Bill Lee’s former chief of staff, ran Leverage Public Strategies while he worked in the governor’s office. The public’s perception, whether there’s anything wrong with that, it’s the public’s perception, and let’s just add as much sunshine as we can.”īlake Harris, Gov. We need to take away the question marks that are there, that the public has. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, who is carrying the measure for McNally, said Thursday the provision prohibiting side consulting was added to put things “out in the open. Janice Bowling of Tullahoma, Joey Hensley of Hohenwald and Mark Pody of Lebanon opposed it.
Yes, that’s where it shows Harris was still running his own company while working for the governor.ĭespite an uproar from 501(c)4 groups, which will be required to disclose all expenditures totaling $5,000 within 60 days of an election, Senate Bill 1005 passed the upper chamber Thursday on a 25-3 vote. The only response from the Governor’s Office about Harris and the ethics reform bill was that its staff members are already required to fill out a disclosure form. Harris left the governor’s cabinet in November 2021 to run Lee’s 2022 re-election campaign and, fittingly, to help with “key Republican Governors Association efforts.” Simon had worked with the Republican Governors Association and co-chaired former President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee. For instance, Tennessee received veterinarian gloves instead of medical gloves used for personal protection, and staff also raised questions about the reliability of some of the COVID-19 test kits. Harris connected political operative Tony Simon with Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, according to reports, and not long afterward, the state inked the deal, even though Health Department staff questioned Nomi’s ability to provide the materials.Īs it turned out, the state paid Nomi $6 million to get out of the contract after getting bogus stuff. Harris, who worked on Lee’s campaign and transition team before becoming chief of staff, was a key player in recommending the state sign a $26 million contract in 2020 with Utah-based Nomi Health for COVID-19 test kits and protective materials. Bill Lee’s former chief of staff, Blake Harris, who ran Leverage Public Strategies while serving in the governor’s cabinet, according to his financial disclosure form with the Ethics Commission. It also could be an effort to deal with political insiders such as Gov.
The legislation could be aimed at these sorts of situations. Hodgen Mainda, held a job as a contractor with the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga while he was Commissioner for Commerce and Insurance for Gov. “I think it’s important that they be concentrating on their job, and if they had another business, they could be conflicted in a number of areas when things come up,” McNally said Thursday.įor example, a commissioner of education could have an education consulting business, he said, “and you can see the inherent conflicts there.” (Not that Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn is moonlighting.)īut Hodgen Mainda, who stepped down as commissioner of Commerce and Insurance in November 2020 amid sexual harassment allegations, also held a job as a contractor with the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga for government relations and communications, according to reports. Randy McNally to improve transparency in state government’s upper echelons.
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