TN Speaker Calls Budget 'Compassionate'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A version of the state budget advancing in the House includes issuing bonds for bridge projects and higher education buildings and protecting most state employees from layoffs until April of next year.

Republican House Speaker Kent Williams of Elizabethton describes the spending plan as a "compassionate budget" because it doesn't include the deeper cuts proposed in the Senate Republican version.

The House Budget Subcommittee on Monday advanced the budget proposal sponsored by Democratic House Finance Chairman Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley on a voice vote.

Differences in the House budget include restoring about $5 million each for coordinated school health care grants, the Department of Children's Services and the mental health programs for families and children.