<<  <  >  >>

Tennessee

Phil Bredesen, Democrat

Legislature: Divided

First-Term Grade: B

adults and put strict limits on prescription

A businessman who made his millions in

drugs and doctor visits. What has hurt

the health care industry, Phil Bredesen contin-

Bredesen's grade lately is his inability to con-

ually reminded people of his opposition to a

trol spending in the budget overall. State

state income tax throughout his term. Instead,

spending has grown by an annual average of

Bredesen's crusade was going to be budget

5.5 percent in real per capita terms the past

restraint. He started out his term in bold fash-

two years. When a $272 million budget sur-

ion by declining to draw the governor's

plus materialized, Bredesen and the legislature

$85,000-a-year salary. Bredesen's headliner

conspired to spend it on bigger government,

proposal was his plan to control costs in the

including more money for TennCare. As

state-run health program, the outrageously

Bredesen's first term comes to a close, he can

expensive TennCare, which consumed nearly

brag about keeping Tennessee in the ranks of

one-third of the state budget at the time. He

the lowest-taxed states in the nation.

was able to remove all non-Medicaid-eligible

Texas

Rick Perry, Republican

Legislature: Republican

First-Term Grade: B

gross receipts taxes are widely reviled by econ-

On fiscal issues, Rick Perry has been a bet-

omists as an economy-sapping levy. It was an

ter governor than George W. Bush. Having

unnecessary move, too, since the state was

inherited the office when Bush became presi-

rolling in a $4 billion budget surplus. The

dent in 2000, he was elected in his own right

saving grace is that the tax plan that Perry

in a 2002 landslide on a pledge to oppose any

finally signed into law will result in a net tax

new or increased taxes. He has been very dis-

cut of nearly $1.5 billion in the first year

ciplined on the spending side: The budget

alone--quite a substantial achievement. Still,

has stayed mainly flat in real per capita terms.

some Texans have rightly been questioning

In 2004 Perry proposed a $6 billion property

why Perry insisted on tainting his plan with

tax cut, with a large cigarette tax hike of $1

an unneeded tax shift--especially onto the

per pack to offset the revenue loss. Over the

backs of businesses and smokers--when it

next two years, he also tacked on a brand-new

could have instead been a much larger net tax

gross receipts tax, which has the potential to

cut.

discourage business growth in Texas--indeed,

36