Hiring of ex-GOP lawmaker who backed Tennessee school voucher bill criticized as taxpayer-funded

Hiring of ex-GOP lawmaker who backed Tennessee school voucher bill criticized as taxpayer-funded 'payoff'


NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Lee's hiring of yet a third ex-Tennessee legislator to serve in his administration in recent weeks is drawing fire from a Democratic lawmaker who calls the appointments taxpayer-funded rewards for the former lawmakers' 2019 votes in support of the Republican governor's 2019 school voucher law.

"Another day, another payoff for a voucher supporter — paid for by taxpayers," charged Rep. John Ray Clemmons, a Nashville Democrat, of Thursday's announcement by state Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Hatcher that he has hired former Rep. Andy Holt, a Dresden Republican and former House Finance Subcommittee chair, as the department's business development director.

Clemmons added in his statement to the Times Free Press that "this administration is rife with under-qualified, overpaid officials, so it's not surprising they'd make room for another."

Holt, a farmer who represented rural West Tennessee's House District 76 for a decade until leaving office last month after not seeking reelection, will serve as the department's director of business development. The role includes overseeing the support of economic development initiatives as well as agriculture and forestry industry expansion.

He will be paid $92,700 a year in the post when he officially goes on the payroll in January. A Hatcher spokesperson did not respond to Clemmons' criticism.

Read more: https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2020/dec/25/gov-bill-lee-hiring-ex-gop-lawmaker/538544/
(Chattanooga Times Free Press)