TN.gov Newsroom

 

NASHVILLE — Governor Phil Bredesen today announced that two national ratings services have recently returned Tennessee’s bond rating to the highest available level. Moody’s Investors Services has raised Tennessee’s rating from Aa1 to Aaa. The action comes on the heels of a recent step by Fitch Ratings to adjust the state’s rating from AA+ to AAA.  

Tennessee is not alone in ratings upgrades by Moody’s and Fitch. The agencies have been recalibrating state and municipal debt ratings across the nation to bring them in line with ratings in other sectors.  

 

NASHVILLE – Governor Phil Bredesen has appointed 30 men and women to serve on 21 state boards and commissions.

 

“We depend upon the leadership and commitment of citizens like these Tennesseans to serve our state through its boards and commissions,” said Bredesen. “I appreciate their readiness to serve, and I am confident they bring the experience and knowledge necessary to be valuable members of their respective boards and commissions.” 

 

NASHVILLE – Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte today participated in a Crime Victims’ Rights Week event to remember individuals in Davidson County that have been touched by violent crime. National Crime Victim’s Rights Week, co-sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime of the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Victims of Crime, is April 18-24, 2010. The theme of this year’s observance is Crime Victims’ Rights: Fairness. Dignity. Respect.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Governor Phil Bredesen addressed more than 300 Knox County high school seniors along with parents and school leaders Thursday night at the annual News Sentinel Academic Achievers banquet. Bredesen spoke of his own high school experience and the importance of that experience in shaping his success in college and professional life.

 

“I can now look back at my time in university, in business, as Mayor of Nashville, and now as Governor, and I know: there was something about my school in Shortsville that helped me get to, and succeed in, each of these ventures,” Bredesen said. “School didn’t only shape me as a student; it also helped shape me as a human being. Schools matter. They mattered to me, they mattered to you, and they will matter to Tennessee’s future generations.”

 

 

 

 

NASHVILLE — Governor Phil Bredesen announced today that Tennessee is one of just two states selected to receive millions of dollars for education in the federal government’s Race to the Top competition. The U.S. Department of Education announced Tennessee and Delaware as the competition’s first round winners earlier today.

 

Tennessee will receive approximately $500 million to implement its comprehensive school reform plans over the next four years.

 

“This is a landmark opportunity for Tennessee,” said Bredesen. “Our success in Race to the Top speaks to the commitment we’ve made to meaningful and significant improvement in public education, and the funds provided by the grant will carry us forward in a dramatic and positive direction.”

NASHVILLE – Tennessee First Lady Andrea Conte tonight hosted a presentation in observance of Women’s History Month. The event featured Belmont University History Department Chair Dr. Brenda Jackson-Abernathy, Ph.D., who gave a presentation entitled “Courage in a Corset: Civil War Nashville through Women’s Eyes.”

 

“This is the second in a series of events we’ve designed to both entertain and enlighten participants,” said Conte. “We rarely hear an account of this chapter in our history from a woman’s perspective, and Dr. Jackson-Abernathy’s discussion of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of women living right here in Nashville was particularly interesting and moving.”

 

NASHVILLE – Tennessee has been selected by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) to participate in the Policy Academy on Shaping a New Approach to Transportation and Land Use Planning. The state will develop a Corridor Management Agreement in one of the state’s urban areas that will later be applied to other transportation corridors across the state. The goal is to create a system that helps local planning agencies learn how to make land use decisions that better coordinate with transportation decisions made at the local and state level. Colorado, Maryland, Washington and West Virginia have also been selected to participate in the program.