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BREDESEN DELIVERS 2008 STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS |
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6TH BALANCED BUDGET CONTAINS NO NEW TAXES; FOCUSES ON BASICS IN EDUCATION, SAFETY, JOBS AND HEALTH
NASHVILLE, TN (January 28, 2008) – Governor Phil Bredesen today delivered his 2008 State of the State Address and Fiscal Year 2008-2009 budget proposal to the 105th Tennessee General Assembly. The common sense, no growth budget, which calls for no new taxes, commits the majority of new state dollars to education and job creation.
“What I am proposing in this budget is to concentrate on the basics, putting our full attention tothose things that we need to do well to keep Tennessee moving forward in education, safety, jobsand health,” Bredesen said.
For the second consecutive year, the largest portion of the $27.88 billion budget – including $13.84billion in state dollars – will fund Pre-K-12 education and higher education. With a combinedappropriation of $8.41 billion, education represents 30 percent of the total budget.
Bredesen’s proposed budget commits $287 million in improvements for education, including:
$25 million to fund up to 250 new Pre-K classrooms
$5.3 million to increase retention of HOPE Scholarships by adjusting the required GPA for scholarship recipients to 2.75
$27 million to establish an endowment to provide need-based financial aid to 15,000 more Tennesseans who want to go to college
The total FY 2008-2009 budget is a 0.61 decrease over FY 2007-2008, with conservative budget growth of 0.38% in state funding. Federal funding growth also remains flat in FY 09 at less than one percent.
Other features of the budget proposal include:
$12 million to expand home and community based health care services
$29.3 million for an economic development jobs package
$1.3 million for a new TBI lab in Knoxville
$1.3 million for DNA analysis under the Johnia Berry Act of 2007
$5.6 million for the UT Biofuels Center and $4 million for the state’s alternative fuels initiative
$10 million for the Heritage Conservation Trust Fund
Bredesen emphasized he will resist efforts to irresponsibly raid the state’s reserves, which wouldretreat back to the fiscal policies that once threatened to bankrupt the state.
“I’ve made clear my commitment to running government in a competent and businesslike manner,”Bredesen said. “One of the legacies I would like to leave as Governor is the certainty that we can manage as responsibly through the good times as the bad. The steps we’ve taken over the past five years have positioned us to weather the current national economic slowdown. Tennessee is ready, prepared to live within its means, and we will make this budget work.”
Bredesen’s 2008 State of the State Address, proposed 2008-2009 budget and other related materials can be found at www.tn.gov; click on “State of the State Address 2008.”
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Peritus News 