We would like to give a BIG thank you to those that stood up against this budget. We are tired of “compassionate” things in government it equals money.
Look for the “Compromise”
With the exception of the staggering of the bonds, we got everything we wanted,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner of Old Hickory.
Senate Republicans had earlier proposed deeper budget cuts and rejecting bonds to pay for buildings on state college campuses and bridge projects. But Democrats and a group House Republicans headed by Speaker Kent Williams of Elizabethton, balked at that approach and fought to restore several of those cuts.
The proposal passed Wednesday includes issuing bonds for all scheduled higher education projects, and staggering bridge bonds into $87 million increments over each of the coming four years. Democrats had previously wanted to bond all $350 million at once.
The approved budget plan also includes paying for the state’s entire pre-kindergarten program with general fund money.
Senate Republicans had previously suggested drawing $22 million of pre-K funding from lottery reserves, which Democrats, including Gov. Phil Bredesen, had criticized as a first step toward scaling back or ultimately killing the program targeted at 4-year-olds from poor families
The amended budget would add back in $5 million in family support grants for mental health, $4.9 million in grants for school health and $4.5 million more for the Department of Children’s Services, lawmakers said in interviews before the vote.But nearly 1,400 jobs would still be eliminated, including 717 workers who would be laid off, mostly in the Department of Mental Health and the Division of Mental Retardation Services.
The state also would go ahead with plans to issue $40.3 million in bonds to acquire 1,700 acres in West Tennessee for a “megasite” industrial park and solar farm, and it would borrow $157 million for university buildings, including a new education and behavioral sciences building at Middle Tennessee State University. Senate Republicans had earlier proposed cutting those spending measures.
Sources Tennessean, Forbes
List of some of the close. Republicans that votes yes
Harry Brooks, Knoxville
Bill Dunn, Knoxville
Richard Floyd, Chattanooga
Dale Ford, Jonesborough
Michael Harrison, Sneedville
David Hawk, Greeneville
Ryan Haynes, Knoxville
Matthew Hill, Jonesborough
Susan Lynn, Mt. Juliet
Gerald McCormick, Chattanooga
Jason Mumpower, Bristol
Frank Niceley, Strawberry Plains
Speaker Kent Williams, Elizabethton
REPUBLICANS VOTING NO
Mike Bell, Riceville
Stacey Campfield, Knoxville
Vance Dennis, Savannah
Joshua Evans, Greenbrier
Joey Hensley, Hohenwald
Brian Kelsey, Germantown
Jon Lundberg, Bristol
Jimmy Matlock, Lenoir City
Tony Shipley, Kingsport
Eric Swafford, Pikeville
Terri Lynn Weaver, Lancaster
DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
John Mark Windle, Livingston
Related posts:
- Democrats will give you bridges, roads, and “stimulus” projects, but pass debt to your children and let your house burn down. Happy Days Are Here Again!
- The Majority of Tennessee State Lawmakers Refuse to Release Public Records
- Camp4u: Graduated income tax part of budget
- Camp4u: Show me the money!!!
- University pushes for new medical school in Tenn. – WRCB Channel 3 Chattanooga News
