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  1. <text id=93AT0747>
  2. <title>
  3. Tennessee--Economy
  4. </title>
  5. <history>
  6. Compact ALMANAC--United States Directory          
  7. Tennessee                                            
  8. </history>
  9. <article>
  10. <source>Compact</source>
  11. <hdr>
  12. Economy
  13. </hdr>
  14. <body>
  15. <p>FW Rank: 6
  16. </p>
  17. <p>1992 Rank: 5
  18. </p>
  19. <p>Population: 4.9 million
  20. </p>
  21. <p>Moody's bond rating: Aaa
  22. </p>
  23. <p>Standard & Poor's bond rating: AA+
  24. </p>
  25. <p>Governor: Ned Ray McWherter, Democrat
  26. </p>
  27. <p>Legislature: Democratic majority in House and Senate
  28. </p>
  29. <p>-- Ranking pluses: Replenished rainy day fund; increased
  30. efforts toward long-range planning, good Medicaid estimates;
  31. extremely responsible budgeting with high degree of caution
  32. regarding nonrecurring revenues; good program evaluation, wide-
  33. spread quality-management initiatives and emphasis on customer
  34. service and accountability (particularly in education ); very cautious
  35. accounting for budget as well as financial report;  GFOA Certificate
  36. of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting; extremely
  37. well funded pension.
  38. </p>
  39. <p>-- Ranking minuses: Underestimation of prison expenditures
  40. over several years; scheduled preventive maintenance somewhat
  41. below average for highways and bridges; somewhat imprecise
  42. revenue estimates.
  43. </p>
  44. <p>-- Comments: Last year's half-cent sales tax increase has
  45. added  $330 million to the school budget.  More money is being
  46. pumped into classroom supplies, including computers, reducing
  47. pupil/teacher ratios and especially into poor rural school districts; 
  48. But money isn't being blindly thrown at teachers.  State emphasizes
  49. accountability, including report cards on schools.  With his education
  50. program in its first year, the governor, who has a year and a half
  51. left in office, is turning his attention to major health care reform and
  52. hoping for waivers from Washington to replace the state's Medicaid
  53. program with a statewide managed care system that would provide
  54. universal coverage.
  55. </p>
  56.  
  57. <p>Source: "The State of the States," Financial World Magazine,
  58. May 11, 1993 (Vol. 161, No. 10); New York, NY.
  59. </p>
  60.  
  61. </body>
  62. </article>
  63. </text>
  64.  
  65.