Tennessee House Bill HB2375

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/2/26
• Refer: 2/5/26
• Refer: 3/11/26
• Refer: 3/24/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 9 and Title 67, relative to funding for rural counties.

Summary

HB2375 creates the “Greenbelt Initiative Fund Transfer (GIFT) Act” and establishes a new rural revenue equity fund within the state general fund. The bill states an intent to provide a recurring $210 million appropriation to the fund, which would be administered by the commissioner of economic and community development. Money from the fund would be allocated to rural counties based on a weighted scoring formula that favors counties with more greenbelt-classified land, higher agricultural receipts, more livestock or dairy farm output, smaller populations, and certain fiscal characteristics. Eligible rural counties could use the money only for capital improvements, infrastructure, law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, or property tax stabilization. To receive funding, counties must apply and pay an application fee, with the department retaining those fees to cover administrative costs. The bill also allows the fund to receive gifts or grants, requires investment of fund balances, prevents unspent money from reverting to the general fund, and requires annual reporting to legislative and executive officials.

Impact

The bill would add a new section to Tennessee Code Annotated Title 9 and create a dedicated state funding mechanism for rural counties. It would direct state general fund dollars into a special account and establish a statutory formula for distributing those dollars based on agricultural, land-use, population, and tax-policy factors. It would also define key terms such as “greenbelt classification,” “infrastructure,” and “rural county,” and would affect the budgeting and grant-administration responsibilities of the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests strong early support for the measure, with unanimous committee votes in both the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee and the full House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee. The bill advanced with recommendations for passage, including a referral to the Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, indicating general committee-level approval of the concept of targeted rural funding.

Contention

No committee transcript is available, and the recorded votes show no opposition in the committees listed, so there is little direct evidence of disagreement in the provided materials. Potential points of contention inherent in the bill include the size and recurring nature of the $210 million appropriation, the use of a formula that favors counties with extensive greenbelt acreage and agricultural activity, the application fee requirement, and the policy choice to prioritize rural counties that have adopted property tax increases or lack authority to levy development taxes or impact fees.