Open government bills to watch in 2022
We are monitoring several bills during the 2022 legislative session, including a bill that would create new fees to inspect public records.
11
Feb, 2022
28
Jan, 2022
AG tells judge COVID-19 reports should be withheld to avoid ‘Monday-morning quarterbacking’
The deputy attorney general for Tennessee argued in court this week that reports by consultant McKinsey and Co. regarding the re-opening of Tennessee and other government responses during the COVID-19 pandemic are exempt from the public records law because revealing them would open up the executive branch to second-guessing by the public.
5
Jan, 2022
New use-of-force tracking system moves Tennessee in right direction
A new law requires all law enforcement in Tennessee to make monthly reports to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on the use of force. The data will include information from any police action resulting in death or serious bodily injury to a person or the discharge of a firearm at or in the direction of a person.
5
Jan, 2022
Nashville Post journalist files public records lawsuit over state’s McKinsey reports
In the second public records lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee's administration in a matter of weeks, Nashville Post journalist Stephen Elliott says that the administration's claim of a "deliberative process privilege" to keep secret a consultant's reports during the COVID-19 pandemic has no basis in state law.
4
Jan, 2022
$200M TNInvestco serves as a cautionary tale, including for lack of transparency
Transparency dogged the TNInvestco program from the beginning, including with a lawsuit demanding to know how the recipients were chosen. Lawmakers also, when creating the program, enacted statutes to keep confidential the specific results of the state's investments.