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05/18/2004: Tennessee leads the way!
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen made history of sorts by signing the first state law which gives companies an incentive for not offshoring jobs: Tennessee Governor Signs Bill Discouraging Offshore Work
Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed a law that may have made Tennessee the first state to give businesses an incentive for not outsourcing data-entry and call-center work to cheaper offshore locales.Nice to see the state where I live doing something about a problem for a change. Now, if we could only get some federal tax disincentives in place to discourage offshoring as well...
The new law asks state procurement officials to give preference in bids for such services to contractors employing workers only in the United States. It was approved overwhelmingly by lawmakers last month and signed into law last week.
"It is significant because it is the first time for a state to do preferences for data-entry and call-center work through legislation," said Justin Marks, a policy analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The bill was filed in response to the growing controversy over outsourcing of white-collar jobs to India and other countries with large populations of educated English speakers willing to work for significantly less money.
Len on 05.18.04 @ 12:37 PM CST
