Facing a spate of legal battles with Tennessee cities and the federal government, the Attorney General’s Office enters the new fiscal year with a new “strategic litigation unit” and heftier budget.
As part of a $56.2 billion budget for fiscal 2023-24, the legislature approved 10 more positions at a cost of $2.25 million for Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, giving him a $52.95 million payroll for 363 positions with an average salary of $146,600. Including operating costs, the office’s budget will hit nearly $67.5 million July 1, up almost 9% from this year’s total. The total includes $5.1 million from a market adjustment recommended by the Ernst & Young study conducted for executive department pay.
That figure also contains more than $5 million for a grab bag of legal expenses such as filing fees, expert witness expenses and contracts, in addition to outside counsel on a wide variety of cases ranging from opioid litigation to TennCare investigations. The office spent $5 million on those items this fiscal year, matching the amount the state spent this year, and $6 million in fiscal 2021-22.
The 10-attorney special unit was discussed in-depth during budget hearings, Chief of Staff Brandon Smith said, and will focus on “proactive litigation defending the separation of powers and the constitutional rights of Tennesseans, the defense of state laws presenting significant federalism issues, and pursue transparency and accountability for certain corporate activities that undermine the democratic process and harm consumers.”
Not a full year into the job, Skrmetti doesn’t necessarily have a different philosophy than his predecessor, Herbert Slatery, but appears to be taking a slightly more active role against what he considers federal incursions.