In his State of the State address, Governor Phil Bredesen says he expects a federal stimulus to cushion Tennessee’s tumbling budget, but wants to position the state to emerge strong from the recession.
Until last week, Bredesen had been expected to present his budget for the year, which would’ve contained $900 million of budget cuts, or what he called “painful choices.”
But because the state is expecting billions from the stimulus that Congress is currently negotiating, Bredesen will wait to present his budget until March. Even so, he says there is no silver bullet.
“It is vital to remember that this stimulus money is one-time funds.
While there are doubtless states which will use this money to simply push the problem back two years, Tennessee will not do this.”
Bredesen says he hopes to position the state to capitalize on green energy when the recession winds down, particularly with a new institute researching solar power.
He also noted that much work remains to be done for higher education.
Bredesen says the recession has underscored for him a need for national healthcare reform. That prompted one lawmaker to suggest the speech was Bredesen’s pitch for the job of Health and Human Services secretary.
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Governor Phil Bredesen said in his State of the State address that he hopes to position the state at the end of the current economic recession to take advantage of a boom in clean energy technology.
“Green energy” will be a growth opportunity “even in traditional businesses, like auto manufacturing, and we have companies here in Tennessee that are world leaders in automotive innovation, from the development of electric vehicles to clean fuels,” he said.
Bredesen suggested the state might develop a “Solar Institute” to do basic research in practical solar power.
A hammered national economy was the keynote of the address. The governor delayed presenting a budget, waiting for more information on federal aid to come.
Bredesen said he had planned to present a budget that would have included $900 million of “painful choices.”
With the movement of a federal bailout package for the states in Washington, the governor said, he expects to present a different, but still difficult, budget in March.
“If the federal action is completed as we expect by the end of February, we will submit the Tennessee budget about three to four weeks later.”
Bredesen reprised his oft-delivered message that the state must tighten its budget belt anyway.
“Let me make it clear that no proposed version of the stimulus bill is any panacea or silver bullet; substantial cuts are still needed under any circumstances. Furthermore, it is vital to remember that this stimulus money is one-time funds.
When we present a budget in March, we will recognize the money we receive as temporary help, and present a multi-year outline for how we will use these funds to ease the transition from current spending levels to what we anticipate for 2011 and beyond.
In other words, we will use them to help soften the landing, not to ignore that the hard ground is there. And we will remain cautious about the use of rainy day funds, as no one knows how long this recession will last.”
Bredesen has said within the past week that he intends to hold onto rainy day funds to help ease the transition off federal stimulus funds in two years.
“We can’t fix the national economy, but we can do everything in our power to support the people of our state through these times,” he said. “And we can keep our eyes on the basics and make sure we are positioned in the best possible way when the economy improves again.”
The governor cited three principles for facing the economic challenge:
• “First, the principle of the “family budget”; that we honestly appraise how much money is coming in, and spend that much and no more.”
• “The second principle is to always stay focused on the basics, on those things that are most important for the long term success of Tennessee. These are
o education,
o the creation of good jobs, and
o the health of our people.”
• “The third principle is bipartisanship. As I watch our federal government struggle unsuccessfully with this, it makes me proud to live in a state with a long tradition of working together, especially when the waters get rough.”
Representatives and Senators stared politely as the governor mentioned bipartisanship. The House has been in the most bitter battle over control of the committees in living memory. The Republican Party the same day had excommunicated the Republican speaker, who had been elected with Democratic votes.
He commented that backup healthcare coverage like TennCare and the still-young CoverTN program – both programs with Bredesen trademarks – are “avenues of help.”
But he called his own programs “well-meaning but still patchwork.”
“This recession has truly underlined for me something that I’ve believed for a long time: that we need a national solution for health insurance. Our health care system has become antiquated and unfair, and I deeply hope that a new President and a new Congress can fashion the solution that Tennessee and America deserve.”
It was an interesting comment from a governor who has said several times in the past week that he has not been approached by the Obama administration about becoming the secretary of Health and Human Services.
After noting his administration’s improvements to the Basic Education Program, the BEP for kindergarten through 12th grade, he turned to higher education.
“Someone asked me not too long ago what I would work on if I could have a third term, and my answer was ‘higher education.’ It’s the remaining leg of the education stool, and while we have made huge capital investments, there is still a great deal of work to be done.
We lag the national averages in the proportion of our citizens who have post-secondary degrees, and if we let that continue, we’ll be pushed increasingly to the backwaters of the world economy.”
Rising tuition costs makes it more difficult for students to pursue a college education, he said. He called on the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees, the Board of Regents, and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission “to step outside the box and work with me and the General Assembly to figure out how we can keep higher education affordable, how we can get more kids to graduate; how we can fashion a true 21st century higher education system for our state.”
After citing the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga and the new Hemlock factory in Clarksville, Bredesen said that “despite the economy, or perhaps because of it, there is a lot of interest in Tennessee.”
“Solar power today is a tiny part of the power equation. It remains far too expensive, and it’s ripe for breakthroughs, there’s a lot of basic science to be done.
We have the pieces—the building blocks— here in Tennessee to be major players in this area. Thanks to you in this room, we are already a national leader in cellulosic ethanol— [liquid fuel from switchgrass] which is a form of solar power.
We have major industrial companies in our state with expertise and capital; Sharp in Memphis and here in Middle Tennessee, the multi-billion dollar new investments of Hemlock, which is the world’s largest supplier of polycrystalline silicon – the basic raw material for solar cells.
And most importantly, we have in Oak Ridge—in combination with UT Knoxville—the research tools like the supercomputer complex and the spallation neutron source that can provide the draw and gravitas not only for scientists from all over the world to come work here, but also for Tennessee’s brightest young math and science students to stay and contribute in the years ahead.”
WPLN’s Joe White contributed to this story.
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