Tennessee Capitol Press Corps

20 Dec, 2016

House Republican caucus meetings to be open unless it’s “family discussion”, chairman says

By |2016-12-20T11:45:57-06:00December 20, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: , , , |1 Comment

House Republican Caucus Chairman Ryan Williams told the Capitol Hill press corps last week that caucus meetings would be presumed to be open while the legislature is in session, according to a report in The Tennessean. However, he said, if a member wanted to have a "family discussion," the caucus would take a vote on closing the meeting. State Rep. Ryan Williams The meeting with the press corps came after the House caucus, departing from tradition, held a closed door session in early December to discuss the state budget surplus and the fires in Sevier County. The press corps asked to discuss what appeared to be a new [...]

9 Dec, 2016

Capitol Press Corps asks to discuss closed meetings of Republican caucus

By |2016-12-09T17:59:51-06:00December 9, 2016|Categories: Legislature, Open Meetings|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

The Capitol Press Corp has requested to meet with the House's Republican Caucus Chair, Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, to discuss an apparent change in policy where journalists are no longer allowed to cover caucus meetings. Chas Sisk, chairman of the Capitol Press Corps “Past practice — especially since Republicans gained supermajority status — has been that the meetings are open unless closed by caucus vote. If that is to change, we think it’s important for both sides to understand the rules of the road going forward,” wrote Chas Sisk, news reporter for WPLN and chairman of the Tennessee Capitol Press Corps, in a letter to Williams. “…Our fundamental concern is [...]

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