NASHVILLE — With a nudge from Gov. Phil Bredesen, House Speaker Kent Williams and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey met eyeball to eyeball Wednesday and struck a tentative deal on the state’s budget.
“He got us back to the negotiating table, with his comments, and I appreciate him for that,” Rep. Williams said of Gov. Bredesen’s effort to break a weeks-long impasse on the proposed $28 billion 2010-11 budget.
Rep. Williams, an Elizabethton independent, said he “felt like it’s time we have to make an agreement and get out of here and save the taxpayers some dollars. We don’t need to be down here any longer. We’ve been here too long already.”
The speaker said in the end he agreed to give up on a $16.1 million fish hatchery in his district that he hoped would create 22 jobs and generate more through tourism.
Sen. Ramsey, R-Blountville, who is running for governor, later held an impromptu news conference, telling reporters that “we’re working out details to make sure there’s no misunderstanding.”