Bredesen may get everything he wants again this year
NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Phil Bredesen batted pretty close to 1.000 in his first year as governor, getting nearly everything he asked for from the Legislature.
Whether he can do it again this year depends on four major issues: reforming workers’ compensation, cutting the cost of TennCare, equalizing teacher pay and approving a budget.
Of those, workers’ comp and TennCare are potentially the most divisive.
But the governor has considerable leverage on TennCare. As a former health care executive, his knowledge of the subject is respected; everyone admits something must be done to curb the costs; and he carefully laid the foundations for his changes in and out of the Legislature.
Bredesen plans to cut benefits for TennCare, the state’s health care program for the poor and uninsured, and it looks like his plan will pass relatively unscathed.
“The one I care most about getting passed in a form very close to what I submitted is the TennCare legislation, because a lot of very specific thought went into that,” the governor said. “I expect the General Assembly will make some changes, but do largely what’s been submitted to them and I’ll be grateful for that.”
Rep. Randy Rinks of Savannah, the Democratic Caucus chairman in the House, agreed there may be “a little tweaking” of the TennCare bill, but not much.
“There are huge expectations and a lot of confidence in the governor to fix TennCare, and I don’t think anyone wants to be seen as standing in the way,” he said. “It’s a danger for any member or special interest. Everybody has to be careful not to get in front of that train.”
Sen. Ron Ramsey of Blountville, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, agreed. “I don’t believe the Republican Caucus is prepared to get in the way of it,” he said.
Lawmakers understand that Bredesen is using the Legislature to make the TennCare changes. He could make many of the changes administratively, but the courts and the federal government will give them more weight if they’re written into law.
It might be noted that it also helps spread the blame around if the changes don’t do the job.
“It’s a smart political move,” Ramsey said.
Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, is a longtime critic of TennCare. He said he expects the governor’s proposal to be more politically difficult for Democrats because they traditionally are more likely to side with the advocates for the enrollees, who are not happy with the benefits reductions.
In this assessment he is joined by the chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Joe Haynes of Goodlettsville.
“These reforms being suggested are very difficult for Democrats,” Haynes said. “We’re being dragged kicking and screaming because we know from a fiscal responsibility aspect, it’s necessary. I’m willing to toe the line. … I don’t think he’d be governor today if it wasn’t for the TennCare issue.”
The issue of workers’ compensation is more difficult because no bill has been presented. That remains a work in progress, and by most accounts, a difficult one.
But workers’ compensation seems most likely to split the Legislature along partisan lines — labor vs. management, trial lawyers vs. doctors — rather than pitting the Legislature against the governor.
Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, said he’s starting to get worried about the workers’ comp bill. “I don’t see a lot of movement,” he said. “The governor is serious. I’m just not sure how serious everybody else is.”
Nevertheless, Bredesen continues to maintain that he expects to sign a workers’ comp bill this year. Without some reform, he says, Tennessee will continue to lose business to other states.
There is a consensus that the issues involved in balancing teacher salaries will be worked out within a week or so. The budget will fall into place once the other three issues are settled.
And so it appears that once again Bredesen will get most of what he wants.
Curtiss’ assessment of the TennCare revisions could serve as a broader observation of the General Assembly this year: “The reality of that is we have to trust him.”