Alexander Points to Massachusetts Election For Pause On Healthcare Overhaul

Republicans in Congress, including Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, are using Tuesday’s G.O.P. win in Massachusetts to call for a redo on the debate over healthcare.

Tennessee lawmakers say they want to know how state collages are setting
tuition before deciding how to fund higher education each year.

Middle Tennessee State University is one of the schools which might lose some state dollars if funding is based on the number of students graduating, as Governor Phil Bredesen wants.

The state department of education has turned in its application for the federal government’s Race to the Top program. The 11-hundred page document details how Tennessee’s schools would spend the just over $500 million, if the state were to win the grant.

The CEO of Microsoft told Nashville’s health care industry leaders Wednesday small physician practices are making the expansion of electronic records a challenge. Several companies based here could benefit from billions of dollars from the federal government to expand electronic records.

Pinnacle Financial Partners has no plans to payback $95 million from the U.S. Treasury in the near future. Nashville’s largest locally-owned bank reported 4th quarter earnings and said the economic outlook remains uncertain.

Nashville’s largest locally-owned bank foreclosed on $34 million of loans in the fourth quarter. Loan losses for Pinnacle Financial Partners grew from 1% of its total loans at the end of 2008 to more than 2.5% at the end of 2009.

Last night Nashville’s City Council overwhelmingly agreed to fund a new downtown convention center with a vote of 29 to nine. Mayor Karl Dean says construction will begin shortly, and he expects plans for an accompanying hotel to fall into place as well.

Tuesday, state lawmakers began work on Governor Phil Bredesen’s plan to create a single, unified community college curriculum for certain core courses.

First Tennessee Bank’s parent company is trying to make itself leaner and more versatile by limiting the kinds of business it does. But while officials say the restructuring will ultimately be good for First Horizon’s finances, the short term costs are high.