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Daily Dose for December 10, 2007
Bredesen Calls Budget Short
Bredesen Calls Budget Short -- Gov. Phil Bredesen says the budget will be tight this year. That means that most state agencies aren't going to get their spending wish lists fulfilled next year, and some may to have to cut back on their spending for the current year. The state came in $136 million below projections in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The governor said that the budget situation wasn't helped by the Legislature's adoption of revenue estimates that were higher than the maximum range suggested by the State Funding Board. Bredesen: "Everyone got very enthusiastic at the end, and we're not going to have that much money come in."
Wharton: Mississippi Has Bad Air -- Shelby Co. Mayor A.C. Wharton is calling on the federal EPA to decalre DeSoto Co., MS in violation of air-quality standards so that it must join the regional effort to combat pollution. DeSoto's exclusion from the "nonattainment" area three years ago, which now encompasses Shelby and Crittenden counties, spared its businesses from stricter pollution-control requirements. Wharton's says DeSoto's exemption for the non-attainment area has hurt Shelby Co.'s chances at attracting new industrial development. Although the area remains out of compliance, pollution is declining steadily in Shelby and Crittenden counties - the remaining challenge, according to Wharton is for Mississippi to do its fair-share of money to continue to fix the problem.
Memphis Looking for New School Board Candidate -- Even amongst the growing federal investigation into the Memphis School District's bidding process for construction projects, the board is looking to fill Wanda Halbert's seat on the board. Halbert will resign from the board Dec. 31 to take a seat on the Memphis City Council, which she won in an October election. Veteran educator Freda Williams, retired sales executive James Sdoia and information technology consultant Rudolph Daniels are candidate to replace her who are interviewing with a special panel charged with coming up with a replacement.
Bredsen: Nursing Home Enforcement Too Strident -- Gov. Phil Bredesen called on Health Department officials to better explain a recent spike in enforcement measures against nursing homes. The state has suspended admissions to 21 nursing homes this year, up from 10 in 2006 and six in 2005. Bredesen says he has heard complaints from those in the nursing home industry that the department is writing up violations that they previously never wrote. Health Commissioner Susan Cooper, who was named to her spot in January, declined to speculate about changes compared with inspection standards applied under her predecessor. Bredesen says inspectors shouldn't be "young Turks" expecting to change the nursing home industry.
