General Assembly to Hear Governor Bredesen’s State of the State Address Monday
NASHVILLE – On Thursday State Representative Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville) and members of the House ended their first full week of the 106th General Assembly’s second session following the end of this year’s special session on education.
“We proved, during the special session, that we have the ability to work together as an elected body to improve Tennessee education system,” Pitts said. “It is time to put people ahead of politics to tackle some of the tough issues we face this year.”
This year the Legislature is set to face another tough fiscal challenge in balancing the budget. With another year of projected revenue shortfalls, the Legislature will have to once again look for fiscally conservative alternatives to close the gap.
“Families in Tennessee are struggling with the loss of jobs, lack of available and affordable health care, and escalating education costs,” Pitts said. “The members of this General Assembly must do everything we can to protect those needing help the most, our seniors, disabled, children and working families.”
The Legislature is slated to take up the budget later this year.
Governor Bredesen to Deliver Final State of the State Speech Monday
On Monday night, Rep. Pitts and fellow members of the General Assembly will hear the final State of the State Address from Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen.
“Governor Bredesen’s legacy is already emboldened as a man for all seasons,” said Pitts. “For nearly eight years this governor has put fiscal sanity and accountability at the top of his “to-do” list. He has made this state better for all Tennesseans, restoring our financial stability in his first term and expanding job opportunities in the second term through green energy jobs.”
In his speech last year, Governor Bredesen warned of the over $1 billion revenue shortfall facing Tennessee and called on the Legislature to work together to face the challenge. This year’s projections are not as grim, but Tennessee continues to face another year of lower revenue projections. It is expected that the governor will again call upon the House and Senate to put partisan differences aside to pass a balanced budget.
“The economy is improving, although not for everyone, and we are slowly seeing the fruits of that turn around here in Tennessee,” Pitts said. “However, we still have a long way to go and there are still tough choices to be made in the months ahead.”
Governor Bredesen is expected to deliver his State of the State Address before a joint session of the Tennessee Legislature Monday at 6 p.m. To watch the address live online please visit www.capitol.tn.gov
