Governor Phil Bredesen told higher education officials today that federal stimulus money may help soften the budget blow to colleges in Tennessee. But he warned them not to consider the federal money a free ride.
Bredesen says the stimulus check – amounting to a possible $3.8 billion — would only last through his term in office.
“We have got to feather this into a way in which we can, obviously, take advantage of the federal money which is coming in, but not leave, in this case, it would be the next governor…with some sort of a brick wall that you just can’t get over.”
Bredesen says higher education is run well in Tennessee, but he says there are underperforming programs that need a second look. While Bredesen is preparing $900 million in cuts to the state budget, he also says K through 12 education should remain unaffected.
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