Recapping 2008: Major News Announcements from Governor Bredesen

 

Governor Phil Bredesen heralded Tennessee’s progress in education with the adoption in January of elevated graduation requirements and improved standards by the State Board of Education. The new math, science and English standards have been revised to be more competitive at a national level. “These improvements are essential stepping stones to Tennessee’s students possessing the knowledge and skills to be at the top of their chosen professions,” said Bredesen. “Adequately educating our young people is, and always should be, Tennessee’s top priority.” In July, a national report by Achieve Inc. recognized the success of Tennessee for its efforts to align education standards with real-world demands to increase student success.

 

Pre-K Now, the nation’s leading pre-kindergarten advocacy group, lauded Governor Bredesen in April for leading Tennessee’s march toward high-quality voluntary pre-K. In its annual “Leadership Matters” report, Pre-K Now singled out Bredesen as one of 16 governors working to expand pre-K even in the face of budget and political pressures. Pre-K Now cited Bredesen’s proven commitment to high-quality pre-K and his bipartisan political strategy as key to the expansion of Tennessee’s program since 2004. Tennessee’s pre-K program is nationally recognized, meeting nine out of 10 quality standards developed by the National Institute for Early Education Research. In March, NIEER ranked Tennessee’s pre-K program among the top states in the nation for the third consecutive year for the quality of its design. Tennessee’s pre-K program currently operates in 94 counties and serves 17,000 four-year-olds in more than 930 classrooms.

 

 

On December 15, Governor Bredesen joined state and local officials and company executives to announce Hemlock Semiconductor’s plan to locate a polycrystalline silicon manufacturing operation at the Commerce Park megasite in Clarksville. The facility, which will produce a primary component used in the manufacture of solar panels and other energy equipment, will mean an investment of $1.2 to $2.5 billion dollars by the company and the creation of 500 jobs, with the potential of employing up to 900 people within five to seven years. If plans are fully implemented, the project would become the largest announced corporate capital investment in Tennessee history. “This shows Tennessee’s commitment to becoming a significant player in the development of ‘green collar’ jobs related to clean energy technologies,” said Bredesen. “With this announcement, Hemlock Semiconductor and Dow Corning have signaled a major shift in the direction of Tennessee’s and the nation’s economies.”

 

 Volkswagen Group of America Picks Chattanooga

On July 15, Governor Bredesen and other government officials joined Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, for an event to announce Volkswagen had selected Chattanooga as the site of the company’s manufacturing operations for the U.S. market. “I believe Volkswagen chose Tennessee because of our shared values, our commitment to innovation and our strong respect for the environment,” said Bredesen. “This project will have a significant impact on the economy of Tennessee and the region for decades to come.” Volkswagen will invest more than $1 billion to build a state-of-the-art assembly facility at the Enterprise South Industrial Park creating more than 2,000 jobs. Initial production capacity for the facility is anticipated to be 150,000 vehicles. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2011.

 

Bredesen led a trade mission to Germany in October. The delegation of more than 40 Tennesseans visited Volkswagen’s global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany and held briefings about Tennessee for the automaker’s supplier community in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich. “This is an important step in Tennessee’s relationship with Volkswagen and its suppliers,” said Bredesen. “I’m convinced that if we make suppliers aware of Tennessee’s nationally recognized business climate, we can create even more good paying jobs for the people of Tennessee.”

 

Site Selection magazine, one of America’s leading economic development publications, awarded its annual Competitiveness Award in May to Governor Bredesen and ECD Commissioner Matt Kisber. Tennessee has been listed among the nation’s top 10 states in Site Selection’s annual ranking each year it has been published and this marks the second time Tennessee has placed first. “Through strong business cycles and down periods, Tennessee has focused on building the infrastructure and the workforce to attract higher skilled, better paying jobs,” said Bredesen. “The investments we’ve made have been prudent and positioned our state for the next generation of new jobs.” In its November issue, Site Selection also ranked Tennessee the second-best place in the country to do business, the state’s highest ranking ever.

 

 

Governor Bredesen established the Governor’s Task Force on Energy Policy in March. The Task Force, which held eight meetings across the state from April through December, was charged with developing a state energy plan to make Tennessee a leader in energy efficiency and conservation, use of alternative fuels and renewable energy sources, and the development of clean-energy technology. In September, the first ever Summit on Clean Energy Technology, co-hosted by Bredesen and Senator Howard Baker, explored practical ways to move Tennessee forward in the clean tech sector and ensure the state is at the leading edge in creating high-quality jobs that support clean energy and the environment. On December 16, Bredesen signed Executive Order #59 requiring use of efficient Energy Star qualified equipment and appliances in all executive branch state agencies. Additional executive orders and legislation are expected in 2009 as state government improves efforts to “lead by example” in the areas of energy efficiency and conservation.

 

In July, Governor Bredesen announced a partnership between the University of Tennessee and DuPont Danisco to advance the state’s clean energy technology initiatives. The partnership is constructing a pilot-scale biorefinery and state-of-the-art research and development facility for cellulosic ethanol, or ethanol from non-food sources. The design of the biorefinery will incorporate the flexibility to operate on two different biomass feedstocks – corn stover, cobs and fiber; and switchgrass. On October 14, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC and the University of Tennessee Research Foundation, through Genera Energy, LLC, broke ground for the innovative facility in Vonore, Tenn.

 

 

Governor Bredesen joined legislators and long-term care advocates in June for a series of ceremonial bill signing events across the state to mark the passage of the Long-Term Care Community Choices Act of 2008. In his January State of the State address, Bredesen marked 2008 as the year to deliver on his promise to expand alternatives to nursing homes for elderly and physically disabled residents. "This is a wholesale approach to improving the way we handle long-term care in our Medicaid system,” said Bredesen. The changes to the TennCare program, the state's largest single payer of long-term care services, allow $1.2 billion in TennCare funds to be more evenly divided between traditional nursing homes and home- and community-based service providers. Prior to the new law, nursing homes received 98 percent of long-term care funds in Tennessee.

In January, Governor Bredesen focused attention on improvements to the programs of Cover Tennessee with the addition of vision benefits to CoverKids, the comprehensive health insurance program for children. He continued the program’s benefit expansion in August with the inclusion of dental coverage and the launch of an online application at www.CoverKids.com, which allows for easier enrollment access. Changes for CoverTN came in the summer, when Bredesen announced a new eligibility category known as Tennesseans Between Jobs, which provides insurance access for the recently unemployed. In September, improvements to CoverTN’s benefit plan were unveiled, which include double the number of doctor visits and no premium increase for the coming year, which will be effective January 1, 2009.

Governor Bredesen accepted the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids’ highest honor, the Champion Award, for exceptional leadership in the fight against tobacco use, which is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Bredesen was commended for his leadership in proposing, championing and signing into law three pieces of legislation designed to protect Tennesseans from the life-threatening effects of tobacco use. In August, the Tennessee Primary Care Association presented Bredesen with the William V. Corr Award of Excellence, presented annually for outstanding leadership and commitment to bringing primary health care to underserved communities and for outstanding leadership resulting in health policy development or innovative implementation. "Strengthening the safety net of health care services and improving access to care is an important priority and an accomplishment of which we can all be proud," said Bredesen. "I'm honored to accept this award on behalf of numerous organizations and advocacy groups, as well as the state Department of Health and other agencies that have played a significant role in this effort." 

The month of February brought some of the most ravaging severe weather to Tennessee in recent history. On February 5, multiple tornadoes struck from Memphis to Macon County, resulting in 33 deaths and 191 persons injured. Governor Bredesen asked President Bush and the federal government to move quickly to declare affected Tennessee counties as federal disaster areas. To date, recovery efforts have provided more than $9 million in federal disaster grants and loans to Tennessee citizens in 19 counties. State and local governments can expect to receive a combined total of more than $12.5 million in reimbursement funds for the disaster.

 

In April, Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte received the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victim Service Award, which was presented to Conte by U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey at a ceremony in the nation’s capital. This national award honors extraordinary efforts in direct service to crime victims. Conte, a former victim of violent crime, is a leading victims’ rights advocate in Tennessee and around the country. “I am honored to be selected to receive this award, and to accept it on behalf of all the crime survivors, young and old, who have touched my life deeply in meaningful ways,” Conte said.

 

This year brought historic appointments by Governor Bredesen to the courts and to the Tennessee Regulatory Authority. With his appointment of Sharon Gail Lee of Madisonville, the Tennessee Supreme Court is now composed for the first time of a female majority. In September, the Court itself also made history when it selected the Honorable Janice Holder as its first female Chief Justice. Another Bredesen judicial appointment was that of Camille R. McMullen to the Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Section, which marks the first time an African-American woman has served on an appellate court in Tennessee. And Mary W. Freeman, appointed jointly by Bredesen, Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey and Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh, became the first African-American woman to serve on the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.

 

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