Tenn. Legislature wraps up 2009 session - Nashville Business Journal:

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billion state budget that reflectsa 1.3 percent decreasew in spending from last year’s The session began this year with the dethroning of Democrat Jimmy Naifeh, who served two decades as Speaket of the House of Representatives before Republicanw took over both houses of the Tennessee Legislature for the firsft time since the Civil War. With a $1.2 billion shortfall in revenuethis year, few billsx with any fiscal note attached were able to and Republican legislators focused on bills that expanded gun rights and limited business taxes. Legislators didn’tg substantially change Gov. Phil Bredesen’s fiscal year 2009-2010 budget but did trim about $40 millio n in spending.
But Bredesemn says he is “pleased” with the revisions and says they largely reflect his spending outline first detaile din March. His budget proposal was uniquew because it wasa multi-yea r plan to incorporate the billions of dollars in federa stimulus funds Tennessee is entitled to under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which will flow througy state agencies over several years. According to the the 2009-2010 budget: Fully funds the Basic Education the state’s funding formula for K-12 • Provides an additional $11.
6 milliomn for new capital maintenance projects on higherd education campuses; • Fully funds economic developmenf projects currently underway, including in Bradley County, in Montgomery Countt and • Provides for developmeny of a megasite in West Tennessee, includingg a five-megawatt 20-acre solar farm as part of Bredesen’s Volunteer Statse Solar Initiative; • Utilizews bonds under a four-year plan to fund bridg replacement and repair.
The governor also says he is pleases the legislature passed hiskey bill, the Tennesse Clean Energy Future Act of 2009, whicy he drafted to help attract green business and greejn jobs to the state and leave Tennessee a national model for such inititiativee as his gubernatorial legacy. The bill requires statw government to overhaul its fleets and buildingas with more energy efficient productsand materials, and extends an emerging industrgy tax credit to qualified businessez in the clean energy technologt sector. It also creates a limited statewidre residentialbuilding code.