Lee voices support for UT Promise

KNOXVILLE – A week after he gave his State of Tennessee address, Gov. Bill Lee was back in Knoxville and offered support of the UT Promise program, but said the state needs to work hard to lower the cost of college for everyone.

He made remarks to the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce Friday morning. After he gave a roundup of his speech and some key initiatives, Lee answered questions about the University of Tennessee’s announcement Thursday.

Interim President Randy Boyd announced the UT Promise program, which will cover tuition and fees for students with a household income of less than $50,000 a year at any UT System school.

“The University of Tennessee is developing their own strategy for attracting students,” he said. “We need to continue to work through the Higher Education Commission to keep college as affordable as possible in this state because we want to attract as many folks as we can to post-secondary (education).”

He stressed that all education, whether it’s done at UT or not, is important for the state.

“I think we should talk a lot about K-12 education and how it connects to post-secondary,” he said. “That’s why I rolled out the Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education, the GIVE Act, to create more pathways for vocational, technical and agricultural education for kids all across Tennessee.

“The more pathways we can provide, the more success our kids will have,” he said.

Getting FEMA assistance

In other news, Lee said the state will pass the Federal Emergency Management Agency damage threshold and plans on asking for assistance in the next few days.

“I’ve actually reached out to those in Washington to let them know where we are in the process and to prepare for that,” he said.

The flood damage totaled an estimated $43.5 million in Knox County. Much of that – $32.4 million of it – was done to business and residential property based on appraised property values and the other $11 million is public sector damage.

After the breakfast, Lee attended a ceremony at the Bassmaster Classic at the Knoxville Convention Center.

Considered the “Super Bowl of Bass Fishing,” the weekend events are expected to draw 100,000 visitors and have an economic impact on Knoxville of approximately $25 million, according to officials’ estimates.