NASHVILLE — A top Bredesen administration official said this morning that voluntary buyout packages for 2,000 state employees will range from $23,459 to $46,132 in cash and other incentives depending on the workers’ years of state service.
State Treasurer Dale Sims told House Finance Committee members that he believes the buyout offers “are going to be successful.”
Gov. Phil Bredesen previously said the state would have to begin laying off workers this summer if not enough employees accept the offers. Layoffs would begin Aug. 4 if not enough workers accept buyout packages, according to a schedule presented by Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz.
But during this morning’s Finance Committee meeting, however, House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, announced Gov. Bredesen might go along with a House Democratic proposal that would keep him from laying anyone off until Jan. 1 when lawmakers return to work.
“We presented it as a legislative initiative, and the governor could go along with it,” Speaker Naifeh said.
The speaker said Gov. Bredesen also agreed to maintain state matching dollars for the state’s 401(k) retirement program.
Speaker Naifeh also announced House Democrats have settled on a $400 one-time cash payment to tens of thousands of state employees, teachers and higher education workers.
That is expected to cost about $48 million in one-time spending in a year in which no regular salary increases are on the table and health insurance costs are going up.
In comments made later to reporters, Speaker Naifeh broadly hinted that Gov. Bredesen didn’t like the idea of the one-time “bonuses” but would go along with it.
“The governor has accepted that it is a legislative initiative on the bonuses,” Speaker Naifeh said. “That’s not to say he is for that.”
Rep. Tommie Brown, D-Chattanooga, a House Finance Committee member, said the problem all along with the governor’s package was “the devil’s in the details.”
Last week, lawmakers’ efforts to finish their annual business were blocked by a group of House Democrats concerned about the buyout offer with the threat of possible layoffs.
“It raised my comfort level,” Rep. Brown said of the new details and safeguards proposed by Speaker Naifeh.
Gov. Bredesen is proposing to use $50 million in one-time money to offer buyouts in order to eliminate 2,011 workers and gain $64 million in yearly budget savings. The governor has said he needs the reductions to help him make $468 million in cuts to his proposed 2008/2009 budget.
Mr. Goetz said said officials hope to achieve the voluntary reductions, which would cut the state’s work force by 5 percent, by offering cash incentives, health insurance and offers of up to two years in free college tuition.
House and Senate Finance Committees are expected to meet later in the day. Lawmakers now hope to adjourn Tuesday.
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...
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