The second session of the 105th General Assembly wrapped up last night, with last minute compromises on lottery scholarships and passage of Governor Bredesen's proposed state budget with wide ranging cuts including the elimination of 2000 state jobs. The budget passed in the Senate 31-1 and 91-4 in the House.

The Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus talks about the session...

The lottery scholarship changes will help more students keep their HOPE scholarships. Senate Democrats had proposed lowering the required GPA to 2.75, but Republicans opposed it. The compromise bill lowers the GPA requirement to 2.75 for the first six semesters, and requires a 3.0 after that with an overall cumulative 2.75 GPA. Before the change, students were required to maintain a 3.0 through their sophomore year. Under those rules, 70% of HOPE scholarship recipients lost their scholarships last year, according to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

Democratic Leader Sen. Jim Kyle (D-Memphis) said "This compromise isn't everything that we wanted, but it moves the ball substantially down the field. If Tennesseans want a different lottery scholarship program, they need to elect more Democrats to the Senate," noting that HOPE scholarship changes championed by Senate Democrats will give 12,000 more students the opportunity to attend college.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Sen. Joe Haynes (D-Goodlettsville) said "Our goal is to increase the number of Tennesseans that get their college degrees. The previous retention standard yanked scholarships from students halfway through their college careers. That made no sense. The new standard will help hard-working students stay in college and get their degrees. The more college graduates we have, the better."

On the budget, Sen. Kyle said that "The national economic downturn had a major impact on the state’s finances, but Senate Democrats did what Tennesseans elected us to do, we balanced the budget without new taxes. We handled the budget in a business-like fashion, and we did this while addressing our priorities. We pressed on to expanded opportunity for college students, and we prevailed."

The Senate Democratic Caucus highlighted other accomplishments during the session:

• The Long-Term Care Community Choices Act sponsored by Sen. Lowe Finney (D-Jackson) and co-sponsored by the entire Senate Democratic Caucus sets up a system of long-term care designed to promote home and community-based services, reduce fragmentation of service delivery, and create one-stop shopping for information about long-term care options and delivery of services, among other provisions.

• The Tennessee Student Assistance Award Fund sponsored by Sen. Andy Berke (D-Chattanooga) transfers $200 million from lottery reserves into an endowment that will fund grants offered by the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation to provide financial assistance for higher education based on financial need.

• The Helping Heroes Act creates a scholarship program to provide up to $1,000 per semester for Tennessee veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that attend approved state institutions of higher learning on a full-time basis.

• The Tennessee Rural Health Act sponsored by Sen. Roy Herron (D-Dresden) and Sen. Steve Roller (D-McMinnville) creates a pilot program that will provide educational funding for Tennessee students studying to become health care professionals and who agree to practice in a health resource shortage area for one year for each year of funding.

Read more about these programs at the Senate Democratic Caucus website.