Tennessee Democrats urge Governor to call summer session
June 28, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Democrats in the State Legislature have asked Governor Bill Haslam to call a special summer session in order to address the issues of college tuition and sales tax on food.[1]
Democrats and Republicans have been battling for months over what to do with tax revenues that have consistently outpaced projections.[1] This request for a summer session comes after previous calls by Democrats to block a planned tuition increase at the University of Tennessee and Board of Regents schools and the request to speed up plans to reduce the food tax by one-quarter of a percentage point.[1]
However, according a statement made by the current Haslam administration following the request from Democrats, it did not want to make budget decisions outside the usual cycle. Haslam spokesperson David Smith stated "We want to be sure we have a complete picture of what our budget commitments will look like before we interrupt the budget process and start spending funds in an ad hoc way."[1]
Lawmakers can go around the Haslam and call a special session on their own, but only if two-thirds of all lawmakers agree. Democrats currently hold about one-third of the seats in the State Senate and State House of Representatives, and they said they would consider petitioning lawmakers for a special session if Haslam declined to call one.[1]
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