope
that
the
educational
institution
in
my
region
is
involved.
I
know
that
they've
been
doing
some
work
with
some
of
the
county
that
they
sit
in,
and
some
of
the
surrounding
counties
on
this
for
a
while
just
teacher
prep,
and
making
sure
that
the
teachers
that
are
graduating
from
their
establishment
are
actually
prepared
to
go
into
the
classroom.
I
Thank
you,
madam
chair
good
morning
to
you
all,
and
while
it's
great
that
you
guys
are
here,
I'm
going
to
say
that
I
am
disappointed
that
our
former
colleague
and
speaker
pro
tim
is
not
here
sitting
in
that
seat,
so
we
can't
grill
him
a
little
bit
so
next
time
you
come
back,
I
would
request
that
you
bring
him
with
you,
please.
I
have
some
questions
related
to
the
connectivity
grants.
Can
you
speak
to
how
you're
utilizing
those
grants
specifically
working
with
a
with
ecd,
to
target
unserved
versus
underserved?
I
K
One
of
those
was
a
50
million
dollar
grant
to
support
device
purchases
for
districts,
and
the
other
was
a
connectivity
grant
designed
to
support
districts
purchasing
hot
spots,
mifi
devices
that
they
could
send
home
with
students
on
an
as-needed
basis.
So
those
two
programs
were
run
back
in
the
spring
of
2020
and
very
quickly
kind
of
sunset.
K
We
only
had
a
limited
amount
of
time
with
those
federal
dollars,
so
we
had
decent
uptake
in
those
and
again
those
were
kind
of
before
some
of
the
release
of
sr
2.0
and
3.0
funds,
and
a
way
that
the
state
was
looking
to
support
districts.
The
the
partnership
on
additional
connectivity
with
ecd
is
a
relatively
new
initiative
for
us,
so
still
learning
a
little
bit
more
about
taking
the
lead
from
them
as
the
primary
players
on
that
grand
initiative
so
happy
to
get
more
information
for
you
on
it.
Thank
you.
I
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
and
then
something
I'd
like
to
bring
up
that.
We
discussed
briefly
when
commissioner
ely
was
here
at
some
point.
Over
the
last
couple
of
months.
It
may
have
been
two
months.
It
may
have
been
six
months
ago.
Wait
time
how
quickly
these
last
19
months
have
moved.
You
guys
had
provide,
sent
a
form.
I
believe
it
was
related
to
esser
funds
to
our
lease
requesting
specific
information.
I
I
mean
very
granular
to
the
tune
of
like
seating,
charts,
contact
tracing
some
very
detailed
information
that
was
explained
to
us
that
was
being
requested
by
the
federal
government,
which
created
some
serious
concerns,
at
least
for
me.
I
won't
speak
to
anybody
else,
and
so
that
raised
more
questions
about
the
guidance,
the
strings,
the
requirements
from
any
of
those
funds
coming
down
and
us
not
fully
fully
understanding
is
this
body
what
those
requirements
may
be.
So
can
you
speak
to
that
particular
instance,
and
it
doesn't
have
to
be
a
law?
I
I
just
want
to
speak
to
that
specifically,
and
then
is
there
anything
else
that
you
think
would
be
concerning
to
us.
If
we
find
out
two
months
from
now
six
months
from
now
information
sent
to
our
lease
our
elected
school
board,
then
they
come
to
us
asking
for
us
for
for
clarification
that
we
need
to
be
prepared
for.
F
One
of
the
things
that
they
required
in
that
that
safe
and
healthy
plan
was
that
these
districts
try
to
follow
cdc
guidance
to
the
extent
practicable
is
the
language
that
they
use
and
updated
every
six
months.
They
did
not
mandate
certain
things.
They
they
referenced,
some
of
the
cdc
guidance
specifically
because
it
continues
to
evolve
and
emerge.
F
But
that
is
the
requirement
that
that
we
are
that
every
sub-recipient
every
lea
is
required
to
do
it
is.
It
is
not
something
that
they
prescribed
other
outside
of
those
parameters,
but
the
expectation
is
that
they
are
revisiting
it
every
six
months
and
to
the
second
part
of
your
question
about.
Are
there
things
that
this
body
might
need
to
know?
It's
it's
kind
of
hard
to
say.
F
I
I
That
would
change
the
trajectory
of
how
we're
distributing
those
funds
or
whatever
it
may
be,
because
their
their
response
was.
Typically,
we
have
most
of
that
on
the
front
end
but
specific
to
the
department
of
education.
Is
there
anything
that
could
change
on
the
back
end
once
we
agree
to
accept
those
funds?
Is
there
language
in
there
that
allows
them
to
amend
that.
F
For
example,
initially
pre-k
wasn't
something
that
they
were
allowing
they
have
since
updated
their
guidance
to
post
award
to
allow
that,
and
so
those
are
the
types
of
things
we're
seeing,
but
I
would
say
that
the
state
plan
that
we
have
put
forth
and
approved.
That
is
what
we
are
we
are
committed
to
implementing.
H
Thank
you,
mr
chair,
and
I'll
echo
chairman
hicks,
and
mentioned
thanks
to
to
the
team
out
there.
J.E
klein
very.
Thank
you
very
much
for
the
work
that
you've
done
to
help
me
recently
as
well.
I
like
to
think
long
term
and
and
on
slides.
I
believe
it's
slides,
nine
and
ten
will
you
give
us
a
summary
of
the
strategic
investments
that
we've
made
and
some
of
the
successes
at
least
short-term
successes
that
we've
seen
tell
me
how
well
and
as
we're
looking
to
renovate
the
bep
formula.
K
K
What
we
are
seeing
and
encouraging
is
that
people
take
a
look
at
the
initiatives
that
have
been
invested
in
during
this
time.
I
think
everyone
will
probably
remember
the
heavy
investments
that
came
during
the
race
to
the
top
period,
and
we
saw
a
lot
of
things
that
moved
strategic
bars
forward
and
we
saw
a
lot
of
pilot
opportunities
where
people
were
trying
to
see
what
works.
K
We
know.
The
same
is
true
at
the
local
level,
with
these
funds
as
well
they're
able
to
invest
in
some
major
strategic
moves
and
they're
trying
out
some
new
things
as
they
realign
trajectories
for
their
students.
I
think
what
we
are
encouraging
is
that
those
conversations
and
experiences
be
brought
up
to
the
subcommittees
as
that's,
where
we'll
surface,
what's
working,
what
isn't
and
what
should
land
in
a
new
formula
recommendation.
H
So
I
I
don't
want
to
throw
the
baby
out
with
the
bath
water.
If
we've
got
something
that
is
working
these
summer
camps
that
we've
got
that
are
working
and
we're
seeing
some
anecdotal
success,
then
we
need
to
continue
those.
So
as
we
continue
these
discussions,
that
has
to
happen
if
I
could
switch
gears
just
a
little
bit
and
and
I
I
worked
tried
to
work
in
the
space
of
capital,
improvements
renovations
to
our
bricks
and
mortar-
that
we
have
k-12
facilities
out
there.
H
Tell
me
how
some
of
these
stimulus
funds
are,
how
we're
able
to
use
those
funds
how
local
districts
are
able
to
use
those
funds,
explain
the
procurement
process,
because
I'm
afraid
there
may
be
a
disconnect
as
we're
talking
earlier,
that
school
districts
need
to
turn
in
receipts
than
be
reimbursed.
Well,
you
can't
really
do
that
on
some
of
these.
Some
of
these
procurements
for
for
renovations
and
and
bricks
and
mortar,
can
you
help
me
out
with
that?
Please.
F
I'll
get
started
and
probably
have
drew
chime
in
in
a
moment,
but
what
we're
seeing
is
because
of
the
large
investment
in
sr3
and
the
allowable
about
allowability
for
capital
outlay.
We
are
seeing
districts
take
advantage
of
that,
knowing
that
these
are
one-time
funds
and
they're
trying
to
make
sure
that
they
are
investing
in
something
that
isn't
recurring
and
isn't
going
to
tax
them
in
the
years
to
come.
F
One
of
the
things
around.
That,
though,
is
the
requirements
that,
when
you
are
spending
federal
dollars
on
a
contract
that
you
have
other
requirements,
such
as
the
davis
bacon
act,
that
would
be
required,
and
so
one
part
of
what
we
have
been
trying
to
support
districts
in
doing
is
preparing
them
for
those
pieces
and
ensuring
that
they
won't
have
issues
with
their
procurement
down
the
road.
F
But
it
isn't
so
much
in
the
space
of
say,
a
capital
improvement.
It
would
be
something
that
they
would
enter
into
a
contract
with
perhaps
with
a
provider
that
would
be
responsible
for
overseeing
and
delivering
on
that
capital
improvement,
and
so
it
would
be
the
contract
that
would
then
obligate
the
federal
dollars,
and
then
it,
of
course,
would
be
something
that
we
would
monitor
over
time
drew.
Do
you
have
anything
to
add
on
that.
L
The
the
largest
edition
is
in
in
the
federal
requirements,
there's
an
entire
appendix
of
the
uniform
grant
guidance
dedicated
to
nothing
but
contract
terms
for
capital
projects.
So
that's
been
the
biggest
flag
on
all
of
our
guidances
is
eve
mentioned
a
moment
ago.
The
davis
bacon
act,
clean
water
act
and
several
others
that
are
not
typically
in
procurement
contracts.
That
must
be
there
by
federal
guidance,
but
otherwise
in
terms
of
reimbursement,
as
they
experience
some
of
those
under
their
their
reimbursement
plan
and
pay.
F
And
now
we
just
add
to
that
one
other
thing,
because
capital
improvements
aren't
something
that
typically
would
be
allowable
with
federal
education
grants.
Districts
are
having
quite
a
few
questions
about
that,
so
that's
potentially
some
of
it's
kind
of
a
new
learning
curve
for
them
as
well,
knowing
that
this
is
not
a
traditional
use
of
the
federal
dollars
that
they
receive
on
a
recurring
basis.
H
Thank
you,
chair,
lady,
very
much.
I
do,
and
I
know
you've
got
frequent
frequent
webinars
with
directors
of
schools
and
folks
like
that.
That
may
be
a
good
thing
to
bring
up
in
in
future
days
because
there
I
have
gotten
several
questions
and
comments
about
that
just
this
morning
as
we're
sitting
here,
one
quick
follow-up
and
just
to
put
a
cap
on
this
we're
talking
about
the
esser
funds
percentage-wise.
H
Where
are
we
in
terms
of
dollars
that
have
been
allocated
department
of
education
and
how
many
how
many
of
those
dollars
have
been
spent?
How
many
are
unspent
can
we
can
we
kind
of
put
a
cap
on
on
the
dollars
where
we
are
now
and
what
we're
looking
at
over
the
next
three
budgets
to
get
us
out
to
the
25
budget
year.
L
Certainly
across
the
the
gears
and
the
essers
total
right
now
we
have
spent
about
571
million
dollars.
That
also
includes
the
or
that's
just
the
gears
and
the
esters.
So
a
significant
amount
of
money
hasn't
actually
paid
to
school
districts
and
to
partners
throughout
both
of
the
the
pieces
of
the
grants.
O
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
Commission
piercy.
You
know
the
amount
of
money
that
we're
spent
on
education.
I've
got
the
u.s
debt
clock
pulled
up.
I
don't
know
if
y'all
ever
seen
it
it's
20
28
trillion,
960
28.965
trillion
dollars.
You
know,
and
I
like
something
ben
franklin
said
that
investment
education
pays
the
best
interest.
O
Do
you,
I
mean
how
confident
are
y'all
with
all
this
money.
That's
coming
down
that
it's
going
to
improve
test
scores.
It's
going
to
improve
graduation
rates,
it's
going
to
improve
retention
of
teachers
that
we
seem
to
be
losing
and
recruiting
at
teachers.
How
confident
are
y'all
with
with
all
this
influx
of
money,
and
it
will
make
a
difference.
K
Thank
you
for
the
question.
What
I
would
say,
first
and
foremost,
is
a
callback
to
the
chair.
Ladies
statement:
it's
not
just
going
to
be
about
these
dollars,
but
the
people
that
we're
investing
in
along
the
way,
so
it
matters
immensely
how
school
districts
engage
their
communities
in
this
work,
how
they
engage
with
their
partners,
such
as
ed
prep
programs
and
community-based
organizations,
and
how
we
at
the
state
do
the
same.
K
O
K
I'll
speak
and
then
I
may
actually
ask
chief
lynn
if
she
wants
to
jump
in
as
well.
I
think,
overall,
what
we've
seen
is
there
are
opportunities
in
online
learning,
specifically
some
of
the
access
points
for
like
our
ap
access
for
all
program,
that
that
gives
an
opportunity
to
students
who
wouldn't
otherwise
have
it.
But
we
also
know
from
from
the
last
year
and
a
half
that
in
person
is
stronger
for
kids.
K
P
I
would
just
chime
in
especially
when
we
were
talking
about
ap
access
for
all.
A
lot
of
our
rural
communities.
Prior
did
not
have
many
ap
courses.
As
you
can
see
the
increases
I
mean
in
south
central
alone.
It's
142
percent,
more
ap
courses
are
going
on
and
those
are
opportunities
for
kids
to
get
those
early,
post-secondary
credits
that
will
transfer
into
potentially
college.
I
would
also
say
those
innovative
high
school
grants
that
were
mentioned
are
really
allowing
districts
to
re-examine
what
high
school
looks
like.
P
It
is
not
the
same
for
every
student,
so
this
is
really
capitalizing
on
students
being
really
engaged
in
some
of
those
cte
opportunities.
The
work
based
learning
the
apprenticeships
and
really
partnering
with
the
industry
partners
and
some
of
those
post-secondaries
that
it
has
allowed
schools
to
think
differently
about
what
high
school
particularly
looks
like.
O
O
E
F
F
The
additional
staff
members
that
we
have
brought
on
during
the
for
the
duration
of
esser,
one
two
and
three
is
intended
to
provide
additional
oversight
to
districts.
We
do
regular
some
desktop
monitoring.
We
do
on-site
monitoring
as
well
as
checks
against
things
that
are
supposed
to
be
reported
and
posted
in
the
instance
that
there
are
times
where
things
aren't
going
as
as
they
number
one
told
us
in
the
application
that
they
that
they
would
we
develop
what
we
call
a
corrective
action
plan
and
we
work
very
closely
with
the
district
to
correct
that.
F
Our
hope
is
that
that
we
get
that
corrected,
because
any
payback
against
federal
comes
out
of
state
dollars
and-
and
that
is
part
of
the
other
piece
of
what
we
are
charged
with
doing-
is
ensuring
that
we
correct
anything
that
is
against
the
requirements
or
against
the
uniform
grants.
Guidance
for
example,
but
that
that
happens
every
year.
As
we
monitor
all
of
our
districts,
especially
with
this
influx
of
money,
as
you
noted,
okay.
E
So
you
bring
up
an
interesting
situation,
let's
say
all
those
actions,
oops
they're
still
in
oops.
We
spend
a
million
dollars
over
here
and
we
didn't
do
anything.
There's
nothing
for
us
to
do
with
this.
What
happens
in
that
instance
is
the
local
lea.
You
said
it
comes
from
state
dollars.
They
have
to
pay
back
the
federal
government,
a
million
dollars.
Is
it
coming
back
to
you?
What
is
that
process?
If
that
should
happen,
practically
speaking,.
F
So
two
things:
that's
part
of
the
reason
that
we
monitor
all
of
the
throughout
the
entire
period
of
availability,
because
we
want
to
stop
anything
early
so
that
we
aren't
in
a
place
that
we
get
down
the
road
and,
and
things
have
been
misspent,
but
in
the
instance
that
that
happens.
Ultimately,
it
comes
back
to
the
the
state
and
then
we
then
are
working
with
the
districts
to
get
that
money
repaid
it's
not
something
that
we
expect,
especially
knowing
that
we
have.
F
L
All
right
eve,
thank
you
appreciate
that
I'll
just
add
one
thing
to
that:
our
long-term
goal
is
to
to
make
sure
that
districts
get
the
full
benefit
of
all
of
the
dollars.
So
a
lot
of
the
assistance
that
eve
has
mentioned
is
about
helping
make
sure
that
we
can
reallocate
to
appropriate
and
allocable
programs.
If
it
happens
within
the
timeline,
make
sure
the
district
gets
the
full
benefit
worst
case.
L
If
we're
looking
at
payback
to
us
ed,
it
is
a
conversation
with
usd
that
we
can
try
to
do
the
same,
find
eligible
programs
and
that
ends
up
being
fully
at
their
discretion,
whether
they
will
allow
us
to
do
that
or
not.
But
again,
we
want
from
state
level
for
every
district
to
get
the
benefit
of
every
dollar.
Okay,.
G
As
long
as
I've
been
in
the
legislature,
I
never
had
the
privilege
of
serving
on
the
education
committee.
So
there's
a
lot.
I
don't
know
about
education.
So
if
I
ask
a
question,
it
sounds
a
little
stupid
help
me
out
what
about
the
the
new
bep
formula
that's
coming.
Is
it
going
to
be
more
friendly
to
districts
and
sizes
in
terms
of
numbers
and
so
forth?
K
Yes,
sir,
so
first
and
foremost,
and-
and
I
please
please
give
me
a
little
grace
in
this
response-
we
don't
have
preconceived
notions
about
what
that
formula
will
be.
What
we
know
is
that
we're
listening
to
these
subcommittees
and
they
are
raising
the
issues
they
want
to
see
represented
in
a
new
formula.
Should
the
legislature
ultimately
approve
one.
G
Resident
shah,
thank
you.
I
would
hope
that
they
would
be
more
friendly.
You
know,
there's
been
a
lot
of
discussion
over
the
years
about
what's
fair
and
what's
unfair
about
the
bep
formula,
so
I'm
I'm
looking
for
something
at
least
that
everybody
can
say.
This
is
better
for
all
of
us.
I'd
like
to
see
that
at
least,
but
thank
you
for
your
response,
sir.
A
Seeing
none
well
again,
we
will
report
to
the
commissioner
that
you
all
did
a
credible
job
in
representing
her
here.
Thank
you
for
the
work
that's
been
done
and
that
will
be
done
to
make
sure
that
the
the
dollars
that
we're
talking
about
here
are
expended
well
and
at
the
end
of
the
day,
as
I
think
several
people
have
alluded
to
in
their
questions.
A
A
A
A
Thank
you,
commissioner,
and
your
staff
for
joining
us
here
today.
We
look
forward
to
hearing
from
you
and
I
don't
believe
that
we
got
a
a
powerpoint
or
a
presentation
ahead
of
time
from
you.
Also,
if
you
have
something
I
would
direct
everybody's
eyes
to
the
to
the
screen
or
we
we,
we
will
walk
you
through
it
all
right
and
we,
I
would
ask
that
we
would
get
a
copy
of
that
to
put
on
dashboard
and
to
have
our
our
files
following
your
presentation.
A
But
again,
thank
you
for
being
here.
I
know:
there's
a
lot
of
money
flowing
through
a
lot
of
different
departments
in
the
state
of
tennessee,
and
none
with
so
critical
use,
perhaps
is
those
that
are
coming
to
your
department
for
for
families
that
are
in
you
know,
fairly
dire
straits
and
need
immediate
help
and
long-term
help
as
well.
D
Madam
chair
and
members
of
the
committee,
my
name
is
clarence
h
carter
and
I'm
commissioner
of
the
tennessee
department
of
human
services,
and
I'm
pleased
to
be
here
with
you.
This
morning
I
am
joined
at
the
table
by
our
deputy
commissioner
for
operations,
melissa,
hux
and
also
our
chief
of
staff,
whitney
page
and-
and
I
also
asked
to
join
us
this
morning.
A
D
D
A
D
We'll
discuss
it
later.
Okay,
madam
chair
members
of
the
committee
in
in
in
to
be
respectful
of
your
time
and
questions
today.
I
want
to
share
just
a
couple
of
high
level
comments
with
you
and
then
and
then
open
it
up
to
to
your
questions
there.
There
have
been
four
since
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic.
D
The
the
second
biggest
bucket.
If
you
would
would
been
in
the
initial
appropriation
of
the
the
cares
act
and
where
we
were
appropriated,
155
million,
and
we
used
the
an
extensive
network
of
tennessee
community-based
service
providers
to
help
us
to
provide
the
kinds
of
services
that
that
tennessee
communities
and
families
needed
during
the
early
part
of
the
pandemic.
D
D
It
allowed
us
not
only
to
move
a
very
significant
amount
of
funding
in
a
very
short
period
of
time,
but
to
engage
that
broader
tennessee
network
in
making
it
work.
So
with
that,
madam
chair,
I
I
will
would
be
pleased
to
turn
it
back
to
you
and
we
will
be
happy
to
take
any
questions
or
or
or
comments
from
the
committee.
A
P
P
D
D
P
D
So
two
answers
to
that.
The
first
is
is
that
there
was
such
an
urgent
need
to
to
to
move
those
dollars
to
the
greatest
impact
that
we
we
couldn't
set
up
any
kind
of
additional
communications
mechanism.
So
what
we
did
was
we
used
the
service
network
in
order
to
do
that,
so,
for
instance,
in
the
cares
act.
Okay,
we
we
used
a
couple
of
hundred
community-based
organizations
that
were
providing
the
services.
D
They
helped
us
get
out
the
message
to
their
to
their
constituencies,
about
the
availability
of
that
funding
and
another
example,
is
in
the
pandemic.
Employment
benefits
transfer
program.
Where
what
happened
there
is
because
children
received
a
free
and
reduced
school
lunch,
but
with
them
not
being
in
school,
then
and
then
being
at
home.
D
What
we
did
was
shift
to
providing
the
funding
as
opposed
to
the
meals
we
shifted
to
providing
that
in
a
in
an
electronic
benefits
transfer
to
the
home,
and
so
again
we
use
the
school
districts
to
be
able
to
promote
what
we
were
doing
on
on
on
on
that.
On
that
basis,
and-
and
so
for
the
most
part,
we
use
the
serving
mechanisms
in
order
to
to
promote
the
availability
of
whatever
the
resource
was.
M
M
Drilling
down
into
a
little
bit
of
details
on
this
I
mean
how
did
the
department
use
the
ccdf
funding
to
address
child
care
needs?
I
know
you
kind
of
hit
broadly
on
that,
but
I
know
well.
I
have
a
basic
idea
as
to
how
that
was,
but
can
you
get
into
a
little
bit
of
the
weeds
in
the
details
and
exactly
how
that
finally
was
utilized.
D
So
to
get
into
some
of
that
detail,
so
one
large
expenditure
which
is
currently
in
the
development
process
is
what
they
call
stabilization
grants
and
so
500
million
dollars
in
stabilization.
Grants
was
used
for
the
purpose
of
just
that
stabilizing
existing
child
care
providers,
so
ensuring
that
we
had
a
we
had
a
pretty
appreciable
reduction
in
child
care
availability
during
the
pandemic,
and
so
one
of
the
things
that
we
wanted
to
do
was
to
ensure
that
existing
providers
were
able
to
were
able
to
continue
to
provide
child
care
services.
D
Another
significant
expenditure
was
pandemic,
child
care
for
essential
workers
and
again,
the
notion
of
that
is
that
there
were
tennesseans
that
had
to
work
during
the
pandemic,
and
so
we
wanted
to
ensure
that
they
had
funding
to
provide
safe,
healthy
and
affordable
child
care
for
their
for
their
children.
So
that
was
a
another
significant
expenditure
and
and
then
another
expenditure
was
yeah,
increasing
the
the
the
the
dollar
amount
made
available
to
some
to
some
families
to
be
able
to
purchase
safe,
healthy
and
affordable
child
care.
M
M
Okay
and
then
what
is
the
state
of
child
care
now
in
tennessee?
So
when
you
look
at
all
the
programs
that
you
all
administer,
I
mean
you,
you
come
from
a
very
rich
background
of
experience
at
both
the
federal
and
state
level.
You
I
don't
know
if
anyone
knows
your
background
in
here,
but
I
was
excited
to
see
you
hired
in
this
particular
position,
because
you
bring
a
lot
to
the
table
and
I
say
that
as
a
compliment
and
I
think
just
an
objective
evaluation
of
your
background.
D
So
I
I
I
appreciate
the
the
the
kind
words
and-
and
your
question
is
pretty
interesting.
Representative
hazelwood,
along
with
senator
massey,
were
able
to
put
together
a
piece
of
legislation
to
create
a
child
care
task
force
in
tennessee,
and
we
are
currently
that
task
force
is
currently
meeting
to
answer
just
that
question:
okay,
the
sort
of
state
of
of
child
care
in
tennessee,
and
what
I
will
tell
you
is
that
in
the
aggregate,
the
state
of
child
care
in
tennessee
is
in
flux.
D
We
we
we
have
a
a
very
rich
and
engaged
knowledge
base
on
on
child
care,
where
I
think
that
we
will
need
to
grow
in
our
capacity
is
a
again
organizing
all
of
our
assets
around
maximizing,
safe
and
affordable
and
accessible
child
care,
and
I
believe
that
that
task
force
will
help
us
will
guide
us
in
that
direction.
I
would
say
we
had
a
very
interesting
discussion
in
that
task
force
just
last
week.
D
It
exists
in
a
much
broader
context
of
the
issue
of
early
child
development,
okay,
and
so
what
we
want
to
ensure
that
our
child
care
task
force
doesn't
try
to
run
too
far
afield,
because
it's
a
much
broader
issue,
child
care
or
early
childhood
development
is
a
much
broader
issue
than
simply
child
care.
And
so
what
we're
going
to
try
to
do
is
stay
within
the
confines
of
how
do
we
in
tennessee
leverage
and
align
all
of
our
resources
so
that
child
care
in
tennessee
is
safe,
healthy
and
affordable
to
the
broadest
population
possible.
M
D
M
So
school
bus
is
dropping
them
off.
They're
coming
in
mom
and
dad
are
still
at
work,
and
so
there
are
several
after-school
programs
that
are
out
there
already,
but
really
beefing
those
up
so
that
they
are
not
just
child
care,
but
they
really
are
following
up
on
what
we're
doing
with
the
school
system
that
we
heard
from
the
department
of
education.
M
So
that's
more
just
a
comment
than
a
question,
but
my
question
is
this:
I
know
that
the
department
has
indicated
previously
that
there
were
a
lot
of
challenges,
just
as
all
of
our
departments
had
and
getting
such
a
large
sum
of
funds
out
to
different
child
care
providers
in
such
a
short
time
frame.
So
the
federal
money
came
in,
it
came
in
very
rapidly
and
it
needed
to
be
out
there
very
rapidly,
and
I
will
tell
you:
I've
contacted
your
staff
on
multiple
occasions.
M
They've
always
done
a
fantastic
job
when
I
had
specific
providers,
but
there
appears
that
there's
kind
of
a
systemic
issue
in
our
system
on
when
you
have
individuals
that
are
eligible
for
programs,
matching
them
up
with
providers
and
just
kind
of
processing
those
applications.
And
that
seems
like
an
issue.
That's
been
out
there
for
years.
How
are
we
doing
on
that
on
making
sure
that
the
folks
that
are
eligible
for
the
programs
both
know
about
the
programs
and
then
it's
being
implemented
well,
so
that
the
providers
are
actually
being
provided?
D
And
and
so
that
that
issue
is
being
tackled
in
the
transformation
of
the
dhs
child
care
system,
you
highlight
appropriately
a
a
very
real
and
long-standing
systemic
problem
and
and
and
so
the
department
some
a
while
back,
embarked
upon
a
transformation
of
our
entire
child
care
system
that
literally
works
from
the
family.
That
needs
the
child
care
all
the
way
up
through
the
providers
that
do
it
through
the
system.
D
We
don't
believe
that
the
golden
ticket
approach
is
the
way
to
solve
the
problem.
In
other
words,
what
I
mean
by
that
is
that
an
individual
can
reach
out
to
someone
of
connection
and
say
I've
got
a
problem
and
get
it
resolved
that
way
it
needs
to
be
resolved
systemically
and
that's
what
it
is
that
we're
trying
to
do
with
our
transformation.
D
M
Absolutely,
and
so,
even
if
we
were
to
get
weeks
behind,
sometimes
I
mean
it
could
be
disastrous
for
some
of
those
providers.
So
just
keep
that
in
mind
as
we're
going
through,
and
I
know
I've
brought
some
of
that
up
in
the
past
and
it
seems
like
you
guys,
are
tackling
those
and
again
your
staff's
done
a
great
job
of
of
responding
to
those,
but
systemically
I'm
glad
to
know
we're
going
right
at
that,
so
that
that
will
no
longer
be
an
issue.
So
thank
you,
commissioner.
I
appreciate
it.
Thank
you,
madam
chairman.
A
A
Finding
child
care
from
eight
to
five
is
difficult
enough.
Finding
child
care
on
the
weekends
or
after
five
o'clock
is
nearly
impossible,
but
we
have
a
lot
of
manufacturers
in
our
state
who
run
at
two
shifts.
Sometimes
three:
if
we're
going
to
have
people
who
are
able
to
work
those
shifts,
then
they
have
children
that
we're
going
to
have
to
be
able
to
provide
quality
child
care,
for
we
have
another
issue
in
a
lack
of
accessibility
in
terms
of
just
providers
and
not
all
providers
accept
subsidies
from
the
state
or
federal
government.
A
So
that
means
that
there
are
some
providers
who
are
closed
to
some
families
who
need
that
child
care.
So
and
again
we
have
a
huge
workforce
issue
in
the
state
of
tennessee
and
across
the
country.
We
have
a
lot
of
people
who
are
sitting
out
they're,
not
a
part
of
the
workforce.
At
this
point,
I
contend
that
a
significant
number
of
those
are
not
in
the
workforce
because
they
cannot
find
adequate
child
care
for
their
children.
You
cannot
go
to
work
and
just
leave
your
children
to
fend
for
themselves.
A
So
it's
it's
an
issue
that
we
need
to
address.
It's
always
been
an
issue.
I
think
the
pandemic
and
all
the
things
that
have
happened
around
it
have
just
exacerbated
it
and
also
kind
of
highlighted
it
and
made
the
issue
rise
to
the
top
in
terms
of
some
people's
attention.
So
hopefully,
the
task
force
is
a
public
private
sector
group,
because
this
is
something
that
government
cannot
solve.
A
B
B
The
coveted
money
for
children
for
food
on
that
program,
so
many
things
like
that
and
they
were
just
never
disappointed.
They
were
just
so
grateful
for
the
assistance
that
they
received.
You
know
these
were
largely
people
who
they
their
repo
employer,
required
them
to
work
during
the
pandemic.
They
could
not
work
at
home,
and
so
they
wanted
someplace
safe
for
their
child
and
they
thanks
to
the
state
of
tennessee.
B
They
were
able
to
do
that
and
thanks
to
all
the
work
of
your
department.
So
I'm
I'm
really
grateful
for
that.
I
heard
time
and
time
again
from
people
and
I
was
able
to
make
them
aware
of
these
programs
and
boy.
Were
they
grateful?
So
thank
you
so
much
for
all
that
hard
work.
I
I
know
boy
it
was.
It
was
a
lot
of
hard
work.
I
know
it
was
a
lot,
so
I
just
wanted
to
extend
my
thanks
for
my
district
and
the
people
who
live
in
my
district.
D
And
if
I,
if
I
could
respond
just
briefly,
yes,
as
as
you
know,
I
landed
here
in
the
middle
of
the
pandemic
and
what
was
most
pleased
that
I
came
into
a
place
with
a
highly
experienced
and
competent
labor
force
that
that
they
made
sure
that
the
that
the
points
that
you're
making
they
made
sure
that
our
system
took
care
of
those.
So
I
I
I
you
know
I
didn't
have
to
come
in
and
and
rebuild
this
place.
D
B
B
But
let
me
ask
you
and
we
go
to
the
snap
program
beyond
and
I
realize
how
hard
it
is
to
reach
out
to
people
make
them
aware
of
these
programs.
You
know
we
send
out
emails
to
our
constituents,
but
we
don't
email
everybody.
We
also
write
on
facebook,
but
we
don't
reach
everybody.
Even
in
our
district.
Many
people
aren't
on
social
media.
B
D
As
I
responded
to
a
previous
question,
one
of
the
most
important
partnerships
dhs
has
is,
with
literally
hundreds
of
community
providers,
community-based
organizations
that
understand
that
community
instinctively
and
they
know
where
the
need
is,
and
so
we
rely
on
them
to
ensure
that
the
community
understands
what's
what's
available.
In
order
to
be
able
to
use.
You
know
one
of
the
problems
that
that
our
public
support
systems
has
created
inadvertently
over
the
course
of
you
know.
D
The
past
60
years
as
we
have
moved
towards
a
more
government-centric
system,
is
that
we
have
crowded
out
other
parts
of
our
community
from
solving
the
problem,
and
so
therefore
there's
this
notion
that
somehow
government
is
the
principal
problem
solver,
and
so
what
we
have
to
do
quite
frankly,
is
get
over
the
arrogance
of
government
to
believe
that
it
is
the
problem
solver
and
engage
all
of
tennessee
in
trying
to
solve
the
and
try
to
solve
the
problems
that
we
have.
So
we
use
our
community
providers
to.
Let
folks
know
what's
available.
B
D
Not
it's
fine,
no
again
the
the
additional
snap
allotment,
it
didn't
expand
of
eligibility,
so
in
other
words
there
were
not
individuals
and
families
that
were
covered
that
weren't
covered
previously
that
this
additional
funding
would
have
served.
It
increased
the
level
of
benefit
for
those
that
were
already
in
the
system,
so
so
everyone
who
was
eligible
for
those
increases
received
them,
but
but
but
there
was
not
new
eligibility
created
out
of
any
of
those
authorizations.
E
A
And
I
would
hope
that
there
was
the
ongoing
process,
that's
already
in
place,
to
add
people
to
snap
as
people
lost
jobs
or
or
whatever.
So
I
just
want
to
make
it
clear
that
that
pool
was
not
limited
to
just
those
who
were
in
it
at
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic.
Those
who
became
eligible
during
also
received
those
benefits.
L
Thank
you
for
being
here.
It's
always
fun,
seeing
how
long
it
takes
you
to
find
us.
So
thank
you
for
being
here
you
and
your
staff.
My
question
deals
with
the
with
the
pebt
cards.
I
know
back
when
I
guess
it
was
that
march
time
frame
that
first
round
a
little
confusing
on
how
that
program
was
implemented.
Yes,
bounce
back
strong
in
round
two
I'll
say
that
some
people
were
still
a
little
bit
confused
on.
Okay,
am
I
gonna
get
these
payments
directly?
Am
I
going
to
get
them
through
my
school?
L
How,
where
are
they
going
to
show
up?
They
were
very
happy,
they
showed
up,
but
it
was
still
a
little
confusing,
but
I
think
that
got
ironed
out
slowly,
but
with
that
confusion,
how
many
of
those
cards
actually
got
sent
back
to
the
federal
government?
How
many
did
we
actually
use
and
how
well
was
this
program
utilized.
D
So
then,
finally,
to
answer
your
question,
I
will
need
to
get
you
an
exact
number
of
the
number
of
cards
returned,
but
but
we
serve
more
than
700
000
children
over
the
course
of
the
three,
the
three
tranches
of
pebt,
and
we
will
we
will.
We
will
get
you
as
best
a
number
as
we
can
on
the
number
of
those
cards
that
were
returned.
E
E
L
E
Thank
you
for
that,
madam
cheerleading.
Now
I
may
have
to
explain
it,
which
I'm
not
going
to.
Thank
you
all
for
being
here.
We.
We
appreciate
that
in
april
of
2020,
the
adult
to
kind
of
give
you
a
little
bit
of
background
of
my
question,
the
auto
the
child
and
adult
food
program
found
that
there
may
have
been
some
broad
risk
and
payments
for
meals
that
weren't
served.
E
D
D
That
being
said,
what
we
have
done
in
dhs
is
empowered
our
office
of
inspector
general
to
join
arms
with
our
programs
to
ensure
that
we
can
do
this
as
efficiently
and
effectively
as
possible,
and
we've
brought
the
office
of
the
comptroller
into
the
into
that
discussion.
Now
I
will
tell
you
that,
literally
by
the
federal
design
of
the
food,
the
feeding
pro
those
feeding
programs
there,
there
is
built-in
operational
challenges
which
we
have
been
trying
to
raise
with
the
federal
government.
For
years,
the
department
of
human
services
has
been
trying
to
raise
four
years.
D
We
want
to
have
this
responsibility
to
make
this
vital
support
available,
but
you
could
certainly
help
us
with
some
of
your
some
of
your
rules
and
guidelines
to
be
able
to
to
allow
us
to
make
that
delivery
more
efficient,
to
be
able
to
have
better
accountability.
On
the
front
end,
we
have
found
that
some
of
our
more
mom
and
pop
service
providers,
literally
don't
have
the
capacity
to
do
this
work.
P
P
I
spent
a
lot
of
time
in
africa
and
we
always
take
dentists
with
us
because
there's
so
much
that
takes
place
in
your
body
from
having
bad
hygiene
in
your
mouth
absolutely,
and
I
know
that
we
have
this
the
block
grant
for
the
dental
programs
and
I'm
from
the
appalachians.
We
obviously
it's
it's
something
vitally
important
to
us
over
in
the
appalachians,
and
I
just
wonder:
could
you
speak
to
where
we're
at?
How
are
we
doing
with
making
sure
we're
providing
the
services
from
what
we've
been
provided
with
the
dental
block
grant?
D
All
kinds
of
relevant
services
to
to
those
communities,
and
so
on
the
from
the
dental
perspective.
We
we
we,
we
move
those
dollars
from
the
community
services
block
grant
to
the
community
action
agencies
who
are
actually
either
delivering
or
contracting
to
deliver
the
dental
services
to
the
community.
O
Thank
you,
commissioner.
Just
want
to
compliment
you.
I
know
your
one
of
your
staff
marcy
really
bragged.
On
the
other
day,
and
I
mean
I
thought
you
could
walk
on
water
the
way
she
talked,
but
I
appreciate
your
passion,
you
know
that's.
What
we
need
up
here
is
passion
to
make
a
difference
in
folks
lives.
I
don't
know
if
you're
familiar
with
the
tennessee
rehabilitation
center
in
smyrna.
I.
D
O
Okay,
it's
my
district,
but
to
go
back
with
the
chair.
Lady
hazelwood
had
mentioned
about
workforce
development.
I
think
this
committee
has
heard
me
talk
about
a
about
a
man
that
was
mentally
challenged.
I
think
he
was
my
understanding
of
his
birth.
He
was
without
oxygen
for
so
long
and
had
a
severe
brain
injury.
O
Sadly
that
that
man
passed
away
last
month,
I
was,
at
his
funeral
a
few
weeks
ago,
died
with
covid.
He
went
through
tennessee
rehab
rehabilitation
center
and
the
thing
that's
interesting
about
this
guy.
This
is
what
I
want
this
committee
to
understand
because
a
lot
of
folks,
I
think,
look
and
say
man,
there's
no
hope
for
that
person.
You
can't
do
that
for
that
person,
that's
right!
You
can't
work
that
person.
O
This
guy
has
bowled
a
perfect
game,
bowling
I'll,
be
down
perfect
game,
17
17
strikes
in
a
row
and
he
had
all
these
gold
medals
special
olympics
and
they
and
his
brother
said
that
he
was
like
about
to
qualify
for
the
professional
boulders
tournament.
I
was
like
man.
This
is
really
strange,
but
he
went
through
that
program
and
it's
an
awesome
program
and
my
assistant's
trying
to
call
them
to
see
if
you
could
be
the
next
commencement
speaker
over
there
when
they
graduate
it's
very
moving.
O
I
want
to
encourage
all
my
lawmakers
if
they're
listening
right
now,
I
don't
know
if
they're
all
listening,
but
but
I
want
them
to
all
to
be
able
to
attend
one
of
them
graduations,
because
it's
it's
tear
jerking,
because
you
know
we
look
back
and
we
think
man
I
got
problems.
I
got
a
family
member
with
problems,
and
then
you
see
folks
like
that.
That's
like
on
fire
to
go
to
work,
whether
it's
mcdonald's,
whether
it's
a
car
dealership,
whether
it's
home
depot,
you
know
whether
it's
publix
or
kroger.
O
Some
of
those
companies
will
take
the
time
walgreens
take
time
to
give
them
a
job.
Cvs
is
really
involved,
but
anyways.
I
just
look
forward
to
seeing
you
as
the
commencement
address
speaker.
If
you
can,
if
you
can
make
it
my
assistant's,
trying
to
get
a
hold
of
them
now.
He
I
don't
know.
If
he's
had
any
luck,
but.
D
We
would
love
to
see
you
there.
We
will
certainly
get
that
worked
out
and
and
issues
like
this
and
I'm
going
to
apologize
in
advance.
Get
me
a
little
wound
up.
Okay,
we
we
have
in
in
this
country,
created
a
construct
where
we
want
to
try
to
protect
some
people
from
life,
that
we
say
that
somehow
you
are
too
broken.
You're
too
fragile.
You
you've
had
too
many
challenges
in
order
to
be
able
to
make
your
life
work.
D
D
D
Okay,
we
only
do
them
a
favor
when
we
enable
them
to
do
so,
and
so
you
will
hear
me
talking
about
ndhs,
this
notion
of
growing
capacity
to
reduce
dependency
and
and
what
I
so
like
about
our
vocational
rehabilitation
and
our
trcs
is
that
they
are
built
around
the
perspective
of
that
person.
Can
it's
built
around
their
ability,
okay
and
then
our
objective,
to
use
the
tools
to
help
them
achieve
their
objectives?
So
it
would
be
my
honor
and
privilege
to
speak
at
the
next
at
the
next
graduation.
A
H
Thank
you,
madam
chair
and
commissioner
carter.
Thank
you
for
the
quick
friendship
we've
made.
My
ten-year-old
thinks
she
hung
the
moon,
so
she
she
thinks
you're,
pretty
cool.
I've
been
waiting,
40
minutes
for
you
to
to
get
those
words
out,
grow
capacity
and
reduce
dependency.
So
I'm
glad
you're
able
to
get
that
out.
D
What
does
it
look
like
when
you
bring
together
the
community
of
faith,
the
private
sector,
academia,
non-government
organizations
together
in
a
whole
of
tennessee
approach,
which
is
based
on
growing
people
beyond
the
vulnerabilities
for
which
they
need
these?
These
benefits
goods
and
services,
and-
and
so
what
I
would
ask
of
of
this
group-
is
to
please
pay
attention
as
this
unfolds.
D
We
are
in
the
process
now
of
making
determinations
on
a
number
of
planning
grants,
and
so
on
the
7th
of
december
that
family's
first
advisory
council
will
come
together
and
we
will
make
determinations.
We
have
49
applications
from
all
across
tennessee
and
we
will
provide
planning
grants
to
a
number
of
those
entities
where
what
we're
saying
to
them
is
build
out
your
construct.
We
like
what
you
said
in
the
beginning,
tell
us
more
about
it:
how's
it
going
to
operate.
D
It
is
that
we
don't
want
any
tennessean
who
we
can
help
to
run
their
race,
have
to
live
a
life
of
the
meek
or
subsistence
of
public
supports,
and
so
we
begin
with
the
intention
of
growing
capacity
to
reduce
dependency
and-
and
we
believe
that
the
the
system
of
public
supports
should
be
a
mile
marker
in
a
life's
journey,
not
a
destination
unto
itself.
That's
what
we
hope
to
prove
through
the
tanf
program.
Opportunity
act.
A
I
think
that's
what
we'd
all
like
to
see,
commissioner.
There
are
all
of
us
have
space
tough
times
and
we
will
face
tough
times
in
the
future,
so
we
certainly
need
safety
net,
but
what
we
want
to
do
is
provide
a
safety
net
and
then
a
ladder
for
people
to
climb
out
and
and
be
self-sufficient.
So
thank
you
for
your
work
in
in
making
that
happen.
Are
there
other
questions
for
the
commissioner
or
staff?
A
A
You
can
look
at
those
at
your
leisure.
We
will
be
looking
forward
when
we're
next
together
budget
hearings
to
hear
specifically
how
funds
are
going
to
be
extended
in
the
upcoming
budget
year,
including
the
federal
dollars,
as
well
as
as
the
state
dollars
that
would,
I
guess,
normally
whatever.
However,
you
define
normal
these
days
would
be
spent.
So
thank
you
for
sharing
your
time
with
us
today
and
we
look
forward
to
seeing
you
again
during
regular
session.
A
Thank
you
all
right,
because
we
have
done
such
a
marvelous
job
of
staying
on
task
and
on
time,
I'm
going
to
reward
you
with
a
long
lunch
break.
Please
plan
to
be
back
at
two
o'clock
and
we
will
stand
in
recess
until
two,
at
which
time
we
will
be
hearing
from
the
tennessee
housing
development
agency.
Thank
you.