exemptions

12 Sep, 2018

Open Records Ad Hoc Committee meets on Thursday

By |2018-09-12T11:12:54-05:00September 12, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: , |0 Comments

The Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee will have it second meeting on Thursday as it tackles a review of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. Last month, at its inaugural meeting, the committee heard a report from Jason Mumpower, chief of staff for the Comptroller's Office, who explained a new compilation of all the statutory exemptions. He said there are now 563 exemptions in state law. (The last time a legislative committee conducted an exemption review was 30 years ago and when there were 89 exemptions.) The committee also heard a presentation and recommendations from TCOG. Several people are scheduled to give presentations on Thursday including: Janet Kleinfelter, [...]

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17 Aug, 2018

We need a new way of adopting exemptions to the Public Records Act

By |2018-08-18T09:16:09-05:00August 17, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , |1 Comment

Earlier this week, I was grateful for the opportunity to make a presentation to a new legislative Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee that is examining the growing number of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The committee is grappling with a potential review of exemptions, which the Office of Open Records Counsel says have grown to 563 after 25 news ones were added in the most recent session. Tennessee Coalition for Open Government made seven recommendations to the committee, but one of the more important ones is that our state needs a new way of adopting exemptions. Some exemptions don’t get enough scrutiny It's just too easy to [...]

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14 Aug, 2018

TCOG makes recommendations for vetting state’s public records exemptions

By |2020-11-19T12:35:08-06:00August 14, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , , |3 Comments

The new Joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, formed to consider the growing number of public records exemptions, held its first meeting today. The committee invited TCOG to make a presentation. Also presenting was Jason Mumpower, chief of staff for the Comptroller's Office, which oversaw the compilation of a list of all statutory exemptions (which resides here.) TCOG presents recommendations about a review of exemptions to the Tennessee Public Records Act at the committee's first meeting on Aug. 14, 2018. You can watch the entire committee meeting by clicking on the video link found here. My presentation starts around the 52 minute mark. The committee set its next [...]

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6 Aug, 2018

Legislature’s Open Records Ad Hoc Committee to hold first meeting Aug. 14

By |2018-08-06T20:08:43-05:00August 6, 2018|Categories: exemptions, Legislature, Public Records|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

The Open Records Ad Hoc Committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Cordell Hull building as part of an effort to review a growing list of exemptions to the public records act. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Beth Harwell formed the committee in June after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to Tennessee Public Records Act had grown to 538. State Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, is the House chairman of the joint Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, which was formed after a report showed the number of statutory exemptions to the public records law had grown to 538. [...]

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11 Jul, 2018

How much is AllianceBernstein getting in incentives? Sorry, that’s redacted

By |2018-07-13T17:03:33-05:00July 11, 2018|Categories: economic development, exemptions|Tags: , , |1 Comment

The Nashville Business Journal reported today that government attorneys believe it's OK to redact information in a document put before a vote of Metro Nashville's industrial development board. That members of a governing body were kept in the dark and apparently had no concern about it demonstrates just how far we've come in our local and state government culture. It's sloppy government and the citizens of Tennessee deserve better. It concerns AllianceBernstein, which is moving its global headquarters from New York to Nashville. From the Business Journal, as reported by Adam Sichko: What the state has disclosed is a $17.5 million jobs grant tied to the money manager's decision to [...]

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