CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Tennessee’s 112th General Assembly reconvened earlier this month to tackle the state’s 2022 legislative agenda under Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville.

But what’s on the agenda that’s of concern to Clarksville?

Clarksville Now talked with Sexton about some of the upcoming items that have a direct impact on local residents, like education funding, addressing Clarksville’s unprecedented growth and the potential legalization of medical marijuana.

Funding for students and teachers

Recently, Tennessee has begun the process of reevaluating its education funding formula. The Basic Education Program, which has been the state’s funding rubric since 1992, uses 46 components to divide the shares of funding among local school districts based on enrollment totals and property taxes.

However, due to the widely varying enrollment and tax criteria across the state, BEP has often drawn criticism.

Sexton told Clarksville Now the state is looking at increasing the baseline on K-12 education and the funding significantly.

“So what the governor wants to do is take a very complex formula and try to make is simpler so people have a better understanding of it, but also allow the schools to meet their unique needs and not try to treat every school district like they’re the same,” he said.

For Montgomery County, the difference comes down to our sheer growth, and ensuring that the funding matches those numbers.

“I think there’s a proponent of the BEP talking about population growth coming into an area where you can get additional BEP money to help you in high-growth areas like Rutherford, Montgomery and Maury counties. And so we made need to enhance the growth formula a little bit to help because we have so many people moving here from liberal states,” Sexton said.

But that’s not the only challenge Clarksville-Montgomery County faces in education. When asked how the state plans to address the issues of teacher and staff shortages, Sexton said he thinks the main issues with retaining teachers are not with the pay itself, but rather with the benefits packages offered by individual counties.

“Right now the state pays for a portion of their (teachers’) benefits with their county, and we just extended that a few years ago too, the pay for 10 months to add two more months to what we pay for.”

He also said the state will be looking at the funding available for social workers and counselors.

“I think, finally, one of the things we really need to do is remove and lessen some of the restrictions that we put on the school systems. They should have a little bit more flexibility to get the outcomes that they need.”

Improving Interstate 24

Clarksville is one of the top-growing metros in the nation. In June, the Clarksville metro area experienced 122.3% growth in single-family home permits, and it was ranked fifth in the nation for the fastest growth in building permits issued for single-family homes.

Last year we were 14th in the nation for population growth over the last decade, and with that kind of massive growth comes infrastructure concerns.

One of the main concerns for residents and local lawmakers alike is the widening of Interstate 24 from the Kentucky state line to Interstate 65.

Both Clarksville’s City Council and the Montgomery County Commission listed the expansion of I-24 as one of their top asks for the state’s 2022 legislative agenda.

When asked about the state’s consideration of the project, Sexton said that though the interstate is federally funded, he believed Rep. Curtis Johnson, R-Clarksville, was in talks with the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the federal government to get the expansion prioritized.

“I’m sure Rep. Johnson is working with TDOT to get that on a priority list as they’re looking at it, and so I’m sure it’s on the list and they’re watching the traffic counts,” Sexton said of the expansion project.

“We know that the population increased because (in redistricting) Montgomery County added a third full (state House) seat. They had 2 1/2 prior to the last Census 10 years ago, and so it is one of our strong growing areas we’re having the watch the growth in,” Sexton said.

Medical marijuana

In December, Clarksville’s City Council introduced a resolution of support for statewide decriminalization and legalization of marijuana for medicinal use.

When Clarksville Now asked Sexton about the chances that decriminalization or legalization have for gaining support soon in Tennessee, he mentioned a pilot program that was close to passing in the House and made it to a full committee.

However, the bill failed when it made it to a second committee.

“I think the members are looking at it; I don’t think recreational (use) will, but medical has a shot. I think as long as the medical stays consistent with what medical types of treatment are, it’s a very good possibility,” Sexton said.