Bredesen safely navigates another legislative session

NASHVILLE (AP) — When Gov. Phil Bredesen walked into a room full of House Democrats late Friday, there was some question if they were with him on plans to cut TennCare.

A GOP-led effort to tinker with Bredesen’s TennCare cuts was attracting Democrats and the governor said he feared a budget fiasco.

But after 30 minutes of straight talk from the state’s top Democrat, it became clear few would defect from the administration’s plans.

It was probably the closest that Bredesen ever came to real trouble this legislative session with his agenda. And really, it turned out to be just a hiccup.

Once again Bredesen got almost everything he wanted out of the General Assembly: an expanded pre-K program, money to conserve land, a broadened attack on methamphetamine and his sweeping TennCare cuts. And no new taxes of any consequence.

Bredesen, standing among leaders from both parties after the legislature adjourned Saturday, was careful to thank everyone for bipartisan support.

“I think it’s a healthy thing for our state,” Bredesen said. “If we fall into the Washington mode of partisan votes, we could be in a lot of trouble here. Thankfully the leaders of both parties have very carefully avoided going down that path.”

There was some grumbling from liberal Democrats, and Republicans who were anxious to use an extremely rare GOP Senate majority, as the session went along. Both were able to massage the state’s budget, but it was Bredesen’s agenda that carried the day.

After Bredesen’s third legislative session, it is clear who is running the state’s policy.

“I think that the governor has a relationship with the House that is extremely close, and with the Senate he’s gotten what he’s wanted,” said Sen. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat who has confronted Bredesen a number of times. “The legislature has gotten less and less independent and I don’t understand why. I don’t know why it’s that way.”

Bredesen, who carries a lot of popularity in a conservative state, has put Democratic lawmakers from liberal districts in a bind. They want to follow their party’s top politician in the state — but that often leads them into uncomfortable positions.

Rep. Mike Kernell, D-Memphis, was among the Democrats who listened to Bredesen’s speech urging them to go along with the TennCare cuts and not put more money into the program.

“There are a lot of Democratic legislators who worry about losing in their primaries (for supporting TennCare cuts),” said Kernell, who voted for the Republican plan to add money. “Overall the governor has been at odds with many Democrats over the past couple of years on TennCare.”

Senate Republicans were just learning to work with their new majority, a slim 17-16 edge that saw a Democrat retain the powerful speaker’s post.

Still, the GOP put its stamp on the pre-K plan by making sure it was focused on poor children and requiring the governor to ask lawmakers again next year for $25 million in lottery funding, said Sen. Jim Bryson, R-Franklin.

“I think when you talk about the governor getting the majority of his package, that’s true,” Bryson said. “We don’t have a majority in the House, so we had to work with what we have. But I think we did a good job of doing some things to make the governor’s package better.”

Many groups with a conservative bent, like the National Federation of Independent Businesses, liked Bredesen’s work again this year.

State director Rob Ikard said his group was pleased to see the governor back one of its most important issues this year, a delay of complicated sales tax collection rules.

“I think generally he has a pro-business approach,” Ikard said.

But social justice advocates — a traditional ally of Democrats — have been incensed with the governor for pushing through plans to cut between 226,000 to 323,000 people from TennCare.

Susan McKay, a Nashville resident who joined others at the Capitol lamenting the cuts, said she won’t vote for Bredesen again and may choose a Republican in 2006.

“I’m beyond disappointed because I know that people in the Bredesen administration are smart that could have been implementing reforms 2 1/2 years ago to fix TennCare rather than cut it,” she said. “But in my opinion they did nothing.”

Bredesen said he is looking ahead to cost-saving benefit limits on TennCare and new ethics legislation following the scandal that saw four lawmakers arrested in the session’s final days.

“Even during challenging times, or, I should say, especially during challenging times, the state of our state is strong,” he said.

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On the net:

http://www.state.tn.us/governor/