NASHVILLE – State lawmakers on Thursday night sent Gov. Phil Bredesen legislation that rewrites Tennessee’s higher education funding formula to lift substandard graduation rates at the state’s public colleges and universities.
House members voted 93-2 in favor of the bill. Senators, who passed the measure earlier in the day, quickly concurred with changes on a final 31-0 vote.
Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, a co-sponsor of the measure, later said the state’s “economic future depends on graduating more of our citizens from college. Today we took a step forward to make sure that’s a priority for our colleges and universities.”
Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, was one of the two “no” votes in the House. He said he has reservations about lawmakers moving so quickly in handing off funding formula changes to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.
“We don’t know what the funding formula will do, but I suspect it’ll lean toward helping Knoxville (University of Tennessee-Knoxville) and (University of) Memphis to the disadvantage of all the other schools,” Rep. McCormick said, later noting, “I may be wrong, but we haven’t had time to figure it out.”