The Finance Committee of the Tennessee State Senate voted on Wednesday to remove public funding for the proposed $2 billion domed stadium for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans from the 2022-2023 budget for the state of Tennessee.
State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) proposed two amendments to the budget that (1) removed authorization for the state of Tennessee to issue a $500 million bond to be used for the construction of the proposed stadium and (2) removed $55 million in taxpayer funding to service the interest payments annually of that bond debt.
Johnson’s amendments easily passed in a voice vote.
“I’ve had problems with this from the get-go,” Johnson told The Tennessee Star in an exclusive interview late Wednesday.
“I’m not convinced this is a good deal for Tennessee taxpayers,” Johnson added.
The full state Senate is scheduled to vote on the budget, minus the public funding for the proposed Titans domed stadium, on Thursday morning, setting up a potential conflict with the Tennessee House of Representatives, which is currently scheduled to vote on the budget, anticipated to be passed in the state Senate, later on Thursday.
The surprising rejection of state funding of the proposed $2 billion Titans stadium by the state Senate committee on Wednesday now puts the entire project in doubt. The ownership of the Titans has said it will provide $700 million in funding for the proposed stadium, provided that the state funds $500 million through a special bond offering, and the Metro Nashville-Davidson government provides a significant portion of the additional $800 million the ambitious project would require.
The budget bill that has passed through all relevant committees in the House includes provisions that authorize the $500 million bond for the construction of the Titans stadium and the $55 million annual taxpayer payments to service the bond debt.
Sources tell The Star that a vigorous debate is anticipated in the House Republican caucus prior to a floor vote on the budget bill expected to be sent over by the state Senate.
House leadership, including Speaker Cam Sexton (R-Crossville) and Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), is strongly supportive of including the public funding provisions for the proposed Titans stadium in the final version of the budget bill that the House is expected to vote on later on Thursday. Rank and file members of the caucus, however, strongly oppose including those funding provisions.
Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) is also strongly in favor of including the public funding of the Titans stadiums provisions of the budget bill under consideration.
If the House passes a version of the budget bill that includes the Titans stadium funding provision, and the state Senate does not include such a provision, the conflict will be resolved in a conference committee.
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR, Twitter, and Parler.
