NASHVILLE – The Tennessee State Employees Association wants Gov. Phil Bredesen to play Santa Claus and restore $50 million in previously planned bonuses for more than 40,000 state employees.
If necessary, the governor could call on the General Assembly to convene in special session to approve bonuses, TSEA President Phil Morson and the employee association’s executive director, Robert O’Connell, say in an “open letter” to Bredesen.
Bredesen spokeswoman Lydia Lenker had no immediate comment.
The bonuses, approved on a contingency basis by lawmakers, were canceled in October when revenue collections failed to meet projections. But in their letter, Morson and O’Connell note revenues for the first four months of the fiscal year are now running some $60 million over projections.
“Is there a way, as a parting gesture, for you to help?” the officials ask of Bredesen, who leaves office Jan. 15.
Morson and O’Connell note that employees have not received a pay raise in three years.
“Since the money is now there, is there anything you can do, either administratively, or otherwise, to bring the bonus back to life?” they ask in the letter. “Is a one-day special session of the General Assembly in early December a possibility?”