Senate Speaker Ron RamseyNASHVILLE - Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says worse-than-expected revenue collections could force Tennessee to cancel planned pay raises for state employees and reduce planned investments in higher education.
The Blountville Republican told reporters at his weekly news conference on Thursday that he had not yet heard the outlines of fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's proposals to deal with the shortfall.
But Ramsey expressed a preference for finding the savings among bigger ticket items rather than spread among a large number of small projects.
The state's general fund revenues have fallen $260 million short of projections through the first seven months of the budget year.
Haslam is expected to release his proposed spending adjustments next week for the budget year beginning in July.