Officials say state outsourcing is working, but plenty of skepticism remains

Despite $26 million in savings reported by state administration officials, some lawmakers and state employees remain skeptical or outright opposed to Gov. Bill Haslam's effort to privatize many state agencies or operations within state government.

Privatization of facility management, especially at public colleges and universities, has been a sort of sidecar initiative of Haslam for the past three years, in an effort to make state government more efficient and reduce costs. But many state workers still fear they will either lose their job or the areas that some have committed their lives to will suffer in quality.

Larry Martin, state finance commissioner, was flanked by several officials from his department and told a Senate Oversight and Investigations Committee on Wednesday that the governor's plan is working. Over the last three fiscal years, the state has saved $26 million, they said, and the plan laid out by Haslam, in fact, keeps jobs in Tennessee.

He's also testified about outsourcing and privatization more than a dozen times.

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