Tennessee Governor Bill Lee unveiled a $52.5 billion spending proposal for the 2023 fiscal year and suggested providing Tennessee State University (TSU) with $250 million in funding.

"Today, I'm recommending a $250 million investment to improve the physical infrastructure at TSU," Gov. Lee stated on Monday.

The Republican-majority Senate must still pass Lee's proposal—though spirits are high over the matter, as TSU President Glenda Glover has already praised the governor's efforts.

"We are pleased that Governor Bill Lee made Tennessee State University a priority in his budget. Governor Lee has taken a crucial step in highlighting the state's commitment to our infrastructure needs, but more importantly to our students," Glover said in a recent statement.

"I really was shocked by it. I myself jumped up earlier," Harold Love Jr.—a state representative and TSU alumnus—added. "I'm hopeful, and I believe it will go forward."

Gov. Lee, who is up for reelection later this year,  also suggested that $60 million of his $250 million proposal should go towards financing the creation of a new engineering building for the university.

"I do think alum will be so happy to see this happen," he continued. "I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Tennessee State to go in and make those much-needed repairs so that it can attract many more students. It can attract the kind of faculty that students deserve to have [providing] instruction."

This proposal comes about a year after a bombshell report from the Office of Legislative Budget Analysis accused the state of underfunding TSU for years. Notably, the report estimated Tennessee owes the HBCU somewhere between $150 million and $544 million in unpaid land-grant funding—an amount potentially well above Lee's $250 million proposal.

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