KINGSPORT (AP) — Former Tennessee Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey is plotting a return to the hallways of the state Capitol complex.

The Kingsport Times-News reports that the Blountville Republican has been hired by the firm Farrar and Bates, which lobbies for the Tennessee Association of Realtors among others. Ramsey's son-in-law also lobbies for the firm.

Ramsey became the first Republican speaker of the Senate since Reconstruction when he was elected in 2007. He retired last year, and is barred from lobbying until his one-year anniversary from when he left office in November.

Ramsey said he wasn't interested in taking on the responsibilities and overhead involved in starting his own firm.

Ramsey this year worked for a group supporting Gov. Bill Haslam's transportation funding plan, but didn't directly lobby lawmakers.