Governor Bredesen's budget priorities.

[bigendian]

The FY that ends on June 30 is supposed to leave us an estimated surplus of $93M and the projected surplus for 03-04 is expected to be $120M.
Here is a quick break-down of what the Governor has planned.

Department of Human Services, $118.5M.
It seems that Families First had an increase in families needing assistance the past three years. Cases are up 31% to 73,590!
Money will also be used for children's services and mental retardation. Some will be used to help the state comply with federal court orders.

Conservation, $10M.
This is for green spaces, wetlands, land acquisition, parks maintenance, etc.

Law enforcement and corrections, $7-8M.
A grab-bag of inmate fees, the meth war, sex offender tracking, and pedophile prosecution.

Education, $2-3M.
Mostly for Family Resource Centers in schools and some for scholarships.

While this budget isn't perfect it is more reflective of Democratic values than the "gimme" mindset of Senator Ramsey.

http://tennessean.com/government/archives/04/05/51039022.shtml?Element...

[Dufaeth]

1. Mr. B. rocks!

I'm always amazed that he wins down here.

[SharonAnn]

3. Yep, he's awesome. Wonder how he keeps his cool dealing

with the Right-Wing legislature. Yes, I know it's Democratic majority but some of them are voting to remove (not restrict) a woman's right to choose by putting it in the state constitution. What kind of Democrats are those?

I don't think he's right on the worker's legislation changes he proposes but he's right on everything else.

[bigendian]

2. oops!

"03-04" should be FY 04-05. I didn't get back in time to edit my post.

In reply to post #1:

What really amazes me is the number of people sucked into the neo-con vortex emanating from the wealthy suburbs. Bredesen's election showed that Tennesseans do have good sense...but only by a small majority!

[NashVegas]

4. If His Mayorship Record is Any Indicator ...

I expect to see him do great things for Tennessee, that will leave an unbelievable price tag.

We've got pro Football and Hockey teams, a wonderful public library, the Frist, and the new Country HoF.

OTOH, we've got a colossal gap in the school budget in spite of real estate prices that are, IMO, unjustifiably high for a city this size.

[SharonAnn]

5. With no income tax and no oil wells to tax, we have to tax where

we can. So sales taxes are high and maybe your property taxes are high, though I'm sure they're still very low by national standards.

[Claire Beth]

6. yep...

and I'm afraid the sales tax will continue to get higher.

[NashVegas]

7. sales taxes

with no income taxes, I don't mind the high rate, but I object to there being sales tax on food and medicines in the first place.

[SharonAnn]

8. With no income tax the money has to come from somewhere.

In Tennessee, the poor pay through the nose and the wealthy pay almost nothing.

[Claire Beth]

10. Sharon, you are sooo right!!!

I would support an income tax because it would be better for middle and lower class families. Sales tax is the most regressive tax there is.

[Claire Beth]

9. it's criminal to have sales tax on food...

I would support a state income tax if they would lower sales tax as proposed and take sales tax COMPLETELY OFF of food. The problem with sales tax is (and I used to work in sales tax division) TN is surrounded by states who have lower sales tax and/or NO tax at all on food items. We lose thousands of dollars for that reason to other states because we are surrounded by 7 other states who make it worth the while for people along the borders to purchase there. Sales tax is the most regressive tax there is. It hurts middle and lower income families more than any other tax.