By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • May 8, 2009
A deteriorating economy is forcing the state to once again consider laying off state employees or cutting work hours, despite billions in aid from the federal government
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State revenue dropped for the ninth straight month in April, falling even more than expected. As a result, state officials said Thursday that they now have to reconsider assurances made by Gov. Phil Bredesen that the $4.5 billion fiscal stimulus plan had saved the state from painful cuts.
“Certainly layoffs or furloughs or something like that would have to be on the table at this point,” Bredesen said Thursday. “The stimulus money with the original budget allowed us to take layoffs off the table — in the short term anyway — and they probably are going to have to be back on the table.”
Actually, Tennessee is better off than California, headed for bankruptcy.
Tags: Layoffs | Stimulus | Tech & Biz
This afternoon a group of community progressives met at a Nashville Community Organizers event. Although many members of the group are involved with the Tennessee Democratic Party, membership or participation is open to anyone wanting to promote progressive issues in the state.
Tennessee is a red state (Republican) for those of you not familiar with our politics, although we have a Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen.
Republicans and Independents are invited to be part of Nashville Community Organizers if their interests are progressive. I think that means liberal to most of us.
Two local groups presented their grassroots activities, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation and Tennessee Health Care Campaign. Not all attendees agreed with the Tennessee for Fair Taxation agenda. And that was okay with the organizers. It is preferable that we hear both sides of the story.
I learned some interesting facts from the meeting. Tennessee has the most personal bankruptcies of any state in the USA. One attendee remarked the most of the bankruptcies were due to medical bills. One bipartisan fact I learned from the meeting is that our Republican senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, tend to vote progressively on healthcare issues.
The Nashville Community Organizers group was formed from those supporting Barack Obama.
