NASHVILLE - Senate Republicans officially on Tuesday released their ideas to plug state budget holes without major tax increases, drawing criticism from Democrats for their reliance on eliminating $113 million in one-time employee bonuses and other cuts.
Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen released a final version of his proposed $28 billion budget. It includes an additional $341.6 million in "contingency" spending that takes place only if Congress approves an extension of boosted federal funding for state Medicaid programs.
The main differences in the dueling spending plans boil down to Gov. Bredesen's estimated $150 million in proposed state tax increases and GOP proposals to slash spending on employees as well as eliminating $15 million in spending for land acquisition and agricultural enhancement programs.
The GOP plan shifts $34.9 million in ongoing spending for the remnants of the state's Career Ladder, a merit pay program for teachers, as well as $12.5 million in employees' 401(k) program, over to one-time funding, setting up the possible elimination of both programs in two years.
As he began outlining the GOP proposal, Finance Committee Chairman Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, cautioned that the plan is "not a final budget and it's not really a budget."
Instead, it is "simply a schedule" that lets Republicans "tell what we would propose to address the shortfall created by not passing those revenue measures," he said.
The GOP plan rejects tax increases, including the governor's call to raise $85 million through lifting a single-item sales tax cap on big-ticket items and another $21.1 million through increases in driver's license fees.
State Finance Commissioner Dave Goetz said the Bredesen administration is sticking by its proposal to provide the one-time $113 million bump in pay for state employees. Stuck in a 3-year-old hiring freeze, forced vacancies are running about 70 percent of authorized staffing levels across state government, he said.
"We're asking our employees to do a whole lot more and they've not had a raise in that period of time," said Mr. Goetz, who noted recession-battered revenues may preclude additional raises for perhaps another four years.
Republican Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the Senate speaker who is running for governor, has dismissed objections to the bonus cuts.
"I think most of us realize that at a time when we're laying off state employees and there are some cutbacks, now is probably not the time to be providing bonuses," he said.
Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, a Finance Committee member, said, "I think we have proposed a responsible budget amendment, but I need to look and compare it with the governor's budget amendment and see where the differences lie."
After Sen. McNally presented the GOP's proposals, Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, immediately challenged Republicans to put their ideas in writing and pass them Tuesday.
But GOP members on the Finance Committee were hesitant to move so quickly. Senate Speaker Pro Tempore Jaime Woodson, R-Knoxville, the No. 2 Republican, noted that the Bredesen administration only revealed its final plan to them hours earlier.
"I'm not sure I feel compelled to hustle up and, within a 24-hour period, make a series of significant decisions in haste," she said.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, aren't taking issue with proposed spending if the $341.6 million in additional federal Medicaid match funds materialize. Among other things, the administration is proposing spending $100 million to boost capacity in community colleges and $51 million to meet infrastructure commitments that officials are making to lock down two company relocations.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Education Association lobbyist Jerry Winters predicted the state's estimated 65,000 teachers are going to be "furious" over the GOP proposal to eliminate the one-time bump and the Career Ladder program for teachers. About 29,000 teachers receive supplemental pay stipends through the Career Ladder program already is being phased out.