Congressman Zach Wamp made gubernatorial campaign stops in Columbia, Franklin and Brentwood Thursday. The Chattanooga Republican says as governor, he wants to get rid of bureaucracy that’s hampering economic development.
Wamp says local officials are telling him the Department of Environment and Conservation is slowing some projects. If the state wants to come back from recession, Wamp says, now isn’t the time for over-regulating the environment.
“Listen, if the snail darter or whatever gets in the way of our state moving forward at a time like this when people are hurting, then it’s going to be really a crying shame.”
Beyond TDEC, Wamp says overall state government needs to shrink, and that means state jobs. He says cutting down payrolls is painful, but the best opportunity to downsize is just as a new administration enters office.
Wamp is battling for the GOP nomination in a field with Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, Shelby County DA Bill Gibbons, and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam.
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