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Daily Dose for July 01, 2008
VW Announcement One Week Away
VW Announcement One Week Away -- Volkswagen will announce where they will locate their new US automotive plant on July 8, according to the Chattanoogan. The $788M plant will then be finalized by a board vote on July 15. Chattanooga is considered a leading contender for the plant - and recent activity at the Chattanooga industrial megasite has led to speculation that the deal will come through. Sen. Bob Corker recently hosted VW officials and state economic development officials at his home following a tour of the Chattanooga site.
War Funding May Have Saved DCS Workers -- A war funding bill signed by President Bush may have saved the jobs of some of TN's Department of Childrens Services. The bill also imposed a temporary moratorium on six Medicaid rule changes. One of those changes had caused Tennessee to lose $73M for DCS’ targeted case managers, or social workers. To keep services going, Gov. Phil Bredesen used TennCare reserve dollars to plug the funding gap until the end of the fiscal year. But unless Congress acted, Bredesen had said he would be forced to layoff about 160 DCS administrative employees starting today, the beginning of the state’s financial year. Now it looks like the jobs will be saved as long as the Medicaid rule remains in moratorium.
Memphis Gets New Schools Super -- Dr. Kriner Cash officially became the next superintendent of Memphis City Schools in a special meeting of the Memphis Board of Education Monday night. Among the first items on Cash's agenda is what to do about the Memphis City Council removing $66M from the schools' operating budget. That will likely mean staff cuts while the district considers a lawsuit to restore the money.
