Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Oct, 2024

TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines
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TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

TVA fights public records lawsuit over its grants to cryptocurrency mines

By Deborah Fisher|2024-10-30T12:25:51-05:00October 30, 2024|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: economic development records, Knoxville News Sentinel, Paul McAdoo, public records lawsuit, TVA|0 Comments

The Tennessee Valley Authority has refused to release documents about its grants to cryptocurrency companies, including one in Knoxville, and is now fighting a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from a journalist and UT professor over it. TVA claims that releasing how much it gave the company in economic incentives would reveal its own trade secrets and violate the privacy rights of the employees in the companies that received the grants.

11 Apr, 2023

House, Senate pass bill requiring clear agendas for local legislative body meetings
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House, Senate pass bill requiring clear agendas for local legislative body meetings

adequate public notice, Legislature, meeting agenda, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

House, Senate pass bill requiring clear agendas for local legislative body meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2023-04-11T11:21:31-05:00April 11, 2023|Categories: adequate public notice, Legislature, meeting agenda, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: adequate notice, agendas, government websites, State Rep. Jerome Moon, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|0 Comments

The House and Senate have unanimously approved a bill that will improve the timeliness and clarity of the agendas of local legislative bodies. The bill now heads to the governor's desk and will become law once signed. The bill requires that agendas be available to the public 48 hours in advance of the meeting and that they "reasonably describe matters to be deliberated and acted upon during the meeting." Several lawmakers signed onto the bill. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government brought the bill to the legislative sponsors after a series of court opinions saying that no agenda was required by the Open Meetings Act.

5 May, 2022

Citizen discovery is most important issue in vetting proposed developments
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Citizen discovery is most important issue in vetting proposed developments

economic development, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Citizen discovery is most important issue in vetting proposed developments

By Deborah Fisher|2022-05-05T14:08:54-05:00May 5, 2022|Categories: economic development, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: economic development records|0 Comments

It’s hard for citizens to get the information they need about proposed developments in a manner timely enough to make a difference to protect their own property value and interests.

18 Oct, 2021

New megasite authority could operate with secrecy under proposed bill

By Deborah Fisher|2021-10-19T07:15:10-05:00October 18, 2021|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: economic development, Gov. Bill Lee, Megasite Authority of West Tennessee, proprietary records|1 Comment

The proposed bill that would create the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee with the power to approve a half-billion dollar grant to Ford Motor Co. offers another coveted power: megasecrecy.

26 Feb, 2021

Lawmakers scheduled to hear proposed exception to the Open Meetings Act, public records bills next week

By Deborah Fisher|2021-02-26T15:27:02-06:00February 26, 2021|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|0 Comments

With the General Assembly in full swing, several bills affecting government transparency are scheduled for hearings in subcommittees and committees next week. Although some lawmakers may be planning to introduce amendments to these bills, as of this writing amendments for next week's bills were not yet posted to the Amendment Packet page of the website that lists House amendments. (The Senate does not post amendments until after they've been adopted in committee.) The legislation with probably the widest impact is a proposal to allow county commissioners to participate in meetings electronically, such as by calling in on a phone to a meeting that is otherwise being held in person. That [...]