In a major step toward more timely transparency, House Speaker Cameron Sexton announced a new public dashboard that gives citizens red-lined versions of bills and proposed amendments at the same time House members get them.
The Legislature passed comprehensive legislation closing several loopholes and adding more transparency and accountability to campaign finance reporting and ethics measures Thursday. House Speaker Cameron Sexton describes the bill as bringing money flows "from the dark into the light." One provision of the bill requires nonprofits organized under IRS code 501(c)(4), (5) and (6) to report expenditures related to a candidate during election periods, causing pushback from such groups, but the bill goes much farther than this one change.
A bill that would create big changes to Tennessee's campaign finance law is still on the table though differences between the House and Senate versions must be resolved before final passage.
The sponsors of legislation that would have rewritten laws regarding citizen access to body cam and dashcam footage decided not to run their bill this year.
Three bills that improve open government have cleared both the House and Senate. One will improve the transparency of public meetings of hundreds of state boards and commissions. Another brings more transparency to deaths that occur in local jails and state prisons. And the third clarifies language in the public records law that sometimes causes confusion over ID requirements and the responsibility of government to search for records.
