Recent editorials from Tennessee newspapers:
___
Feb. 23
The Kingsport Times-News on a proposed bill that could stifle competition in the bidding process for government contracts:
When Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee gave his third State of the State Address, he highlighted a number of spending items important to our readers.
With an increase of a whopping $2.8 billion over the prior budget, the General Assembly in 2020 approved the largest budget in state history. Significant funds for infrastructure and rural investment are included, and over $1 billion will be directed toward infrastructure and investments in rural development:
- $200 million to local government infrastructure grants.
- $21.1 million to rural development for community asset improvements, marketing and downtown revitalization.
- $472 million directed to new funding for business and economic development.
- $85 million for railways.
- $40 million for airports.
- $200 million directed to a one-time increase in broadband deployment focusing on unserved areas through grants and tax credits.
Education is also getting a huge bump in this budget as well:
- $120 million in teacher pay raises.
- $110 million in new education spending to aid in teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic.
- $10 million to create Governor’s Investment in Vocation Education (GIVE) sites (to be prioritized by the greatest work force revitalization need).
- $341 million in total new funding for K-12 education.
That equates to a lot of money spent in Tennessee by government entities over the next year. And that’s great news for Tennessee businesses because it means bidding opportunities to win those contracts. How do those businesses find out about bidding opportunities? Through public notices, of course.
But a billed filed by Sen. Dawn White (R-Murfreesboro) and Rep. Mary Littleton (R-Dickson) seeks to stifle competition in the bidding process. The bill proposes that it would increase from $10,000 or more to $25,000 or more, the amount for which a local board of education or the governing body of a public charter school must make purchases or expenditures by competitive bids. Currently, any purchases or expenditures $10,000 or higher need to have a public notice published to inform the public of the contract and to allow local businesses to bid on those contracts.
The proposed bill would provide that all contracts below $25,000 can be given out to businesses without any notification to the community. For many smaller local businesses, a $10,000 contract is significant and important to their success. Taking that opportunity away could be devastating. And to what end? The increase in the threshold for public notification is an invitation for insider deals and corruption in our communities.
Our governing entities have an obligation to be transparent and to proactively let citizens know how government is spending their tax dollars. If allowed to pass, this bill would allow our elected and appointed officials to operate in a potentially dangerous and costly vacuum.
With over $1 billion to be spent in Tennessee in 2021, every contractor and every business deserves the right to bid on these contracts. Let your local legislators know that this proposed threshold increase is not good for open, transparent government, and it is certainly not good for the business community.
Online: https://www.timesnews.net
___
Feb. 23
The Johnson City Press on a local school board’s decision not to close any schools next year:
The Carter County Board of Education made the right decision last week to not close any schools next year, but there may be a time in the near future when there won’t be a choice.
With a report in their hands showing millions of dollars of cost savings from closing Little Milligan, Keenburg, Unaka and Valley Forge elementary schools and Cloudland High School over the next three years, school board members voted unanimously to not move forward with the recommendations.
Several of them said this year, as communities reel from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, is not the right time to add to families’ stresses by deciding to close schools.
They are correct. Since March of last year, the virus has killed more than 150 people in Carter County. Businesses have closed and jobs have been lost.
The last thing parents need right now is to worry about how to transport their children to and from a school miles farther away. Losing the community center function of a public school would be difficult any time, but it will be especially painful now, when many of us feel so disconnected.
We understand that some schools will likely close in the future however, and we should prepare for it.
Several of Carter County’s schools are facing declining student populations, and it is getting more and more expensive to maintain buildings for fewer and fewer students. Consolidating school zones is the most feasible solution to educate the county’s students as efficiently as possible with the limited funding available.
School board member Danny Ward succinctly voiced the district’s unenviable position last week.
“When you lose a thousand students, how do you recoup? We can’t stop looking for solutions. We can’t afford to keep putting roofs on old buildings. I think this is a step in the right direction. Is this the right time? No, it’s not. Continue fighting for your school, but sooner or later we are going to have to make some tough decisions,” he said.
Now that our schools have a reprieve, it’s time to start planning for the future.
Think about how morning routines could be adjusted to give more time for child transportation. Talk with friends living in other communities about their schools. Think of places, like churches or small businesses, that could be a gathering place for your community.
And pay attention to the Board of Education’s business, especially during budget season.
Online: https://www.johnsoncitypress.com
___
Feb. 20
The Herald-Citizen on a bill that would increase the amount a local education board could spend before seeking competitive bids:
One of the things we are grateful for in this community is the consistent effort undertaken by our elected officials to make sure that we, as taxpayers, are getting the very best deal we can when purchasing goods and services.
We are not overly concerned that some office holder’s friends and relatives are getting preferential treatment when it comes to doing business with government agencies, at least in part because Tennessee has some pretty stringent rules and regulations when it comes to seeking competitive bids.
Every now and again, some overzealous public official tries to get around those rules - as happened one time in Putnam County when an official decided to break up a large-dollar job into several smaller jobs so he could avoid bidding out the work - but that’s a rare occurrence.
Still, we are concerned about a bill that has been introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly (Senate Bill 1200) that would increase from $10,000 to $25,000 the amount a local board of education could spend before seeking competitive bids and without any public advertisement.
Under the current law, any purchases or expenditures $10,000 or higher require a public notice to be run in order to inform the public of the proposed spending and to allow local businesses to bid. And make no mistake: the success of many of our local businesses depends on their ability to know about and to bid on projects that could significantly affect their bottom line.
We understand that not every little purchase needs to go through a complicated bidding process, but allowing agencies to spend thousands of dollars without oversight is, as one of our colleagues in the Tennessee Press Association has pointed out, “an opportunity for insider deals and corruption to happen in our communities.”
Because of COVID-19, a lot of money is going to be spent in Putnam County and in Tennessee over the next year. We suggest that our government has an obligation to be transparent and to proactively let citizens know precisely how that money is being spent, and that won’t happen if this bill passes.
Online: https://herald-citizen.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.