Blue Oval City, Governor Bill Lee’s free money to tourists, and Shelby County Schools’ high-priced air purifiers all made the 2021 “Pork Report,” the annual review of wasteful government spending.
The Nashville-based Beacon Center, a non-partisan, free-market think tank, issues the report each year. Its new Pork Report marks the 16th year the agency has taken aim at what it considers wasteful government spending in Tennessee. Last year, the report took aim at a $2.3 million taxpayer grant for an AutoZone expansion and a $4.2 million grant to produce the now-cancelled Bluff City Law television show.
“From no-bid contracts in Nashville to giving away kayaks in Johnson City, there is no shortage of government waste and abuse in this year’s Pork Report,” said Mark Cunningham, Beacon’s vice president of strategy and communications. “While this report is meant to be lighthearted, it’s important to highlight how the state and local governments have misused and abused our tax dollars this year and shows that government waste is a bipartisan problem.”
Blue Oval City, the $5-billion proposed Ford plant in West Tennessee, topped the report this year with what will be a $1 billion “handout” from Tennessee taxpayers.
“After legislators already allocated more than $189 million to make the 4,100 acre site shovel-ready, the state called a special session to give another half billion dollars to Ford Motor Co., along with nearly $400 million more for infrastructure, legal fees, and the formation of a Megasite Authority, meaning taxpayers will have ponied up over $1 billion, more than double the state budget for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, to lure the Mustang automaker to the state,” reads the report.
In July, Lee worried that tourists weren’t visiting Tennessee on Covid concerns. To prove that the Volunteer State was ready to party, Lee put his money (well, our money) where his mouth is. He launched the national “Tennessee On Me” campaign that gave away 10,000 free airline vouchers to Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville with the purchase of a 2-night stay at hotels here. However, many did not like the program’s $2.5 million price tag.
”Government shouldn’t attempt to revive an industry with handouts, particularly when those handouts would go primarily to out-of-state residents and could only be spent on a select few cities, airlines, and hotels,” reads the Pork Report.
The Beacon Center also targeted a Shelby County Schools program to improve air quality. The system got $25 million from state funds for a contract awarded to Global Plasma Solutions for air purifiers. A lawsuit filed on the contract claimed the company’s product weren’t proven and that the company preys on those “desperate to clean the air by using deceptive marketing tactics,” according to the report.
”According to county leaders, taxpayers should not be worried about the cost because the money didn’t come from the general fund or other local dollars, but rather from Covid-19 relief money,” reads the report. “Clearly, the county doesn’t realize taxpayer money comes from taxpayer pockets, whether or not it’s first rerouted through Washington, D.C.”
