Bill Haslam FAILS On Fiscal Policy

 Haslam earns "D" on his big spending

TN Governor Bill Haslam has FAILED on fiscal policy according to conservative / libertarian think tank The Cato Institute.

From the report:

In Tennessee, Governor Bill Haslam increased and extended that state’s hospital
tax. A news story summarized the purpose  of the bill: “A ‘temporary’ 3.52 percent hospital gross-receipts tax enacted last year will be extended and raised to 4.52 percent, generating $450 million that will draw down an additional $871 million in federal Medicaid money for TennCare

Haslam approved an increase in the state’s hospital tax from 3.5 to 4.5 percent of hospital net income. Haslam has also been leading the charge to increase taxes on Internet sales (also see this).

State general fund spending rose about 14 percent during Haslam’s first year in office [with the help of the Republican controlled legislature], which was a key factor in the governor’s low grade.

The report is available here: http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/GRC2012.pdf