Tennessee’s next governor will wrestle with a massive budget shortfall, but tax hikes to fill the hole are out of the question, said GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam.
At the Chattanooga Transportation Club’s monthly meeting, Mr. Haslam, the mayor of Knoxville, spoke Tuesday about what he plans to do — and promises not to do — if elected governor later this year. The biggest challenges, he said, are the state’s $1.5 billion budget hole and bringing jobs to Tennessee.
“I think the next governor is going to have the hardest time to be governor — ever,” Mr. Haslam said, “because we’re not going to raise taxes.”
Mr. Haslam has recently been criticized by U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, also in the state GOP gubernatorial race, about a 35-cent property tax increase he approved in Knoxville in 2004. Rep. Wamp has also scrutinized Mr. Haslam for his former membership in Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group co-founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Last year, Mr. Haslam, who also faces Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey in the GOP primary, split from the group, saying its mission deviated from the original goal of keeping guns out of the hands of criminals. He said Tuesday, without hesitation, that he would sign legislation now headed to the governor’s desk calling for less concealed weapons restrictions in establishments that sell alcohol.
“I would sign it. I would not veto that,” Mr. Haslam said. “I think Second Amendment rights are Second Amendment rights. I think as long as the owner of that establishment can decide what he or she wants to happen on their property, then they should be able to do that.”
Rachel Taylor, spokeswoman for the Ramsey campaign, said she finds it “funny that Mayor Haslam has reversed his position on guns and taken support of the gun bill.”
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“This gun bill would not be sitting on the governor’s desk had it not been for the leadership of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey,” Ms. Taylor said.
In addition to budget issues, the nearly 11 percent statewide unemployment rate will also be an obstacle for the next governor, Mr. Haslam said. He suggested taking a “regional approach to job creation” because “you can’t make all your economic development decisions out of Nashville.”
Mr. Wamp’s campaign spokesman, Sam Edelen, said Mr. Wamp “understands the only way to balance the state budget is to take the tough choices to right-size state government as we work hard to grow our economy and the jobs of the future.”
Jobs flowing into Chattanooga via Volkswagen aren’t the only ones Mr. Haslam hopes to bring to Southeast Tennessee, he said.
“We actually have a great opportunity to leverage what’s happening with Volkswagen,” Mr. Haslam said. “You always capitalize on an asset that you have, and Volkswagen is a huge one, obviously.”
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