NASHVILLE - Senate and House Democrats have called on Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to call a special legislative session and use state surpluses to offset college tuition hikes and further reduce the sales tax on groceries.
"The money is there," Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, said at a news conference Wednesday. "The issue on the table is what are we going to do with the taxpayers' money? Are we going to help the folks who are trying to go to school, who are buying food, or are we going to hold it?"
He labeled the scheduled tuition increase a tax increase on students and their families.
Democrats voted with the Republican-controlled Legislature this year to reduce the tax from 5.5 percent to 5.25 percent. Democrats unsuccessfully argued the cut should have been deeper. Cutting the sales tax on groceries by a penny would cost about $85 million annually.
Democrats say state revenues so far this fiscal year are about $225 million above earlier estimates. They want to use $78 million to offset planned tuition increases that the University of Tennessee system is expected to approve today. The Tennessee Board of Regents system will vote on similar increases next week.
Haslam spokesman David Smith rejected Democrats' call for a special session Wednesday. He said the administration wants to be sure of its "budget commitments" before it spends funds "in an ad hoc way."
He mentioned "unknown expenses" such as TennCare inflation and education funding.
And regarding tuition increases, Smith said, "the governor has said and continues to believe we need to focus on higher education in Tennessee, and examining the cost structure is certainly part of that process. That shouldn't be done from a quick-fix perspective."
A spokesman for Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the Republican Senate speaker, said that when Democrats had control of the Legislature, they "had decades to address higher education tuition concerns and chose not to. The governor has made plain his intention to make higher education reform a priority next session."