State representative candidate Gary Loe claims that as a small businessman that he is the best choice to represent business interests-just not businesses that are actually headquartered in Tennessee.
“Gary Loe has once again shown that he will wait to follow the lead of his political bosses and punish businesses for being in Tennessee,” said Chip Forrester, Chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party. “Even with a program that all Tennesseans are behind, regardless of party, Gary Loe feels that his stand against jobs for our neighbors and Tennessee tax payers is the right one.”
Loe has criticized a call for legislation that would ensure that Tennessee-based contractors are included in the bidding process for jobs that occur in Tennessee for state projects, referring to the idea in a Knoxville television interview as “protectionism.” Proponents of the idea state that the policy will keep more tax dollars within the state and employ more Tennesseans.
“Gary Loe has no plan for how to put Tennesseans back to work, but he knows how to keep them out of work,” said Forrester. “How any candidate can claim that he wants to increase opportunities for Tennessee small businesses while insisting that these same businesses be frozen out of the bidding process is outrageous. Instead of looking out for the voters and workers of East Tennessee, Gary Loe will be a guaranteed vote to send tax dollars out of the state.”
