In response to a statewide budget crisis, Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist plans to slash or eliminate altogether several state grants distributed to local agencies. Among the endangered grants is the $1.5 million that was allocated to public libraries in the state budget passed by the legislature August 7 over Sundquist’s veto. Other programs affected include public television stations, incentive pay for police and firefighters, and school safety programs.
State Librarian and Archivist Edwin Gleaves told the August 26 Nashville Tennessean that $1.1 million of the grant is shared by the state’s four largest cities, with the remaining $400,000 going to services to the blind in Nashville and Memphis. Gleaves said the state library would freeze the grants until their status is clarified.
Falloffs in sales-tax collections are forcing Sundquist to cut $110 million in spending to comply with a law prohibiting end-of-the-year state deficits. With no income tax, nearly three-fourths of the state’s revenue comes from its 6% sales tax.
Posted September 3, 2001.