BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – A candidate in the Tennessee governor’s race said he’ll ask a Washington, D.C.-based think tank to find ways he can trim state government and make it more efficient.
During a Wednesday visit to the Tri-Cities Regional Airport, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., said that if elected governor, he will ask the Pew Center on the States to review the operations of the state’s various agencies.
“We need to reform the way government does business,” said Wamp, who has represented Tennessee’s 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1995. “Big government will not solve our problems.”
Wamp is one of four Republicans seeking the state’s top office, including Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.
Pew Center spokeswoman Gaye Williams said her agency’s government performance project conducts extensive research From Page A5
on how state governments operate, especially when it comes to issues that “directly affect taxpayers’ lives and their wallets.” She said the Pew Center uses the information to help state policy makers find innovative strategies custom-tailored to their needs. Such advice is more necessary than ever given the current economic downturn, Williams said.
Wamp said he specifically wants the Pew Center to suggest ways he can reform the procurement policies, which govern how state agencies buy supplies and reward contracts for services and construction. He also wants the study to focus on the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environment and Conservation, two agencies Wamp said have become so entrenched in bureaucracy that they interfere with local governments.
At least one of his opponents doesn’t think the help is needed.
“We don’t need to bring in outsiders to tell us what to do,” Ramsey campaign spokesman Brad Todd said, explaining that the lieutenant governor would not be calling the Pew Center for help if he wins in November.
Todd also said that Ramsey already is an expert in state politics, because he holds the state’s second-highest office, and is the only Republican candidate with a significant amount of experience with the state government.
Ramsey has represented Sullivan and Johnson counties in the 33-member state Senate since 1997.
Ramsey, Wamp and the two other men seeking the Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination will be on the ballot in the state’s Aug. 5 primary. The state’s Democratic Party also will pick its gubernatorial candidate during the primary.
The primary winners will face off in the state’s Nov. 2 general election.
Bredesen, who has served as Tennessee’s governor since 2003, is not seeking re-election due to state rules limiting governors to two terms.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement