Referring to his fiscal year 2008-09 budget recommendation as “back to basics,” Gov. Phil Bredesen proposed significant investments in research and workforce initiatives while vowing not to tap into reserves or raise taxes.
Earlier this week during his State of the State Address, Gov. Bredesen unveiled his ambitious budget proposal, which includes a total investment of $30.5 million in workforce initiatives. The Department of Economic and Community Development is slated to receive $29.3 million for the governor’s Next Steps Jobs strategy – $25.3 million for the FastTrack Infrastructure Development Program and Job Training Assistance and $4 million for business development. Additionally, $1.2 million – the same level as last year – is recommended for the Rural Opportunity Fund, a public-private partnership implementing a small business loan program targeted to small, minority and women-owned businesses in rural parts of the state.
To provide training grants to employers in order to create and retain high-skill, high-wage jobs in emerging fields, the governor recommends $9.3 million from the Special Revenue Fund for the Tennessee Job Skills Program.
Continuing a push to position the state as a leader in alternative fuels, Gov. Bredesen is asking lawmakers to approve $5.6 million for operational funds for the second year of the University of Tennessee (UT) Biofuels Center, which the governor’s office touts as capable of producing five million gallons of biomass-based fuel per year. Last year, lawmakers allocated $41 million for a pilot switchgrass ethanol plant – the centerpiece of the state’s alternative fuels strategy (see the June 20, 2007 issue of the Digest). Additional UT research initiatives slated for funding include: