Tennessee Governor-elect Bill Haslam has told incoming Congressional leaders that Tennessee doesn't need any more federal money, such as that which padded the State's budget heavily in 2009, but would like more flexibility in spending the funds we have both federal and State. Haslam was told, according to The Tennessean, that "you guys are on the ground. Tell us what it looks like from your chair." If this is going to be the attitude of the next Congress with regards to how much the federal government should intervene in Tennessee's internal affairs, that is truly refreshing. It also signals that the change Congressional Republicans talked about during the election cycle looks to be more than just words on paper.

As Haslam himself has pointed out, he inherits a State that is in relatively good fiscal health when compared to its neighbors (all of whom, it should be pointed out, have State income taxes). However, to insure fiscal discipline in the future Haslam should slowly begin to wean Tennessee off of federal dependency. This isn't to say that we should take no federal money at all for schools, roads, or infrastructure, but we as a State and a people should find ways for our affairs to be less reliant on what Washington does with a budget and more concerned with what our elected representatives in Nashville are doing each spring.

Governor-elect Haslam has said that he will run this State based on sound and common sense conservative ideas. If his trip to Washington and his expression of a desire for greater local control is an indication of that commitment, the Haslam Administration could get off to a very good start indeed.