Bredesen criticizes highway fund, TennCare proposals

By John Rodgers, NashvilleCityPaper.com
April 20, 2006

Gov. Phil Bredesen singled out two legislative proposals Wednesday, saying putting some people back on TennCare and restoring the highway fund money would return the state to a “fiscal crisis.”

“What’s most ironic to me is that the same people who are pushing massive over-expenditures in places like the highway fund and TennCare are the very same people who spend the rest of their time preaching fiscal restraint,” Bredesen told a business group downtown.

“The reality is – this isn’t Washington D.C. This is Tennessee. We can’t print money. We have to live in the real world with balanced budgets.”

But some Republicans say Bredesen is trying to rouse fear about the proposals.

On pushing to restore TennCare, the “fiscal conservatives” Bredesen referenced were proposing a plan to add about 68,000 uninsurable people back onto TennCare. Last year, the state cut up to 191,000 people from the embattled program.

Bredesen said this plan would cost about $200 million “if we are lucky” and could go as high as $600 million.

“This would be a bad mistake,” Bredesen said. “It is fiscally reckless.”

Republican supporters estimate it wouldn’t cost that much, saying the plan would require $100 million or less.

One of the Republicans who previously backed the TennCare bill is Sen. Jim Bryson (R-Franklin), who is considered the Republican front-runner to oppose Bredesen in the governor’s race this November.

But Bryson withdrew as a sponsor of the bill Tuesday, saying he had some questions about the bill’s costs, although he disputed Bredesen’s $600 million estimate.

“I’m supportive of the concept of helping these uninsured people,” Bryson said. “I’m not exactly sure that this is exactly the way to go about it.”

After the speech, Bredesen said his decision to criticize the TennCare plan had nothing to do with “gubernatorial politics.”

“This thing was under way long before the gentleman announced his candidacy,” Bredesen said.

In addition to opposing the TennCare reform bill, Bredesen lashed out at the Senate Transportation Committee for voting to not take any money from the highway fund this year and give it to the general fund.

“This election-year scramble by a select few to cater to political interests actually does threaten the principles of sound budgeting,” Bredesen said after acknowledging Ray Bell, the owner of a major Brentwood-based road building company and an audience member.

Since Bredesen’s first budget dealt with a “massive shortfall,” the administration transferred about $65 million from the road fund to the general fund. It continued that in the next two budgets, and, in total, nearly $200 million has been transferred during Bredesen’s administration.

And in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, nearly $44 million was earmarked to be transferred, which is about $11 million less than the $55 million in this year’s budget.

The Senate transportation panel voted to not transfer the $44 million and, instead, maintain it within the highway fund, thereby restoring the highway fund money.

“The net effect is, they tacked on another $44 million to a budget that’s already tight, and frankly without any plan for where the money is to come from,” Bredesen said.

Sen. Mark Norris (R-Collierville), the chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, defended his committee’s actions, saying Bredesen is the “irresponsible” one and comparing him to a “kid in the candy store.”

“People are spending pennies every time they fill up, and they think, ‘Well, this is dedicated road money and we don’t borrow funds to build roads in Tennessee,’” Norris said. “They have no idea he’s using it on new pre-K, new health care programs. I mean, who’s the responsible one?”