The governor sat down with reporters today to talk about the budget, and there are some new details. When preparing his budget, the governor is going to use the low recommendation of $712 million from the state funding board. He said, though, that the state will have to cut less than that or more than that amount. However, he doesn’t want to prepare for $950 million in cuts if he doesn’t have to, because that would almost certainly involve layoffs.
So why the middle ground? There is hope that a federal economic stimulus package will bring money to the state. If that happens, the proposed 14.6 percent budget cuts might be slashed in half. That said, he doesn’t want to put all of his faith in the federal government that it will actually get this money to the states. However, he doesn’t want to set in motion 16-17 percent cuts if he doesn’t have to.
Now, a good deal of state money is in personnel costs, so I had to ask the same question I always ask: “How do you achieve the savings without layoffs?” We know the hiring freeze is in effect, but the governor said there are other options. He admitted there could be some selective layoffs, but is doing what he can to avoid mass layoffs. He also has the power to furlough people if he needs to. He says he wants to avoid that, but the option is on the table. He also is asking the legislature to approve some flexibility in civil service rules. One change would be to give him some flexibility in state office hours, and allow him to shut down offices temporarily or one day a week if he needs to do so. The other would allow him to lay off a worker and not force them to show up to work for 90 days afterwards. Instead, he would give them a check for 90 days of work and extend medical benefits. All of these ideas are still in flux, but we can expect to see a package including some of this stuff pretty soon after the state legislature convenes.
I didn’t blog yesterday, but the note went out to state departments that they would have to cut 14.6 percent in their budgets. Education and Corrections being two notable exceptions. Education will preserve BEP money and even get an inflationary increase. The governor has asked corrections to cut $40 million. He says asking that department to cut 15 percent would not be possible without closing a prison, and that’s not going to happen.
There are some other reasons to hope the state will see some funds that deal with federal Medicaid dollars and a pending lawsuit dealing with Tenncare roles, but everyone seems eager to see what the federal government can do for Tennessee.
