Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen got a warm welcome in Chattanooga for his new education funding plan.

Governor Bredesen wants to scrap the current complex, and controversial, system in favor of a much simpler one.

His initiative calls for a 40 cent cigarette sales tax hike and using current revenue to bankroll the overhaul.

The price tag is almost $500 million dollars.

Bredesen says the state has the money in its coffers now to pay for about half of the undertaking.

Governor Bredesen said, "I'm just down to the last thing now of saying look, let's not hesitate and stop now. We had a good year. There will be bad ones in the future. Let's take this a little further down the line."

Governor Bredesen pointed out it took six years to fully fund BEP when it first started in 1992.

He challenged the crowd, with many lawmakers present, to beat that timetable.