TASFAA Governmental Relations

The following information was sent to SASFAA for the April State Legislative Update.  It is being shared with the TASFAA members.

On March 6, some members of the TASFAA Board of Directors attended the higher education budget hearings held by the Tennessee House of Representatives’ Finance, Ways and Means Committee.  Testimony was provided by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the University of Tennessee System, the Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation supporting their budget requests for the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year.

Thirty-four legislative bills have been offered impacting various higher education related programs between the House of Representatives and the State Senate.  TASFAA has begun to review the bills to determine if follow-up should be made related to the impact on postsecondary institutions and students.  (These bills were sent to TASFAA members via email on March 31)

On March 29, TASFAA members Marian Dill, Ron Gambill and Dick Smelser participated in the SASFAA Hill Day visits in Washington D.C.  They met with four Congressional members or staff and attended meetings with the Senate HELP Committee staff and staff of the House Education and Workforce Committee.  A reauthorization white paper was discussed during the meetings.  The trip was very successful.

Ron Gambill