state jobs

People need to stop throwing out Phil Bredesen’s name as a potential Veep choice or Tim Chavez may lose it:

There are three hot-topic issues going on in Nashville as the Tennessee General Assembly winds down its 2008 session. The first deals with the unfolding saga of how we are going to select our Supreme Court judges (apparently, we're not).

From the Associated Press:

The state is paying a consulting firm up to $500,000 to help devise a buyout program to eliminate 2,000 state jobs from next year’s tight budget.

Uh, no one in state government is capable of managing the books? Bredesen says no, sir…let’s send the dollars northward.  By law, does this have to be put out to bid, or does the Governor just get to dial and send the check? Did he even offer any other companies an invitation?

Yes, our esteemed Governor Bunker is forced to cut State jobs to save save teh budget. NTTAWWT, but I think he should have kept a lid on all State...expenditures, for both of his elected terms. It seems that the lid came off after that re-election; legacy-building was in the plans.

Now, the layoffs are scaring rank-and-file Democrats who want to slather more largess on the unfortunates who

Yes, our esteemed Governor Bunker is forced to cut State jobs to save save teh budget. NTTAWWT, but I think he should have kept a lid on all State…expenditures, for both of his elected terms. It seems that the lid came off after that re-election; legacy-building was in the plans.
Now, the layoffs are scaring [...]

Rep. Mike Turner offers an alternative to Governor Bredesen’s solution to the budget shortfall:

State Rep. Mike Turner (D-Old Hickory) is pushing a $100 million budget amendment to prevent layoffs of state employees for one year.

Andy Sher has the details on what was originally though to be layoffs is now more like buyouts on new Bredesen hires.

From the article...

The Tennessee General Assembly

House of Representatives

Weekly Legislative Update From Representative Charles Sargent

TN Governor Bredesen plans to cut: 2011 state jobs, $25 million plan to add 250 public pre-kindergarten classes, $86.5 million in new money for K-12 schools, $55 million for higher education, plus $23 million previously planned for higher-education pay raises.
(Well, looks like no raise next yr).
TN isn’t alone, it’s even worse in FL. [...]