Chances are Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam knew he had the money to put where his mouth was in the State of the State address to the General Assembly Monday night.
The governor, for the second straight year, promised public school teachers pay raises. Last year, when state revenue collections tanked, he had to forego the increases. This year, the raises are technically 4 percent, though a disclaimer should warn as in a tax preparation television ad, "your raise may vary."
If he were to pull the rug out from teachers this year, there might be mutiny.
Similarly, Haslam's budget also fully funds the Complete College Act, which lost funding last year with the revenue shortfall and forced hefty tuition increases. The Act continues to move the state from funding colleges and universities for each student enrolled to rewarding them for moving students toward graduation.
Higher education also received $19.5 million for employee raises.
Since state revenue is still not exactly through the roof in a tepid national economic recovery, Haslam is also making $200 million in spending cuts. No department ever wants its spending cut, even if it may be the most mismanaged department in government, but state law requires the budget to be balanced.
In preparation for such cuts, the government asked all departments in hearings last fall to pare 7 percent from their budgets. Fortunately, few if any departments will have to take such cuts.
The budget calls for the elimination of 559 positions, including 305 from closing the Charles B. Bass Correctional Complex in Nashville (and transferring prisoners to other facilities) and 131 from the Woodland Hills juvenile detention facility in Nashville (which would be run by a private contractor).
Another 69 positions would be eliminated in the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, mostly through the transition of residents from Greene Valley Development Center to other facilities.
Agency officials around the state, including those from Orange Grove Center and Open Arms Care locally, feared the worst in assistance for individuals unable to help themselves and the families who assist them. However, the department took only a 1 percent cut and preserved entirely the Family Support program, a "last resort" fund which provides assistance for family members who cannot find assistance for certain things elsewhere.
The budget also proposes $47.7 million for a salary increase for state employees, but Haslam may get some pushback on whether or not some employees think it's much of an increase. That's because he plans to eliminate employee longevity pay -- a bonus of sorts of $100 per year of service that employees get after three years of service -- and roll some of the money into employee base pay.
Along the way, the governor closes a few corporate tax loopholes, increases the Health Maintenance Organization tax on insurance companies to help fund TennCare and expects 3 percent revenue growth (generating $300 million).
Haslam began his message by telling legislators the state of the state was in many ways "enviable," and he's right. Few other states are funding education improvements as the Volunteer State is, and few have an automaker [VW] which plans to nearly double its workforce in the state.
Enviable is not perfect, as last week's defeat of the governor's Insure Tennessee plan proved, but it's a good place to be.