Drawing on his experience in business, Republican candidate for governor Bill Lee announced his “contract with Tennesseeans” called Ten for Tenn that highlights the key items Lee plans to focus on and enact as the Volunteer State’s 50th governor.
“As a CEO, it is important to set the vision for my company, and I believe it is just as important to set the vision for the state as governor,” Lee in a statement. “‘Ten for Tenn’ is my contract with Tennesseans, and I look forward to working to enact my conservative vision for Tennessee.”
The plan lists ten general agenda items that range from rethinking public education and ‘getting tough’ on the state budget, to pursuing term limits and creating a new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
The Lee campaign posted the details online, and are listed here:
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Foster an Environment Where Jobs Continue to Grow
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Rethink Public Education with Major Vocational Reforms, Real School Choice, and Civics Education
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Stand up for Rural Tennessee by Expanding Economic Opportunity and Winning the War On Opioids
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Get Tough on the State Budget by Making Government Smaller and More Efficient
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Ensure New Voices in Nashville by Passing Term Limits and the Challenging the Influence Culture of Insiders
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Create a New Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
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Make Government More Accessible, Open, and Accountable to Taxpayers
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Protect and Defend a Culture of Life
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Defend Our Constitutional Liberties Without Compromise
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Enforce the Rule of Law on Immigration
Job Growth – Bill knows that government doesn’t create jobs, people do. His number one priority for job growth is getting government out of the way by lowering uncompetitive taxes on business, enacting an immediate regulatory freeze, and making sure our economic incentives prioritize jobs created in Tennessee over jobs brought to Tennessee.
Education – On education, Bill believes a high school diploma should mean you are ready to enter the workforce in a trade, not wait for two to four more years of higher education. He will continue to fight for improved vocational, technical, and agricultural education options in every high school. He’ll work to bring back civics education, and will reduce the testing burden while making any test more meaningful for parents and teachers.
Rural Tennessee – As a product of rural Tennessee, Bill will make sure our rural communities get the attention they deserve by implementing all of his points in his Roadmap for Rural Tennessee and he will take on the opioid crisis by giving law enforcement the tools they need to stop the new flood of street drugs, and he will seek significantly stronger penalties for drug traffickers.
Streamlining Government – Bill will get tough on the state budget by making government smaller and more efficient. Tennessee has 22 Cabinet Departments, the Federal Government has 15, and Kentucky has 11. Bill will lead that charge. He will pursue strategic mergers of departments and divisions to streamline government, break down silos, and through the appointment of an inspector general find new efficiencies to serve the taxpayers.
Term Limits, Lobbying Bans, and Conflict of Interest Reform – Bill will also advance term limits for all elected officials. A permanent political class is not what our founders intended, and term limits can help bring fresh new ideas and limit influence. He will also work to pass a five-year lobbying ban for lawmakers. Public service shouldn’t lead to a permanent influence class in our state capital. And Bill will also strengthen our state’s conflict of interest rules to ensure that no sitting official enriches themselves through state contracts while in office.
Faith-Based Initiatives – Bill will create an Office of Faith Based Initiatives in the governor’s office to defend religious liberty and welcome our leaders of faith as partners for addressing the problems in our communities.
A Government of the People – To open up government, Bill will also initiate a new program to invite public comments on new laws before he signs them, bringing everyone into the process more directly. As governor, he also pledges to deliver State of the State addresses in all three Grand Divisions. He also plans to open up our government records because our current open records process is broken.
Life – Bill is 100% pro-life, and he will sign legislation that reduces abortions, such as the heartbeat bill, and enforce the law to ensure Planned Parenthood doesn’t get another dime of state money.
Constitutional Liberties – Bill will defend our founding principles. Bill will work to preserve our First Amendment religious liberty to ensure Tennesseans are free to exercise their religion free from state and activist overreach. He’ll defend the Second Amendment, pledging to sign constitutional carry to put Tennessee in line with the one-third of states that support our law-abiding gun owners. He will also enforce the Tenth Amendment, by defending Tennessee in court against federal overreach on issues such as Obamacare, and will ensure that our state’s rights are protected.
Rule of Law – On his final point, Bill will enforce the rule of law on immigration. Sanctuary Cities are by definition, lawlessness. They will not happen on Bill’s watch, nor will he allow for any new benefits to be created to support illegal immigration.
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I remember everyone saying then candidate Trump was short on details. Making promises he can’t keep. Well, President Trump is delivering. Bill Lee has the potential to do the same.
This is pablum policies-vague proposals and wishing–sorry, not enough for me. This guy doesnt tick any of my boxes because he has run on just nothing and NOW, just before early voting he unveils this thing? Sorry, doesnt pass the smell test for me. That being said, I will NOT consider La Raza Randy of Gas Tax Harwell so Diane Black it is!
And you all are pretty convinced that No Record Candidate Bill Lee, who has never shown much interest in politics before deciding that being Governor would be fun, has written this detail “contract with Tennesseans.” OMG!!!!!!!
I don’t want to be too critical, not at a time when I’m begging all of you to join me and become an ANYBODY BUT BOYD voter by voting for WHOMEVER has the best chance of preventing us living with eight years of Randy!, and I think a little naivety is sort of cute, while I know how I felt when after too many pointed questions about Santa Clause forced my mother to tell me the truth, but did it ever occur to any of you that Bill Lee had very little to do with coming up with that “contract”? Rather, I believe a few very well paid functionaries with his campaign wrote the thing and then asked No Record whether it was something he could live with.
As a matter of fact, may I gently suggest that all of these campaign salvos back and forth, as well as the bayonet charges across no-mans land are done, not by your favorite candidates but by a well paid army of mercenaries who are in town until their campaigns are over and next year they will be on to the next campaign with its “contract” and all of these election promises that so many of you take so seriously will be forgotten.
The bottom line for conservatives who actually have to live with the government the mercenaries leave behind is if all the polls show that your very favorite candidate for governor is in third or fourth place will you then be able to vote for the candidate in first or second place who is most likely to defeat Randy!? If not, I beg you to reconsider.
Bill Lee is really knocking it out of the park when it comes to issues that matter to everyday Tennesseans. He has a three point message that he believes unifies us all and that drives his agenda- we want a good job, a safe neighborhood, and a good education for our kids. He’s begun delivering on that already, first with his Roadmap for Rural Tennessee and now with Ten for Tenn. He wants to pierce the Nashville bubble and provide opportunity for all Tennesseans to prosper, not just the financial elites.
For those who do genuine research and analysis and vote accordingly, this is one of the easiest choices to make, ridiculously easy in fact – it’s Bill Lee all the way.
I’m pretty much a straight forward constitutionalist and believe our government must uphold our laws. I’m also one who fiercely believes that our rights are accompanied by commensurate responsibilities and that we must all strive to be achieve our independence and thus earn our own way through life. To do less is to bring shame on one’s self and one’s family. It is for those reasons I support Bill Lee. I cannot support Randy Boyd because he is a crony and political insider who has bought more politicians that I’ve bought candy bars. I cannot support Diane Black because she represents all those ideas that haven’t worked in the past.
Excellent analysis
thanks
This is a GREAT idea and a GREAT start, but it is red meat for Diane Black! She will nitpick it apart line by line! And the individuals, entities, and special interest groups (including political pundits) that suckle off of the Government/taxpayers teat will castigate Lee’s outline as being ________ (you fill in the blank).
Anything to denigrate someone who is not part of the political establishment elite! How dare Bill Lee for trying to snatch the crown for the Queen apparent!
It will be very interesting to see how and through who the attacks against any and all challengers come. We will be witnessing the fall-out of us electing Donald Trump as President, and the full frontal assault on We the People! The Elite can’t let Tennesseans really think that government is of, by, and for the People.
But some, no, many, of us still do believe!
Yesterday, one of the Bill Lee critics wrote of him the following on these pages: “I have no interest in voting for Governor a business person with no legislative footprints. Governmental systems are complicated and Bill Lee has no experience managing such a system. Made that HUGE mistake with Haslam.” And now Lee lays out–in writing no less–a proposed plan of action for his tenure in office which I think is a very fine plan of action, and another critic (probably a Black supporter, but I could be wrong about this) gripes that it is just meaningless ‘noise.’ I think that if either Randy Boyd or Diane Black are elected Governor of our State, the day will soon come when most Tennesseans ‘rue the day’ that they ever heard mention of him/her. Just sayin’.
I see no plan of action. All I see are vague promises he cannot possibly keep.
I am impressed by Lees campaign so far. There is only one candidate for Governor that is running a typical career politician attack ad campaign, which Bill is a constant victim of. Keep you campaign clean, Bill Lee. Remember, if you make a campaign promise, keep it like Trump is doing.
Pray tell what is impressive about these pie-in-the-sky “contract” items?
LOOKS LIKE A BUNCH OF WORDS WITH NO REAL IDEAS
POOR BILL LEE>>> DESPERATEly STUCK IN TIHRD PLACE
AND IF YOU WANT TO SHRINK GOVT, WHY YOU APPOINTING ALL THESE NEW OFFICES? SOUNDS LIKE YOU DONT GET IT…!
Promises, promises, promises. No specifics. Just promises – ones he cannot keep.