The governor's annual speech to the Tennessee Press Association usually is an occasion for announcements of major new initiatives. Tonight, Phil Bredesen was left to deliver the news that we may not have to lay off thousands of state workers after all. And that's thanks to federal bailout money working its way through Congress, not anything Bredesen has done. "I am committed to doing anything I can to help state government preserve jobs," he told the TPA. The poor governor basically ran out of anything important to talk about after a few minutes. So he launched into meaningless promises and minutiae.

And just because we don't have the resources we've had in years past, it doesn't mean we're going to lose our momentum. We made some great progress in all of those priority areas in the past year ... even though we didn't have a whole lot of money to do it with.

Then he mumbled something about new teaching assessments, the establishment of the Office of Open Records Counsel, and a new Internet portal that he's working on. (We kid you not.) The complete text of the speech follows. Knock yourself out. BREDESEN ADDRESS TO TENNESSEE PRESS ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 5, 2009 Thank you, Tom [Griscom] for that introduction. Thank you all for allowing me to join you this evening. I'd also like to acknowledge my colleagues in the Legislature who are joining us today. It's been an emotional and tumultuous few weeks - but I am ready to get down to work with all of you as we continue progress on making Tennessee an even better place to live and work. For seven years now, I've had the privilege of joining you for your winter meeting. As always, I thank you for the invitation, and for your years of friendship and counsel. Thank you also for your continued support of the Books from Birth Foundation. With your help, all of Tennessee's 375,000 children under five now have access to the Imagination Library. In good times and bad, the importance of getting our kids reading at an early age and preparing them to learn remains a priority. Now, more than ever, that program needs your continued support - and I thank you for it. I'd like to use this opportunity tonight to fill you in on where we are in the process of preparing the budget. As for the budget situation - I certainly pride myself on having a steady hand on the tiller - but sometimes I think it might appear "too" steady. In this case, I don't know that I've done a good enough job communicating just how serious the budget situation is. To put it in perspective, the nation's economy is facing the worst financial crisis since World War II, and we're experiencing an historic downturn here in Tennessee as well. That does not mean we can't manage through: thanks to the good decisions we've made over the past six years, we are well positioned to weather the storm. But we are going to have to work together. Whatever pain we are feeling in state government, there is a great deal more pain out there among people who have lost or still fear losing their job, or their home. And the fact is that we in state government have got a job to do - providing vital services for Tennesseans - we've got to keep up with that, and in tough times more than ever we have a responsibility to deliver those services and help people in times of need. The reality is that we will still need to make some difficult and painful cuts - even with federal stimulus money that may come in, which we will only be able to use over a two year period ... we need to be level-headed and responsible, because we don't know how long this economic situation is going to last. For the past year, as the economy steadily headed south, families across the country have been forced to sit down at the kitchen table and reassess their budgets - making some difficult choices. The state of Tennessee has had to do the same thing - we've returned to the drawing board many times as the economy continued its downward turn and revenues fell below even conservative estimates. We've been forced to make some tough choices. You'll remember that we started out a year ago with a flat budget - back then the national economy was just beginning to soften, and no one was anticipating what ensued. In the spring, with revenues well below what we anticipated, we had to go back and cut another $468 million. Those were difficult cuts, but in some cases, it was an opportunity to do things better. Though I hate to admit it, I always ran my business better in the lean times ... as they force you to take a good long look at how you do things. The same opportunity exists in state government. To cope with that shortfall, we instituted a hiring freeze and worked to reduce travel. With our voluntary buy-out program, we reduced the size of state government by 1,500 employees. We asked departments to rethink the ways they deliver services to taxpayers - and they did. Human Services took the opportunity to become a more efficient agency - and both Correction and Mental Health are excellent examples of agencies that are doing the same now as we prepare for next year's budget. Revenues continued to decline, and by the time we were ready to start preparing our proposed budget this fall, we were anticipating a shortfall of around $900 million state dollars. We drew up a budget with what I consider to be deep and painful cuts - 15% in most departments. This is 15% on top of those cuts we made last spring. The one thing we did not touch was the state's funding formula for K-12 education and pre-K programs, the so-called the "BEP." We continue to keep education our top priority. At this point, we've seen considerable progress on the federal stimulus package - as you all know the House has passed the bill and it looks like the Senate will. It appears that we should soon know what's in the package. So legislative leadership and I have agreed that it makes no sense to present the budget until we have that information - and we have decided to postpone the deadline for filing it - probably until late March. We can be certain that the federal money will change things significantly - for example, we have been looking at the need to lay off about 2,300 state employees - which would be particularly painful at a time when we know there would be few other immediate opportunities for those employees in the current job market. But it looks like we are now going to be able to drastically reduce that number. I am committed to doing anything I can to help state government preserve jobs. The great thing about Tennessee is that we've always been a state with a good deal of common sense. That - along with good decisions we've made in the past - serves us well in times like these. And just because we don't have the resources we've had in years past, it doesn't mean we're going to lose our momentum. We made some great progress in all of those priority areas in the past year ... even though we didn't have a whole lot of money to do it with. Education, for example - we made great progress in education last year, with a new set of standards that align our schools' expectations with the demands of college and the 21st century workplace. Teachers are already teaching those new standards - and we are now working on developing appropriate and honest assessments to make sure our students are learning what they need to. As we continue in this work to improve education, there are bound to be some schools that aren't where they thought they were ... many schools' scores may be lower than they've been in the past. It will be important not to be blindsided by this, and keep sight of the fact that all of this work is aimed at being honest with ourselves about how we and our schools are really doing. --- Before I close, I want to talk briefly about an issue of particular importance to this group: openness in government. In my career in public service, I've taken great pride in overseeing open, honest and ethical administrations, both as Mayor here in Nashville and as Governor. I fundamentally believe that while it may make things more difficult in a narrow sense, government works much better in the larger sense with great transparency. I am committed to this; it has become a fundamental part of how I believe one should approach public office. As you all know, one of my first acts as governor was to completely open up the budgeting process. I believe it created a much healthier atmosphere in Tennessee and served to improve the confidence of the public in their government. We continue our work to make government more transparent to all Tennesseans. The establishment of the Office of Open Records Counsel has helped open access to local government. It gives media organizations and taxpayers across the state guidelines for record requests - and somewhere to go if they are having trouble getting access to what they need. In addition, establishing that office has provided regulations on timelines for the delivery of all record requests. I will acknowledge that the system isn't yet perfect - but it is a big step forward. Another area of transparency we are working on is a new web portal that will provide additional insight into the operation of state government. Over time, that resource will grow to include more information for the public, eventually including making up-to-date state expenditures easily accessible. A handful of other states - Georgia and Kentucky among them - have sites like this up and running, and I am committed to seeing Tennessee join them this year. In closing, I'd like to re-state my commitment to working with the General Assembly in the best interest of Tennesseans as we manage through the budget shortfalls. We are well positioned to do so. The reserves of this state are vastly higher than they have ever been in the past. That has made this year a difficult year as opposed to a disastrous year. I am also committed to maintaining the fiscal soundness of this state. I have always viewed my position as Governor as a steward of the state. One of the things that is important to me is to leave this state in a sound fiscal situation for my successor, whether Democrat or Republican. Many Tennesseans are facing very difficult times right now. All of you in this room - in the unique position you hold in your communities - know that perhaps better than most. You are in touch with what people are going through financially and emotionally. You see and hear firsthand their stories. I believe the best thing that we in state government can do for people right now is continue to manage ourselves responsibly - so we can provide what support we can to those who need it. I ask for your help as we continue to serve our citizens and continue to keep Tennessee strong. Thank you.