February 3, 2004

Don Sundquist Could Not Be Reached For Comment

I wonder what former Gov. Don Sundquist is thinking today as he reads the news about the budget proposal from his successor, Gov. Phil Bredesen. After all, for four years Sundquist insisted three things about the budget that Bredesen is busily proving false;

Sundquist insisted the budget could only be truly balanced – that is, without resorting to accounting gimmicks or using reserves to fund one year of recurring expenses - by the adoption of an income tax. Bredesen's budget does so without requiring passage of an income tax.

Sundquist insisted there was no way to balance the budget by making significant cuts in state spending because all the fat and waste had already been cut. Bredesen is balancing the budget by forcing his department heads to trim the rate of growth of spending.

And Sundquist insisted TennCare was neither the cause of the state's budget crises nor could be reformed to save the state significant dollars. Bredesen, armed with an independent study saying TennCare is a budgetary black hole, has just proposed a balanced budget that relies heavily on reforming TennCare and saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

In short, Bredesen's governance is proving false the entire organizing principle of Sundquist's second term

No wonder Bredesen is at 72 percent in the polls.

Ah, but not all is as the Bredesen camp would have you perceive. While Bredesen's image is that of a budget-cutter, the fact is that Bredesen has not actually cut spending. The numbers don't lie.

The fiscal year 2002-03 budget was $20.722 billion, including $9.659 billion from state funds. The current fiscal year budget (2003-04) as passed by the legislature was $21.8 billion, including $9.924 billion from state funds. (It is estimated the state will actually spend $22.201 billion this year – more than the legislature appropriated.)

Bredesen's proposed budget for fiscal year 2004-05 would have Tennessee state government spend $23.845 billion, including $10.655 billion from state funds.

In short, Bredesen proposes to spend $3.123 billion more in the coming fiscal year than Sundquist's final budget, just two years ago – including almost $1 billion more ($996 million) in state funds.

Bredesen has increased spending from state funds – that's your taxes and fees, folks – by $1 billion in two years. And he's increased overall spending by $1.56 billion per year

Some other highlights of Bredesen's proposed budget:
The state's "rainy day" reserve fund, which currently holds $178 million, will grow to $233.5 million by the end of '05. The budget lays out a goal of increasing the reserve to $430 million, though sets no timetable.

Spending from the general Fund – the lion's share of the budget, funded primarily by sales tax revenue, will grow more than $1 billion in the coming year, from $19.721 billion this year to $20.793 billion next year.

Spending on TennCare will grow by $1.087 billion this year, including $350 million from Tennessee tax revenue and the rest from federal dollars.

You can read the Bredesen budget proposal for fiscal year 2004-05 at This Link