NASHVILLE -- Senators this afternoon approved the state's 2015-16 appropriations bill, sending the previously House-passed $33.3 billion spending plan to Republican Gov. Bill Haslam.
The vote was 32-1 for the bill, which includes $165.8 million in grants for the expansion at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant for a new SUV line.
Senators then voted 30-0 to authorize $521 million in bonds in a separate bill, also passed earlier by the House today.
Finally, they quarreled over the budget-implementation bill. Minority Democrats objected to a provision that bars school boards in Hamilton and six nearby counties from using state funds, including the state portion of the Basic Education Program funding formula funds, in their funding lawsuit against the state.
Calling the measure punitive, Democrats said it would hurt smaller districts.
Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, defended the provision, saying it is "what I call the education-not-litigation amendment. It [money] should be used to teach children, not to go to court. It makes it clear that's what those funds are limited for."
The bill, along with the disputed provision, passed the GOP-dominated Senate by 29-4 and also now goes to the governor.