Governor Bill Haslam speaks Friday, October 1, 2015 at the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga.NASHVILLE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam got an earful of concerns from some fellow Republicans in the state Senate on Tuesday over his administration's continued examination of privatizing management and operations of more state buildings.
"I just want to make sure we're comparing apples to apples," Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, R-Knoxville, told the governor as she raised concerns about outsourcing facilities during a Senate GOP Caucus retreat.
Duncan Massey said she's especially concerned about outsourcing at Tennessee's public colleges and universities. While Haslam has said that would be optional for them, Duncan Massey said, "I just hope their arms aren't twisted."
Haslam, who is exploring outsourcing facilities management in areas ranging from higher education to state parks, hospitals and prisons, assured her "their arms aren't going to be twisted" at the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents systems.
The governor also said his administration is still only exploring options after the 2012 outsourcing of the state's major office buildings to Chicago real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle. That amounted to about 10 percent of state government's real estate portfolio. The administration says it's saved $12.9 million in two years.
Haslam has had a team of officials and a consultant looking for months at outsourcing the remaining 90 percent, a move that has alarmed higher education building management workers and employees at state parks. It only became public in recent weeks.
"You've said you want to run the state like a private business but we don't want a business to run the state."
In response to questions posed by Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta, the governor said, "No. 1, we really haven't made a decision. We're analyzing it. We don't have a predisposition for doing it." He pointed to the transportation department, which did away with a number of outsourced positions and went back to full-time employees.
"No. 2," Haslam added, "we owe it to the 6 1/2 million Tennesseans that we allocate our funds the best way we can. And No. 3, even if we do something, it doesn't mean those jobs go away."
He said workers now employed by Jones Lang LaSalle are paid more than the state was paying. Moreover, the governor said, their benefits are also good. Because the company has better-trained people who can perform maintenance repairs, the state is saving money there while using fewer workers, he said.
Many if not most of the state workers were not hired by the company.
Haslam argued the state's big picture is "we've got to look at the big buckets of places where we spend money for the state. If you look at the budget we spend a lot of money on TennCare, we spend a lot of money on education, a lot of money on employee salaries and a lot of money on buildings. OK, now which of those do you want us to go and cut when ultimately we have to keep making budget adjustments?"
Looking across the room at the GOP lawmakers, Haslam said, "I could ask for a show of hands in here and ask how many people want to raise the sales tax. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get zero hands. So we've to do that part of that to look at it."
Other Republicans raising concerns included Sen. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma and Sen. Richard Briggs of Knoxville.
Bowling told the governor, "you've said you want to run the state like a private business but we don't want a business to run the state."
Haslam said that while his administration is looking at most areas of state government regarding privatization of facilities management, he doesn't expect it would make sense everywhere. He noted his administration has been looking at outsourcing state-run golf courses and marinas at state parks for some two years. And it continues to do so.
Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, sided squarely with Haslam.
"Everybody wants to run the state like a business," he told colleagues, saying the state should explore potential savings. "Why would you not want to do this?"
Ramsey said if the state can save $100,000 on a golf course, why shouldn't it? He said there would be some "squeaky wheels" in the form of affected employees.
"I do think we're hearing from a few that may be displaced by this," Ramsey later told reporters. "But we have to think about 6 1/2 million Tennesseans and what's best for them. I always do that. There is some irony, as the governor said, people want you to run government like a business until you start doing it."
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