Lawmakers outline 2026 agenda at legislative preview
West Knox County residents and community leaders heard directly from state lawmakers about priorities for the 2026 Tennessee General Assembly session, which began Tuesday, Jan. 13.
District 6 Sen. Becky Massey, District 7 Sen. Dr. Richard Briggs, District 14 Rep. Jason Zachary and District 18 Rep. Elaine Davis were among nine state leaders who spoke during the East Tennessee 2026 Legislative Preview, held Tuesday, Jan. 6, at the Bearden Banquet Hall in Knoxville.
The event was hosted by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative, libertarian-leaning political advocacy organization funded
by Koch family interests.
The group is backing a proposed state Regulatory Freedom Act, which would include reforms, such as repealing certificate-of-need laws in health care.
“Our No. 1 priority is going to be this big stack of books,” AFP Deputy State Director Michael Lofti said, gesturing to Tennessee’s regulatory code. “It’s never been printed off before.
“It’s the regulatory code — not the Tennessee Code Annotated, which is just the laws,” he
said. “This is just the rules and regulations on Tennessee’s economy, small businesses, large businesses and individual professions.”
“These are a lot of books with a lot of regulations,” Briggs said, adding that some of the volumes could double as seat boosters.
State Rep. Elaine Davis said she supports reducing regulations.
“I think that is very important to all of us — to remove some of those stumbling blocks so you can do your business,” Davis said.
Transportation was another major topic.
“We really have a crisis in the state of Tennessee on transportation,” said Rep. David Wright of District 19, which includes Halls. He said he and Massey recently traveled out of state to study transportation solutions.
“If I wanted to get from Corryton to here, I couldn’t build a road to get here,” Wright said. “We, as a governmental entity, need to work on infrastructure for transportation.”
“It is a challenge,” said Massey, who chairs the Transportation and Safety Committees. She noted newer vehicles get better gas mileage, reducing fuel tax revenue, while the cost of road construction continues to rise.
She added the interstates are the state’s responsibility while more people are moving to Tennessee and putting more wear and tear on the roads.
“We’re trying to look at responsible ways to increase revenue that do not burden any one place,” Massey said.
She said lawmakers need a multifaceted revenue approach that does not rely solely on tourism-related taxes.
However, “Our biggest challenge is going to be the budget,” Massey said. “Revenue growth projections are not meeting what our inflationary costs are, so we’re going to have some hard choices.”
Massey also discussed health care initiatives, including Tennessee’s participation in a federal rural health transformation program.
“We’re getting the federal government’s rural health transformation program,” Massey said. “That’s looking at doing a number of new, innovative programs — not investing in brick-and-mortar, not investing in things that need reoccurring expenses — but can help move the needle on the health of our citizens because we’re typically right around 40th, 41st worst state in the country in overall health of our Tennesseans.
“So, anything we can do that can kind of help there … we really ought to work on it,” she added.
Election integrity was another issue raised.
“This is important not only to Tennesseans, but to the whole country,” said Briggs, who chairs the State and Local Government Committee. He noted the Heritage Foundation recently ranked Tennessee No. 1 in election integrity.
“That doesn’t mean we’re not working to make it better,” Briggs said.
On another matter, “We have a lot of lower-income people who live in apartment buildings or low-income housing, and they would love to take a couple kids for day care,” he said, noting the current regulations would hinder that.
“Many of these people who want to babysit, they’re already on food stamps; they’re on TennCare; they’re on all these government programs,” Briggs said. “They would be able to take in a certain
number of kids, babysit them and earn a pretty good income.”
Also, Davis said she plans to introduce legislation promoting non-opioid alternatives for pain management, particularly in prisons.
“There are alternatives to pain treatment that are not opioid medications,” she said, adding she wants insurers to cover those options.
Zachary, a member of the Finance Committee, emphasized fiscal responsibility.
“The only thing we are constitutionally required to do as a legislature is pass a balanced budget,” he said. “You can’t balance a budget with one-time dollars.”
He credited tax cuts, reduced regulation and limited government growth with strengthening the state’s economy.
