It seems that having integrity comes at a price in Tennessee, where Republican House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick is now threatening to punish companies that protested a proposed anti-trans bathroom bill by stripping the groups of their tax breaks.

McCormick, who has defended the intent of the bathroom bill, conceded that the House “did the right thing” by shelving the bill. But in spite of this, he wants to punish the companies that helped the House reach their decision, accusing them of blackmail.

According to McCormick, the companies’ interest in the bathroom bill is motivated solely by economic greed. He then changed the subject to gang violence, suggesting that the bathroom bill was just a distraction from more important issues.

“This weekend we had four people shot in Chattanooga, but our Chamber of Commerce is writing us letters about the bathroom bill,” he stated. “Now the reason they’re not all fired up about the city of Chattanooga’s handling of the gang problem is because the city of Chattanooga sends them money and funds their budget. And we don’t. Guess what. We ain’t gonna.”

With all this protest over bathrooms, I have a feeling we'll see @GeraldMcCormick making this face pretty soon. pic.twitter.com/Hzu4nzofdu — Eric Shonkwiler (@eshonkwiler) April 20, 2016

McCormick doubled down on his threats to eliminate companies’ tax breaks, ominously saying, “when [the companies] come for their corporate welfare checks [and economic incentives] next year, we need to have a list out and keep an eye on it.”

Featured image via Times Free Press