Governor Haslam today held a press conference to outline the key points of his 2017 legislative agenda, specifically the Improving Manufacturing, Public Roads and Opportunities for a Vibrant Economy or IMPROVE Act.
During the press conference, after allowing the mayor of Murfreesboro and the mayor of Smith County to speak, Gov. Haslam segued back to the microphone by joking, “I’m thinking about just outsourcing the state of the state speech and letting these two mayors come in…”
While we understand the Governor was joking, TSEA doesn’t consider outsourcing a joking matter.
Tennessee citizen’s families, communities, and jobs are greatly disrupted by outsourcing, with hundreds of state jobs across Tennessee in higher education, our state parks, and other areas of state government now at risk.
Outsourcing not only moves state jobs and services to the private sector, stripping families of important benefits which can place an extra burden on taxpayer-funded government safety net programs, but it also sends taxpayer money to corporate conglomerates which are typically located outside of Tennessee.
If Governor Haslam want’s to act to improve Tennessee, one step might be a complete halt on his provocative outsourcing agenda, and that is no joke.