Gov. Bill Haslam chats with a group of judges outside a meeting room after speaking to about 170 judges attending the Tennessee Judicial Conference on Wednesday June 14, 2011 in Chattanooga. Tenn. (AP Photo by Bill Poovey)BILL POOVEY, Associated Press
It will take several years for Tennessee state government to fully recover from the economic recession, Gov. Bill Haslam told state judges Wednesday.
Haslam said he is encouraged that there is even slow revenue growth after three years of decline. He told the Tennessee Judicial Conference there is still about $160 million in one-time federal stimulus money in the state’s leaner $30.5 billion budget just approved for fiscal 2012.
“It will take to 2014 to get revenues where they were in 2007,” the governor said.
Revenue figures released earlier this month showed the state has had 14 straight months of growth in sales tax collections. During the Great Recession, Tennessee posted its first ever full year of negative revenue growth in fiscal year 2008-09.