NASHVILLE — Fearing additional worker cuts stemming from Gov. Bill Haslam’s “top to bottom review” of Tennessee government, state employees today launched an effort to root out government waste in hopes of sparing programs and jobs.
“Continuing to lay off state employees means disappearing state services,” Tennessee State Employees Association Executive Director Robert O’Connell said. “We don’t think that this is the vision of the citizens of this state. What they want is for government to run efficiently. They want to feel that their tax dollars are being spent wisely.”
In a news conference, O’Connell said the group has started a “Cut Waste, Not Services” program in which it is soliciting money-saving ideas from employees themselves. They hope to present Haslam and lawmakers with a list of suggestions by year’s end.
He said employees have already offered ideas such as letting employees do all required work “instead of contracting out at additional expense.”
For complete details, see tomorrow’s Times Free Press.
Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...
I wonder how much they wasted on this program?
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