Taxpayers don't know what they are getting for their money despite some lawmakers pushing for more accountability and information. Why? A web of exceptions to Tennessee's Public Records laws and lack of meaningful reporting on outcomes prevent transparency in the state's economic development programs.
Following is a list of new public records exemptions and other public record laws passed by the 111th General Assembly, plus some proposals that failed or were delayed until next year. TCOG 2019 Legislative Report (If you would like to print this, here is the legislative report in PDF format without photos.) The new exemptions add to a list that is nearing 600. Citizens can expect some bills related to public records to re-emerge when the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 14, 2020. One of the more significant bills that was delayed, but attracted a lot of attention late in the session, would create a process for an injunction against a public [...]
“It is we, the Legislature, representatives of the people, who should declare what is a trade secret and what is confidential (about government transactions). Not these private entities who are receiving government benefits.” State Rep. Martin Daniel, R-Knoxville, in presenting HB 370. House Bill 370, which would have limited the ability of businesses to claim a government payment to them as confidential under the trade secret law, failed in subcommittee on Wednesday. While my organization, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, was disappointed in the vote, the issue got a fair hearing from the subcommittee and allowed us to share with lawmakers a potential problem. The bill would have changed the [...]
A Washington Post story last week has detailed how Google, often acting through a newly formed company with a different name, secured non-disclosure agreements with government entities around the country as it negotiated and landed economic development deals valued in the millions of dollars. The city of Clarksville and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board are among the government entities that signed non-disclosure agreements with Google, which eventually agreed to locate a data center in the county with a target investment of $600 million and 34 direct hires. From the Washington Post story, Google reaped millions in tax breaks as it secretly expanded its real estate footprint across the U.S.: Google — which [...]
(Update 2-8-2020: The most recent annual report on claimed tax credits from the year ending in mid-June shows the annual carryover liability has grown to $1.3 billion. You'll find this information in the footnotes.) When it comes to transparency of state business tax credits given to companies as part of economic development programs, Tennessee lags other states in how much it reveals to the public. The amount carried over in economic development tax credits to be used by businesses against future taxes is nearly $1 billion in Tennessee. But who is receiving the credits is confidential, the state says, unlike in other states. The Department of Revenue last [...]