TN budget cuts could close longtime institution for people with severe disabilities

Nashville's Clover Bottom Development Center shutdown would save the state $36 million a year, By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • November 20, 2009 The only state institution in Middle Tennessee for people with severe intellectual disabilities could be closed under a plan introduced Thursday to cut spending. The Clover Bottom Development Center, an 86-year-old Donelson institution that at its peak housed more than 1,500 residents, could be targeted for closure in the next fiscal year if Gov. Phil Bredesen were to go forward with plans to slash the state budget by as much as 9 percent. The closure would save the state $36 million a year, officials from the Division of Intellectual Disabilities Services said. But it would also mean moving the 108 people who still live at the facility on short notice into another state institution in East Tennessee or into private facilities. "There must be great care taken in how we transition a person," said Debra Payne, the division's director. "I think we've been looking to downsize Clover Bottom, but I don't think the planning process has fully developed a plan." The plan was revealed on the third day of public hearings in which government officials presented suggestions for how to close a state budget gap that could reach as much as $1.5 billion next year. Previous suggestions have included releasing as many as 4,000 nonviolent felons and curbing benefits for people enrolled in TennCare, the state insurance program for the poor, pregnant women and children. Bredesen has not yet said which of those proposals he intends to take up, but at Thursday's hearing, he appeared to show some interest in closing Clover Bottom. "Closing a very old state facility and putting them in another facility … would seem to be a good thing," he said. Mary Schaffner, an attorney for the Clover Bottom Parent-Guardian Association, said her group would not be opposed to closing Clover Bottom, if its residents were transitioned safely into another state-run facility. The residents of Clover Bottom have disabilities that are too severe to be placed in group homes, and the care they need is too intensive to be trusted to privately operated facilities, she said. "With state-run, you always have a system of providing good care," she said. "Private ones go up and down in terms of making money." The plan would cut about 3.8 percent from the division's budget. Officials offered no other spending cut proposals, so Bredesen asked that they consider renegotiating contracts for other services, pointing out that only three states spend more per patient than Tennessee to care for people with intellectual disabilities. "I need you to go back and at least tell me if I really have to go there, what do I have to do, he said. "I don't think I'm imposing an impossible challenge." Safety cuts discussed In another hearing, Bredesen also heard officials from the Department of Safety describe possible cuts to that agency. Officials said they would have to remove 25 troopers from the state's highways, leaving 13 small counties without a trooper assigned to them, if Bredesen were to ask them to cut their budget by the full 9 percent. Safety officials also said they would have to close six driver license offices and cut staffing at others, increasing the expected wait time for a driver license to as long as two hours from the current 45 minutes.

Nashville Metro Council may hear convention hall, hotel financing plans separately

Some expect one vote on financing By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • November 20, 2009 A new study says Nashville could afford a $585 million convention center, relying in part on an adjacent hotel that would help generate the expected revenue. But questions remain about whether the city will build a 750-room hotel — an assumption used by HVS Consulting in its feasibility study that was unveiled this week. Mayor Karl Dean's administration has struggled to find private financing for the hotel, and officials have started saying a hotel financing plan might not be ready at the same time as the plan for the center itself. That concerns some Metro Council members, who will have the ultimate say on whether the convention center gets built. After hearing for so long that the center and hotel would depend on each other to drive business, they've been expecting to consider the financing plans as a single deal. We need to review them together," said Councilman Sam Coleman of Antioch. "If we're going to have half a chance with the citizens we represent, we don't need to do it in a two-part package. We need to have all the facts on the table and be square with people." Dean declined to say Thursday if the plans would arrive simultaneously. He said he's looking at a variety of hotel options and would make an announcement in early December, around the same time his administration is expected to share the convention center proposal with the council. But Dean and Marty Dickens, chairman of Metro's convention center authority, said the question to ask about the hotel is when, not if. "There will certainly be a hotel," Dean said in an interview after his keynote address to a Nashville hospitality industry summit. "The issue is the size, how it's financed. "As I've said several times, we're not going to build anything we can't afford. I'm not going to force the issue. I'm going to go about this protecting the taxpayers." Better off with hotel At an authority meeting earlier in the day, Dickens said the hotel wouldn't take as long to build as the convention center. "It's not about yea or nay on the hotel," he said. "It's the timing of the financing package." Tom Hazinski, managing director of HVS, said the average event at the proposed convention center would be smaller if the sales staff couldn't promise a large hotel next door. The hotel's presence would have a "cascading effect" on the visitor taxes and fees that would pay off the convention center debt. "My guess is you're better off financially with a hotel than without," Hazinski told the authority. In his speech Thursday about the need for the convention center, Dean urged about 150 people at the hospitality summit to help push the project "over the goal line." His administration is hoping to present the financing package for the center to the council in an informational session on Dec. 3.

Meds can interfere with blood thinner Plavix

Blood thinner used by millions By Matthew Perrone • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 18, 2009 WASHINGTON — Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke. The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing drugs Prilosec and Nexium cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix, known generically as clopidogrel. Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug's full effect. Procter & Gamble's Prilosec OTC is available over-the-counter, while AstraZeneca's Nexium is only available with a prescription. "Patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots will not get the full effect of this medicine," the agency said in a statement. Plavix is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With global sales of $8.6 billion last year, it's the world's second-best selling drug behind Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor. Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs. The FDA says patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family, which include Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Zantac. FDA scientists say there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix's anti-blood clotting action.

Seniors are likely to see Medicare insurance costs rise, benefits fall

Review options during enrollment, experts advise By Getahn Ward • THE TENNESSEAN • November 18, 2009 For next year, 67-year-old Anna Nickerson plans to stick with a HealthSpring private Medicare plan for medical and prescription drug coverage, preferring to ignore a heated marketing battle as rival health plans jockey to sign new members over the next six weeks of enrollment here. "I'm very pleased with everything I have," said the Nashville resident, who sat through pitches from two other plans last year and had a choice among 46 Medicare prescription drug plans available statewide when annual enrollment kicked off Sunday. Health insurance experts, however, say most seniors would do well to at least review their options. Careful study could be even more critical this year as consumers probably will see higher premiums and reduced benefits, including from many of the Medicare Advantage plans on the market. "This is probably going to be the wildest open enrollment period for Medicare since the launch of the drug benefit in 2006," said John Gorman, chief executive of Medicare consulting firm Gorman Health Group. Reimbursements fall Gorman estimates that Medicare Advantage plans, on average, had to reduce benefits or increase members' out-of-pocket costs by $40 to $80 a month to make up for a 4.5 percent reduction in federal reimbursements. The health plans are paid a set monthly fee by Medicare for each enrollee. HealthSpring didn't make any major changes for next year to its HealthyAdvantage plan in which Nickerson is enrolled, a spokeswoman said. But beneficiaries in the Franklin-based managed-care company's plans overall should see the value of added benefits drop about $60 a month or see their share of costs increase by that much, said Chief Executive Herb Fritch. "If they give us less, we can't provide the same level of benefits," Fritch said, adding that HealthSpring still offers some zero-premium options. Services that could face cuts include free transportation to doctors' offices, he said. Meanwhile, HealthSpring no longer offers separate "special needs" plans for people with high cholesterol levels and hypertension, after a mandate from Medicare's overseer seeking an overall reduction in the number of such plans. Beneficiaries in some plans from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, meanwhile, should see premiums rise and expect to pay more when they're hospitalized or undergo CAT scans and MRI tests. Rob Slattery, vice president and general manager for the insurer's senior care division, estimates a 10 percent to 15 percent adjustment on average through a combination of changes in benefits and pricing. He attributes the changes to the federal reimbursement cuts and patterns of usage by patients in the affected plans. On the other hand, BlueCross has expanded its lower-cost plan offerings, including rolling out a zero-premium plan in northeast Tennessee. And next year 45 more counties statewide — including several in Middle Tennessee — would have access to the insurer's Medicare Advantage PPO network. Slattery said that move would give beneficiaries a lower-premium option in anticipation of the end to such so-called private-fee-for-service products in 2011 for any county with two or more HMOs or PPOs. Extra benefits available During open enrollment through year-end, Medicare beneficiaries can switch to one of the private alternatives to traditional Medicare and/or enroll in a Medicare prescription drug benefit plan. Nationwide, 11 million people are in Medicare Advantage plans. Many seniors are drawn to the extra benefits offered by many such plans. But as with other HMOs, prior approval is needed for some services, and members are limited to certain doctors and hospitals for others. HealthSpring, for instance, added dental benefits to the HealthyAdvantage HMO plan in which Nickerson is enrolled. But there are restrictions on which dentists can be used. Helen Lee of Nashville is among seniors who have decided to stay on traditional Medicare, under which the federal insurance program for the elderly and disabled reimburses providers a fee for services. "It's like everything: It sounds good, but if you get down to the bottom of it, it doesn't," Lee said, expressing her suspicion of extra-benefit plans. Lee has a supplemental policy that costs about $330 a month to pick up expenses Medicare doesn't cover. For seniors, the variety of choices can create confusion. One mistake many make is thinking only about premiums, paying too little attention to such important topics as making sure their drugs are covered and that their key providers accept the plan, said Paul Precht, a spokesman for the Medicare Rights Center in Washington, D.C. Seniors can call 1-800-Medicare to get help searching among various plans for those that may best meet their needs and budgets.

Metro picked for jail analysis

By Travis Loller • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 18, 2009 For the next two years, national consultants will be looking closely at how Davidson County jail inmates fare when they leave confinement and how Nashville's sheriff's office prepares inmates to be released. Eventually, officials hope the pilot project can help them do a better job of providing inmates with services like drug treatment, anger management and job placement that can help keep them from re-offending and eventually make their communities safer. The U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections and The Urban Institute Justice Policy Center are sponsoring the pilot project. They began their work in Nashville on Tuesday. Local agencies in California, Michigan and Wisconsin were also selected to participate. Agencies in Colorado and Kansas were selected for the pilot program last year. Davidson draws praise Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said his jail has about 3,200 people behind bars on any given day and releases about 100 a day. The sheer volume of people entering and exiting the system can make intervention difficult, but it also provides a lot of opportunities. Humphries said one goal is to get social service agencies and community nonprofits to do "in-reach" into the jails, something Davidson County has already begun to do. Those agencies can then continue to work with the offenders after they are released. Humphries praised David son County for the work it has already done, calling it "far advanced over most jurisdictions." Jail programs director Paul Mulloy said the sheriff's office looked at recidivism rates in 2007 and found that 64 percent of those who did not receive help had returned to jail within a year while only 36 percent of those who received help re-offended in that period. Since then, he said, the jail has improved its interventions and is redoing its statistical research to see if recidivism rates have also improved.

Metro picked for jail analysis

By Travis Loller • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 18, 2009 For the next two years, national consultants will be looking closely at how Davidson County jail inmates fare when they leave confinement and how Nashville's sheriff's office prepares inmates to be released. Eventually, officials hope the pilot project can help them do a better job of providing inmates with services like drug treatment, anger management and job placement that can help keep them from re-offending and eventually make their communities safer. The U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections and The Urban Institute Justice Policy Center are sponsoring the pilot project. They began their work in Nashville on Tuesday. Local agencies in California, Michigan and Wisconsin were also selected to participate. Agencies in Colorado and Kansas were selected for the pilot program last year. Davidson draws praise Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall said his jail has about 3,200 people behind bars on any given day and releases about 100 a day. The sheer volume of people entering and exiting the system can make intervention difficult, but it also provides a lot of opportunities. Humphries said one goal is to get social service agencies and community nonprofits to do "in-reach" into the jails, something Davidson County has already begun to do. Those agencies can then continue to work with the offenders after they are released. Humphries praised David son County for the work it has already done, calling it "far advanced over most jurisdictions." Jail programs director Paul Mulloy said the sheriff's office looked at recidivism rates in 2007 and found that 64 percent of those who did not receive help had returned to jail within a year while only 36 percent of those who received help re-offended in that period. Since then, he said, the jail has improved its interventions and is redoing its statistical research to see if recidivism rates have also improved.

TN state fair's closing brings regret of Nashville leaders

By Michael Cass • THE TENNESSEAN • November 18, 2009 Metro Council members expressed a mixture of regret and understanding Tuesday over Mayor Karl Dean's decision to shut down the century-old Tennessee State Fair and the equally historic racetrack at the city-owned fairgrounds. The council committee that keeps an eye on the fairgrounds heard a presentation from the facility's management a day after Dean gave other tenants, like the flea market and Christmas Village, an additional six months to find new locations. The mayor wants to redevelop the fairgrounds after concluding that the fair and racetrack are no longer financially viable, but he said the other long-standing events should have until the end of 2010 to relocate. Dean had originally said the city would take control of the fairgrounds on June 30. "It's a sad day for our city," Councilman Sam Coleman said, adding that the city shouldn't "be so coldblooded in our moves." Councilman Rip Ryman, the committee's chairman and a longtime fairgoer, said he was sorry to see the fair leave after 100 years

Guns In Parks Back On Metro Council Agenda

Channel News 5 Posted: Nov 17, 2009 10:20 PM CST By Chris Cannon NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Metro Council members will once again debate the controversial topic of guns in parks. Tuesday night, Councilman Sam Coleman introduced legislation that would allow guns in nine rural Metro parks. Last August, the full council voted 22 to 18 to opt out of a Tennessee state law and ban guns in parks. Coleman feels guns should be allowed in parks that are in rural parts of Metro Nashville/Davidson County. "They are isolated areas. They are away from the inner-city, around children and people that are recreating at concerts. It just makes sense to have that protection if you are a gun carrying permit holder," said Coleman. In October, Coleman asked the Metro Parks Department to compile a list of parks it deemed rural or isolated. Park administrators came back to council with the list of nine parks that included Alvin Beaman Park and Greenway on Little Marrowbone Road, Bells Bend Park and Greenway on Old Hickory Boulevard, Cane Ridge Park on Battle Road, Couch Tract on Old Hickory Boulevard, Cecil Rhea Crawford Park on Cane Ridge Road, Hamilton Creek Park on Bell Road, Morgan Road Property on Morgan Road, Peeler Park on Neelys Bend Road and Vulcano Tract on Culbertson Road. "If you are a gun carrying permit holder it makes sense to be able to carry your gun in those particular parks," said Coleman. The full council passed the new bill on first reading without debate. It comes up for a second reading at the next council meeting. Email: ccannon@newschannel5.com

One Dead, One Injured In Early Morning Crash

News channel 5 Posted: Nov 18, 2009 6:52 AM CST Updated: Nov 18, 2009 9:00 AM CST ANTIOCH, Tenn. – A deadly early morning crash closed Franklin Limestone Road Wednesday morning. A red vehicle ran off the road around 5:30 a.m. and flipped onto its top - pinning the passenger. An eye-witness told NewsChannel 5 that the vehicle was speeding and lost control. The passenger died on the scene, and emergency crews transported the driver to Vanderbilt Medical Center in critical condition. Officials said the driver should be ok and charges are pending against him. Both the driver and passenger are in the mid-20s, and police said alcohol was involved.

Metro Parks Director Plans to Resign This Week

News Channel 5 11/17/2009 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Long-time Metro Parks director Roy Wilson announced Tuesday plans to resign effective at the end of the year. In an e-mail to 8 or 9 park employees, Wilson thanked his co-workers for their support during Monday night's Metro Council meeting. He asked for their forgiveness for any disappointment he might have caused. Wilson's come under intense scrutiny in the last couple weeks, in the wake of a $1.7 million budget shortfall. He was unable to be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

New advice: Skip mammograms in 40s, start at age 50

TN doctors may ignore task force's new guidelines By Stephanie Nano and Marilynn Marchione • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 17, 2009 NEW YORK — Most women don't need a mammogram in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50, a government task force said Monday. It's a major reversal that conflicts with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position. For most of the past two decades, the cancer society has been recommending annual mammograms beginning at 40, but the panel of doctors and scientists concluded that getting screened for breast cancer so early and so often leads to too many unneeded biopsies without substantially improving women's odds of survival. The new guidelines were issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose stance influences coverage of screening tests by Medicare and many insurance companies. Some Middle Tennessee doctors said they will ignore the new guidelines for now. "We've seen women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, and there is no simple recommendation that going to apply to all of them," said Dr. Denise Yardley, program director at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville. "We recognize limits of the mammogram, which is an imperfect test, but it has a long track record." The guidelines also said women shouldn't be taught to do monthly breast self-examinations, a suggestion a breast cancer oncologist at Baptist Hospital in Nashville said baffled her. Dr. Laura Lawson said many of her patients have been the first to find something wrong. "Would their survival be any different than if they waited another nine months? We don't know," Lawson said. "But I am sure that women don't want to find out." No changes planned Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group, said insurance coverage isn't likely to change because of the new guidelines. No changes are planned in Medicare coverage, either, said Dori Salcido, spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. Experts expect the task force revisions to be hotly debated and to cause confusion for women and their doctors. "Our concern is that as a result of that confusion, women may elect not to get screened at all. And that, to me, would be a serious problem," said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the cancer society's deputy chief medical officer. The guidelines are for the general population, not those at high risk of breast cancer because of family history or gene mutations that would justify having mammograms sooner or more often. The new advice says: • Most women in their 40s should not routinely get mammograms. • Women 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown. (The task force's previous guidelines had no upper limit and called for exams every year or two.) • The value of breast exams by doctors is unknown, and breast self-exams are of no value. Medical groups such as the cancer society have been backing off promoting breast self-exams in recent years because of scant evidence of their effectiveness. Decades ago, the practice was so heavily promoted that organizations distributed cards that could be hung in the shower demonstrating the circular motion women should use to feel for lumps in their breasts. The guidelines and research supporting them were released Monday and are being published in today's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Advice is challenged The new advice was sharply challenged by the cancer society. "This is one screening test I recommend unequivocally, and would recommend to any woman 40 and over," the society's chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, said in a statement. The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50s to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in their 40s to save a life is not, Brawley wrote. That stance "is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them," he said. The cancer society feels the benefits outweigh the harms for women in both groups. International guidelines also call for screening to start at age 50; the World Health Organization recommends the test every two years, Britain says every three years. Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women. More than 192,000 new cases and 40,000 deaths from the disease are expected in the U.S. this year. Breast cancer is Tennessee's third-deadliest form of cancer, claiming nearly 4,500 Tennesseans from 2001-05, the latest cancer death reporting period. Benefits debated Mammograms can find cancer early, and two-thirds of women over 40 report having had the test in the previous two years. But how much they cut the risk of dying of the disease, and at what cost in terms of unneeded biopsies, expense and worry, have been debated. In most women, tumors are slow-growing, and that likelihood increases with age. So there is little risk by extending the time between mammograms, some researchers say. Even for the minority of women with aggressive, fast-growing tumors, annual screening will make little difference in survival odds. The new guidelines balance these risks and benefits, scientists say. "It's an average of five lives saved per thousand women screened," said Georgetown University researcher Dr. Jeanne Mandelblatt. Starting at age 40 would prevent one additional death but also lead to 470 false alarms for every 1,000 women screened. Continuing mammograms through age 79 prevents three additional deaths but raises the number of women treated for breast cancers that would not threaten their lives. Breast cancer is Tennessee's third-deadliest form of cancer, claiming nearly 4,500 Tennesseans from 2001-05, the latest cancer death reporting period.

TN State Fairground events may get reprieve through 2010

Tennessean November 17, 2009 Christmas Village, the flea market and other events at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds — except for the state fair and auto racing — should be allowed to continue through 2010, Mayor Karl Dean said in a letter to the fair board chairman. Dean had previously said his administration would take control of the fairgrounds, which are part of Metro government, on June 30. In his letter to James Weaver, the mayor wrote that event organizers "have said that an additional six months is an appropriate window of time" to transition to new locations. But Dean said he continues to believe the century-old Tennessee State Fair and racetrack at the fairgrounds should be shut down now, based on a consultant's "comprehensive report." "My administration will continue to move forward with developing a framework for redevelopment of the site," he wrote.

Nashville Parks director finds council support despite budget overruns

Several council members say Roy Wilson runs well-liked department as budget has shrunk By Nate Rau • THE TENNESSEAN • November 17, 2009 Metro Parks Director Roy Wilson took responsibility for his department's budget overruns at a special joint meeting of the budget, finance and parks committees Monday. The parks board shared its plan to balance an anticipated $1.7 million overrun in this year's budget. Balancing the budget could mean laying off at least five parks employees and dipping into Metro's rainy-day fund to the tune of $850,000. Despite the fiscal woes, several Metro Council members offered their support for Wilson, saying he ran a well-liked parks system even though his department's budget was cut back year after year. The department's $28 million budget is $1 million smaller than it was seven years ago. "I think it's time for some move forward," said Councilwoman Vivian Wilhoite. While Wilson accepted responsibility for a $704,000 overrun in last fiscal year's budget, he pointed out that he had stayed under budget in the five previous years. Metro Finance Director Rich Riebeling promised his department would do a better job communicating with the parks department in the future. A resolution approving the special rainy day fund appropriation should go before the council by early next year.

Nashville apartment fire injures firefighter

Associated Press • November 17, 2009 1:30 P.M. Nashville man has been charged with setting a fire at his apartment building that injured a firefighter and displaced several families. WTVF-TV in Nashville reported that Robert Sibert was booked into jail Tuesday morning on a $150,000 bond for aggravated arson. Emergency officials were called to the apartment building south of Interstate 40 around 9 p.m. Monday night. Flames were shooting out of several sides of the building when firefighters arrived. Related Apartment fire in Hermitage One firefighter was transported to the hospital with minor burns to his face and Sibert was treated for smoke inhalation. At least 10 units had major damage, and another 10 had smoke and water damage. REPORTED EARLIER HERMITAGE, Tenn. -- Several families were left homeless and a firefighter was injured after an apartment caught fire in Nashville. Emergency officials were called to the apartment building south of Interstate 40 around 9 p.m. Monday night. Flames were shooting out of several sides of the building when firefighters arrived. WTVF-TV in Nashville reported that one firefighter was transported to the hospital with minor burns to his face and a resident of the apartments was treated for smoke inhalation. At least 10 units had major damage, and another 10 had smoke and water damage.

TN could release 4,000 prisoners to cut costs

Correction Dept. outlines plan for meeting budget By Chas Sisk • THE TENNESSEAN • November 17, 2009 Tennessee might release as many as 4,000 nonviolent felons, such as people convicted of drug dealing and robbery, under a plan outlined Monday by the Department of Correction to deal with the state's budget crisis. Correction Commissioner George Little said the department would have no choice but to recommend early release of inmates if it were to implement the budget cuts called for by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The department has already squeezed out savings by scaling back on roadside litter-removal crews and leaving about 400 positions unfilled, and it is relying heavily on federal stimulus funding in its current budget, he said. "This isn't scare tactics," he said. "We've got to make ends meet. … We would not propose these sorts of very serious and weighty options if we were not in such dire circumstances." The early-release plan, which Little laid out on the first day of state budget hearings, is meant to show how the Department of Correction would proceed if Bredesen were to go ahead with a cut of up to 9 percent from all state department budgets. The governor said the state may need to reduce spending by as much as $1.5 billion during the next fiscal year because of declining tax revenues and the end of the federal stimulus program. Bredesen, who will not finalize his budget proposal until early next year, said after the hearing that he would try to avoid so drastic a cut to the prison budget. "I obviously am not interested in returning hardened criminals back to the streets," he said. "But I've told each of them (departments) to come in and tell me, if I say you've got to have 9 percent, tell me how you can get it. … The best thing to do is to get all the possibilities on the table and sort through it." The governor also said equally tough cuts are contemplated for the Department of Children's Services. Victims group speaks out Verna Wyatt, executive director for You Have the Power, a Nashville-based victims rights group, said Children's Services and Correction are among the last departments the government should consider cutting. "I would rather drive my car over a pothole than have my son or daughter become a victim of a crime," she said. "Public safety — that should be first and foremost." To cut 9 percent, or $53 million, the Department of Correction would need to release about 3,300 prisoners held in local jails, Little said. That would save the department the $35 to $42 per prisoner per day that it pays local jails to cover the expense of housing inmates. Alternatively, the department could close one or two of the state's 14 prisons, a move that would result in the release of about 4,000 felons, Little said. Such a move probably would result in the release of more dangerous criminals, but it would prevent local sheriffs, judges and district attorneys from replacing inmates who were released with other criminals. Little said the department had not determined how long an inmate would have to serve before qualifying for early release. In either scenario, the department would aim to release inmates who had committed no worse than a Class C property crime, such as some forms of drug dealing or simple robbery. Class C felonies generally carry a sentence of three to 15 years. Prisoners who had committed less-serious Class D or Class E felonies might also be eligible. The state currently has about 19,700 people in its prisons, but the department already had plans to reduce that population to 18,500 inmates with the closure of the state prison in Whiteville when federal stimulus funding runs out next year. The program is also separate from an ongoing Department of Correction effort to reduce the inmate population by 3,000 prisoners over the next two years by fighting recidivism. "We've, frankly, exhausted all of our options other than, frankly, prison population management," Little said.